FLORENCE — With 31 seniors back, West Florence returns a lot of the same faces that helped them garner a playoff berth last season.
And for the second year in a row, a new face will be front and center on the South Florence sideline.
West and South kick off the season by renewing their rivalry Friday at Memorial Stadium in the Morning News Game of the Week.
The Knights have won the last seven meetings, including two wins against the Bruins last season.
“You’re always a little bit excited for your first game anyway,” West Florence coach Trey Woodberry said. “The fact that it’s South just adds a little extra to it.
“It’s always a big rivalry and a game that everyone gets up for. Not just the football team, but the school as a whole.”
The Knights bring four Division I college commitments and high expectations to Friday’s game. They’ll face a South team that brings a little bit of everything to the table.
The Bruins will incorporate some of the spread offense that Brian Lane implemented last season, but also run the ball more as they did under Ken Cribb.
“We know they run the spread and our defense has seen a good bit of that in practice,” Woodberry said. “But you don’t ever fully know everything they’re going to do because you don’t have game film on them yet.
“But I think with the experience we have on this squad, we’ll be able to adapt.”
First-year Bruins coach Lynn Fleming is entering his second go-round in the rivalry, and for the time being, he’s focusing more on his team than West.
“We had kind of an up and down preseason,” Fleming said. “We’re really focusing on what we’re doing and trying to correct our mistakes. If we’re able to do that, we should be competitive and hopefully have a chance to win at the end.”
Fleming will try to turn around a South squad that scored an average of 13.2 points and allowed an average of 35 points a game last season.
They’ll face a West Florence defense that allowed 12.9 points a game last year and shut out the Bruins in both meetings.
“Their front five is probably as good as we’ll see all year long,” Fleming said. “Hopefully, we can get a hat on them and find a way to neutralize them as much as we can.”
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