It’s a road trip for the Dogs Friday night. The Bulldogs will be traveling to Tuscaloosa, Ala. to play at Paul W. Bryant High School.



Head Football Coach Jay Walls had a hard time making the schedule this year. He ended up with a lot of holes. Walls said he posted his empty slots on the FHSAA website and got several bites. Suwannee will be playing Bryant High School as a direct result of this posting.



Bryant is a brand new school with a brand new football program. They also had trouble finding games and were even willing to put up a little money to help Suwannee with traveling costs.



Bryant is 4-3 for the season. Walls said they run an unconventional offense. But the Dogs got lucky because Coach Tommy Chambers is familiar with that offense and has been helping to coordinate a way to defend against it. Walls said their quarterback has a strong arm and can throw the ball.



Walls said they switch around their defense a little, running a 50 defense and switching to a 4-3. He also said Bryant is fast on defense.



The players will leave Thursday after a breakfast at the Live Oak First Advent Christian Church across the street form the school. The Dogs eat breakfast there on game days as a rule. This time they will eat breakfast at the church one day early.



After breakfast, Walls has them going over to the school to watch game films of the Bryant football team.



At 9 a.m. the team will load up and take to the road stopping first at Troy State to practice on the brand new “super-turf” at Troy State’s freshly remodeled stadium.



Then they get back on the road and their next stop is in Birmingham, Ala. They will stay here overnight and on Friday morning head to Sanford University for some more practice. Then they will eat and rest until it’s time to go to Tuscaloosa. They will get there and warm up and play the game. After the game it’s back in the bus and home. They should be getting back home at 6:30 a.m. in the morning.



“The way we’re breaking it up, it shouldn’t be a hard trip at all,” Walls said.



He also said they are downplaying the road-trip aspect and concentrating on keeping the guys focused on the purpose of the trip–to play football and win. But they’re still excited about taking this trip.



Game time is 7 p.m. in Tuscaloosa which is 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. The boys from Big 98 Andy Day and Dale Allen will travel with the team and broadcast from Bryant High School. So if you’re not driving to Alabama, listen to the Dogs on the road on Big 98.1 FM. Go Dogs!



Janet Schrader may be reached by calling 1/386/362-1734 ext. 132 or by e-mail at janet.schrader@gaflnews.com.