ROBERTSDALE, Ala. – Bayside Academy’s seniors are focused on correcting last season’s mental mistakes in order to reach the school’s first football state championship game.
The Admirals finished 7-5 last season with all five losses coming …
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ROBERTSDALE, Ala. – Bayside Academy’s seniors are focused on correcting last season’s mental mistakes in order to reach the school’s first football state championship game.
The Admirals finished 7-5 last season with all five losses coming by a combined 15 points, including a 22-21 loss to Leeds in the second round of the Class 3A state playoffs. At Monday's Baldwin high school football media day event in Robertsdale, Bayside's seniors said they believed the team is ready to correct the mistakes that caused those losses.
“This year we want to make the plays to win those games and to advance to the state championship,” 6-4, 215-pound senior linebacker Garris Goe said. Goe has an offer from Jacksonville State and has received interest from Princeton and Harvard.
Senior running back Tripp Puckett echoed Goe’s desire to correct last season’s mistakes. The Admirals have reached the 3A playoffs in five consecutive seasons.
“This year we have our sights on playing in the state championship game,” Puckett said. “We lost so many games by close margins on a few bad plays last year. I think if we make those few plays we can get there this year.”
“Last year we got down in some games early and couldn’t convert in the end,” senior wingback Zach Dyas said. “The seniors are pumped up and ready to get out there again. We are ready to get out there and do better than we did last year.”
The Admirals open the season on the road at Class 4A Charles Henderson. Bayside suffered a 29-22 loss against the Trojans in last season’s opener.
Senior quarterback Hunter Slater returns for the Admirals this season. Slater has baseball offers from Southern Miss, South Alabama, Samford and Southeast-Louisiana.
The Admirals will have to rely on Slater more this season without last season's one-two punch of running backs Joe Stassen and Jonathan Walton, who graduated.
"I feel a lot more comfortable going into this season," Slater said. "I am learning more every time I go out and throw about what passes I can make and which windows I can throw into."
