BAKER — Chipley High School's tough football team awaits Baker School on Friday.
The Gators (5-2), riding a three-game winning streak, will try to spoil Chipley’s homecoming.
Baker took a dramatic, 35-28 come-from-behind win from South Walton last week. The Tigers, 3-3, are coming off a 42-8 win over Franklin County.
Blountstown — the only common opponent for both teams — beat Baker 28-21 and Chipley 35-12.
Gator Coach Matt Brunson takes nothing for granted as he prepares his team for the Tigers.
“We’ve put the South Walton win behind us,” he said. “We are turning our gaze down Highway 90 towards the east, towards Chipley.
"Like Chipley always is, they are big up front, they are athletic in the skill positions, and Coach (Chip) Harris and his staff do a great job.
“We will definitely have our hands full. I think it will be a very physical, old-fashioned, 1A, get-after-each-other football match. They get in the I (formation) and run downhill, and so do we.”
Brunson said Chipley — which he believes will run a 4-4 set on defense, with four down linemen and four linebackers — praised the Tigers' playing technique. Chipley defends the run well, with eight guys in the box, but that leaves the Tigers exposed to the passing game on the defense's back end.
Brunson stressed the game's importance as Baker prepares for a District 1-1A showdown with Northview on Oct. 30. “We don’t want to have a letdown,” he said. “Our guys are getting better. They are working hard. We are peaking at the right time, getting ready to go over to Northview in a couple of weeks and play for a district championship. I don’t want to have a letdown at this time.
"We are going to do everything we can to prevent it.”
WHAT: High school football, Baker at Chipley
WHEN: 7 p.m. Friday
WHERE: Philip Rountree Stadium, Watts Avenue, Chipley
UPCOMING
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Baker football coach: 'We don't want to have a letdown' Friday night