LINDEN — Marengo Academy head coach Robby James usually calls things the way that he sees them. After the Longhorns’ 46-14 dismantling at the hands of Clarke Prep last Friday night, the James saw things was less than complementary toward the MA program.
“I don’t know of a Marengo team that has played worse than that ever in the history of the school,” James said. “That was one of the worst defeats I’ve ever been a part of. We didn’t fight back.”
James indicated his team was outplayed in every facet of the game by a physically imposing Gator squad.
“They were a lot more aggressive than us,” James said. “They blocked and tackled, we didn’t do any of that.”
James, embarrassed by his team’s effort, said he was also disappointed for the Marengo Academy fans.
“Friday night was one of the best turnouts we’ve had for a game in my two (seasons) of being here,” James said. “They didn’t get their money’s worth.”
After such a demoralizing loss in region play, James’ team now faces the task of getting itself together in an effort to rebound in a road contest against region foe Escambia Academy.
“We’ve got to figure out whether we want to play or just fold up,” James said. “We’ve got to go in with the attitude we’re going to play harder.”
The common denominator for the Longhorns and Escambia to this point is Clarke Prep, a team EA faced two weeks ago in a 52-31 loss.
“When we’re talking about Clarke Prep, we’re talking about an unusual team. They’ve got some of the biggest, finest-looking boys I’ve ever seen in high school football,” James said. “To put 30 points on them is doing something. Defensively, (Escambia) looks about like we do. Clarke Prep had 500-something yards against them and they had 500-something yards against us. It’s pretty sad.”