The West Alabama Prep Titans football team will play in a scrimmage with Sumter Academy Friday at 3:30 p.m.

The WAP team, formerly the Demopolis Academy Generals, are wiping the slate clean after a winless season in 2002.

He has never seen the former DA players. "The slate is clean," he said. Tutt has no preconceived notion of each player’s ability.

It was too early in practice for Tutt to be able to name any particular player that had caught his eye. He expects the senior players to step up and lead this year. "You get beat on, and get beat on, and get beat on. At some point you get tired of losing, and I tell you they are really working hard.

Walton Luckie and William Woodall have joined the Titans team from public school, Tutt said.

The Titans offense will feature the I-formation, "just try to be a power team," and the defense will feature a four-three. "We hope to be real quick and react to the football."

Last season the team couldn’t stay with competition through all four quarters. "After we get through running our sprints, we try to get them back out there and run several plays," Tutt said. "We call that ‘our fourth quarter.’"

The Titan players, playing on both offense and defense through fourth quarters, are going to get tired, he said. "We’ve got to find a way that we’re mentally ready for that."

The team will travel August 22 to Southern Academy for a jamboree exhibition game at 7 p.m. That exhibition game and the season opener August 28 on the road against the Marengo Academy Longhorns should show the coach what the Titans are made of.

Tutt said the team and school is excited with the name change and new uniforms. "The whole atmosphere out there is good….I would imagine there is more excitement out there than there has been in a long time."