COVINGTON, Ga. — The 2022 season hasn’t been kind to the Alcovy Tigers to date. The Tigers went 1-2 in their non-region schedule with both losses being lopsided 48-6 and 41-6 against Newton and Eastside, respectively.
Alcovy’s Region 3-AAAAAA opener against Mundy’s Mill on Saturday at Sharp Stadium wasn’t much better. The defending region champions were susceptible to the big play that ultimately decided their fate in a 41-12 loss.
But there has been one positive to come out of the season to this point for the Tigers. They are playing a lot of underclassmen in key positions.
Head coach Spencer Fortson highlighted how beneficial this year’s experience, amid the lopsided defeats, could help in the younger players’ long-term development.
“We have to get out of this mindset of, ‘You’re a ninth grader or you’re a sophomore,’” Fortson said. “When we put those players on the field on Friday night, we expect you to live up to a varsity player. These minutes are valuable for those guys and they’ll be able to grow as well.
“But we want them to go ahead and speed up the process just a little bit quicker. But we know in the future, we’re going to have a pretty good team as long as those guys stick together.”
A few younger players have made substantial individual plays this season.
For instance, on Saturday, freshman Tyler Solomon had the Tigers’ lone touchdown in the contest to draw the deficit down to nine points at the time. Bernard Lackey, a sophomore, had two interceptions against Newton in Week 2 as well.
Fortson believes the Tigers are showing signs of a more prosperous future if the players keep working toward getting better.
“When you look at a loss, you want to talk about the things that you could have done, but also got to let [the players] know the things they did do right,” Fortson said. “So they can understand that this is the rock that we need to build on.”
Coming off the three-game losing streak, the Tigers return home this Friday to face another region opponent in Woodward Academy. The War Eagles are 3-1 and beat Morrow High School 52-0 last week to begin its region schedule.
However, entering Week 6, Fortson is focused on him and his team working to improve their chances as the season progresses.
“I told the players tonight, ‘Let’s find the positive things out of tonight so that we can continue to get better with those positive things moving forward,’” Fortson said, “‘but also don’t overlook the negative things. Find those things you didn’t do right and make sure you’re getting better with those things next week.”
