Mosley football set for opener

PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WJHG/WECP) -Area teams are looking ahead to the start of their regular seasons this week, with some games on Thursday, most on Friday. Rutherford and Mosley go at Friday at Tommy Oliver.

The Rams coming off a three team jamboree against Sneads and Munroe. The Dolphins coming off a 14-13 loss to Niceville in their kickoff classic this past Friday. The ‘fins will be playing for real for the first time under new head coach Tommy Joe Whiddon, who spent the two previous seasons as the head coach at Washington. Before that he was an assistant at his alma mater, Niceville. Coach Whiddon inheriting a pretty talented bunch, a big offensive line. And a senior quarterback who transferred in from Arnold in Cole Horton. There is plenty of reason to believe they should be a contender in the 5A class this season. And again we’ll begin to find out if that’s accurate starting Friday. What we know for sure, Whiddon and company are ready to play and thrilled game week is finally here.

“We’re excited, we’re excited to get the season cranked up.” coach Whiddon told me early this week. “We’re excited that we’re getting to play an in-county opponent for the first game of the year. I’m excited for the guys how hard they played, how they competed. And you know we’re just looking to build upon that heading into the first game of the regular season.”

I asked the coach, given having this team through a normal spring, a normal summer, and now for more than three weeks in fall camp, how he feels about his team’s readiness, say on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the most ready?

“I’d say we’re somewhere around a solid eight, somewhere in there.” Whiddon replied. “You know obviously we’ve got some room for improvement, on both sides of the ball. But I think guys have really taken to what myself and the coaches have been preaching to them since January. And it just feels good when you see those things come to life out there on the field on Friday nights. Like I said just really proud of the progress that we’ve made in a short amount of time.”

That game at Tommy Oliver Friday set for 7:00.

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