‘Dawgs set for showdown

When the Marianna Bulldogs and the Chipley Tigers meet Friday night in Bulldog Stadium, Marianna’s old coach, Chipley head man Rob Armstrong, will meet his old assistant, first-year MHS coach Steve DeWitt, for the first time on opposite sidelines.

DeWitt, however, is less interested in the coaching matchup than he is in the one on the field between players from rival schools with a trip to the postseason on their minds.

“I’ll be honest, I’m tired of talking about it,” the MHS coach said of the chatter surrounding Armstrong’s return to face the school he led to two playoff appearances in 2007 and 2008.

“This is not a battle of Rob Armstrong and Steve DeWitt. It’s about the Marianna Bulldogs. It’s a big game, a district game, it’s for playoff contention, and it’s our Homecoming. That’s the way we’re all looking about it around here. I’m sure that’s how they’re looking at it as well.”

For Chipley (2-4, 0-1 in district play), a win is needed to stay alive in the race for one of the top two spots in District 1 needed to qualify for the playoffs.

For Marianna (4-3, 1-1), a win would all but assure another trip to the postseason with wins over Walton and Chipley under its belt.

If the Bulldogs win and Pensacola Catholic takes care of business at home against Walton Friday night, Marianna will clinch the runner-up spot.

“If we beat Chipley, we’re pretty much in the driver’s seat,” DeWitt said. “It’s a huge game, no doubt about it. If we win, we’re probably playing in the playoffs.”

Early in the season, it appeared the Tigers would be outmatched when they took on the Bulldogs.

But after an 0-3 start, Chipley has won two of its last three by shutting out Cottondale 20-0 and edging by Maclay 14-13, losing only to Walton 24-14.

“Chipley’s getting better week in and week out, no doubt,” DeWitt said. “They’re coming along and getting better every week. It’s going to be a tough ballgame for us.

“They’re well-coached, so we’ve got to be ready for a hard, tough game.”

One thing that is for sure is that neither team will be surprised by what it sees Friday night.

Both clubs employ the Wing-T offense that Armstrong brought to MHS in 2007.

It’s an offense that each team runs and defends every day in practice, so the game should come down to execution more than scheme.

“They’re just like us in what they run offensively,” the coach said. “They’re going to do the same things we do on offense.”

DeWitt said the game could be a low-scoring affair, given how both teams prefer to control the football and the clock on the ground.

“One of the things that concerns me the most is the fact that we’re both run run-oriented offenses, so when you have those sort of games, the game tends to move along quickly because the clock is not stopped that much,” the coach said.

“We won’t be getting as many possessions as normal, so the time of possession and scoring when we get the football is even more important.”

The Bulldogs are coming off one of their more impressive performances of the season, a 42-24 road win over previously undefeated Blountstown.

Marianna was solid in a 41-20 loss to Catholic in Pensacola, giving the Bulldogs two good performances after a discouraging 37-15 loss to Liberty County Oct. 2 in Bristol.

“I talked with the team after the Liberty County loss about needing to get back on track,” DeWitt said. “We went over to Catholic and played a pretty good game against them. We played a great game last week against Blountstown, so I hope to keep that roll going against Chipley.

“We’ve talked to them about getting on a roll. We’ve got three games left now, so we want to stay on a roll and keep getting better every week. There’s no telling what can happen down the line for us if we keep getting better.”

The resurgence of the Marianna offense has coincided with the increased role in the running game of senior quarterback Fidel Montgomery.

After ripping through the Crusaders’ defense for 192 rushing yards and two TDs, Montgomery found the endzone for two more rushing scores against Blountstown.

“One of the things we’ve been working on all year long is getting Fidel the football and we’ve been able to do that the last two games,” DeWitt said.

“When we can get the ball in his hands and mix it around with the fullbacks and wingbacks, that’s where we want to be.”

Last week, MHS also got a surprise performance from sophomore fullback Chris Bowers, who filled in for an injured Marjean Dean to rush for 110 yards and two TDs on 12 carries.

Dean is back and healthy for tonight’s game, but the emergence of Bowers gives the Bulldogs yet another weapon in their offensive arsenal.

“We didn’t expect Chris to play that big of a role,” DeWitt said. “He came in and the kid just gives all he’s got at the fullback position. He runs hard, he’s got some pretty good moves and can make people miss. He had a very good game.”

But DeWitt said he expects a hard-fought emotional game between two teams with a ton to play for.

“We’ve got a defense that we think can stop them, and I’m sure they think they can stop us,” the coach said. “It will come down to who’s got the most desire to win and the better players. We hope that’s us, and we’ll go out there and give it our best shot.”

The game kicks off at 7 p.m.