Enterprise hosts Dothan in region rivalry this week

The Enterprise Wildcats (2-0, 0-0) will host the region opener this week as their rival Dothan Wolves (1-0, 0-0) come to Wildcat Stadium for a Class 7A, Region 2 showdown.

Enterprise and Dothan are both coming off tough games against Montgomery schools as Enterprise defeated Carver-Montgomery 28-12 and Dothan held on to defeat Park Crossing 14-7. While both Dothan and Enterprise have been more known for offense in recent years, the two team’s defenses will likely be the star of the show this week.

Enterprise boasts a young, talented defense that has been forcing turnovers and greatly improved in all areas this season, while the Dothan defense completely dominated Park Crossing last week holding them to less than 50 yards total and zero points. Park Crossing’s only score came on a defensive touchdown.

“I think from what we’ve seen the last two years they’re really well coached, they’re aggressive and they have really active linebackers,” Enterprise coach Rick Darlington said of Dothan. “They’re somewhat multiple with their (defensive) fronts. I think they have a really talented, fast defense and it will definitely be our toughest test so far, and I think they’re getting progressively tougher each week it seems.”

Enterprise Senior Zy’Air Boyd, junior Mykel Johnson and sophomore Amare Griffin each surpassed 100 yards rushing last week, which was the first time three players have rushed for more than 100 yards in a game under Darlington. Enterprise has done that without much playing time from starting quarterback Quentin Hayes. Hayes only held snaps on PAT attempts in the first game and played a few snaps against Carver, but has been limited thus far after suffering an ankle injury in the offseason. That limitation has been by design, however.

“I certainly think Quentin is a huge weapon for us and will definitely factor more into the plan this week,” Darlington said. “The last two weeks was kind of like, ‘We’ll play him if we needed him’ sort of thing.

“We needed him a little last week and didn’t need him at all the week before. This week I anticipate we’ll need him a lot more.”

While the Enterprise running game has been on fire, the Wildcats have completed just two passes in the first two games, though those two passes were both touchdowns. Darlington said that as the Wildcats are forced to throw more, they will have to be much more effective at it.

“If we throw it more we have to be much more efficient passing, but that just hasn’t been part of the plan so far,” Darlington said. “We always ask ourselves, ‘How do we win the game?’ and right now the way to win has been running the ball.”

Enterprise has been moving the ball on the ground despite a constant shuffling of the offensive line. While tackles Nick Cox and Harrison Gammill have been a constant along with center Chris Foster, the two guard positions have been in a state of flux so far.

After starting quick guard Hayden Self went down with a knee injury in the spring, Xavier Henderson has been starting in his place but was unable to play last week due to an injury. Strong guard Michael Lawson also missed last week due to an injury. Both players will be a question mark heading into the Dothan game but junior Drake McDaniel has brought versatility to the group that has been a big help.

“A guy like Drake McDaniel who wasn’t slated to start going into the season has started now and gotten better each game,” Darlington said. “He’s a guy that can play four positions and is becoming a very valuable dude for us. That’s really what you enjoy during the season, those guys that surprise you.”

The Wolves offense had a tough night against Park Crossing but running back Zailen Henry scored a pair of touchdowns and fellow runner Octavious Thomas picked up the majority of the Dothan yardage gained. Enterprise defensive coordinator Jed Kennedy said he expects a much better performance from the Wolves this week.

“No. 1, they’re going to run the ball, they make an effort to run the football,” Kennedy said. “They have a really good running back (Thomas) and they’re big up front. We’ll certainly have our work cut out for us.

“We’ve talked all along about how we’re a really young defense but we’re also talented, too. We just need to keep getting better each week. We’ve done a good job against the run this year and Dothan is going to try and run the football. They’re big and physical and it will be the toughest test of the year.”

The Enterprise defense has given up just 2.4 yards per carry so far this season, allowing just a total of 153 rushing yards on 62 rushing attempts. Run defense was an Achilles heel for the Wildcats last season and has been a strong point this year. The Wildcats have also forced four turnovers this season.

Special teams, though, has been a struggle, especially kickoffs. Enterprise has kicked the ball out of bounds six times so far this season on kickoffs and Darlington said the Wildcats must improve in that area.

“Kickoff has been the most disappointing,” Darlington said. “We have to find a guy that can be consistent with the placement of his kicks. If you have a short kick and place it wrong it can be disastrous.”

Enterprise will host Dothan at 7 p.m. in Wildcat Stadium this Friday, Sept. 3.