Varsity Football

The Opelika Bulldogs knocked off the Enterprise Wildcats in overtime, 27-24, in what turned out to be a classic on a wet night at Bulldog Stadium. Braden Rogers connected with Kent Heard for a ten-yard touchdown in the first overtime period to lift Opelika. Before the ball was even snapped, Opelika checked into an out-and-up play that allowed Heard to get open for the game-winning touchdown pass.

Not to be out done, Corey Grant paced the Bulldogs’ ground attack with 201 yards off 26 carries and scoring two touchdowns, 171 of those yards came in the first half. Sophomore quarterback Braden Rogers made his second career start and was 6-of-10 through the air for 55 yards and a touchdown.

After a tough outing last week against Dothan, the Opelika defense stepped up in a big way. Coach Bill McManus’ defense held Enterprise to just seven points and allowed under a hundred yards of total offense against the Wildcats. The Bulldogs came up with several big stops, but none bigger than holding Enterprise to a field goal in the first overtime period. Senior linebacker Antonio Abner recorded his fourth straight game with double-digit tackles and came up with a fumble recovery, as well. Sophomore Jamarlo Alford had three tackles and two pass deflections in overtime.

Friday night, Opelika hosts the defending 5A State Champion, and 5A’s top ranked team in the Vigor Wolves. Vigor knocked off Opelika in a shoot out last year at Bulldog Stadium, 42-35. Vigor’s best running back, Jalston Fowler, has committed to play for the University of Alabama, but will not play due to the AHSAA age rule. But, the Wolves carry a nineteen game winning streak into Friday night’s game, as well. Kickoff is set for 7 pm.

You can purchase your game tickets at Bubbas Medicine Shop, Victory Designs or Rice Banking until 5p.m.Thursday or Friday until 1 p.m. You can listen to the game on the Opelika Bulldog Radio Network on WKKR 97.7 F.M. or on the Internet at kickerfm.com, just click the Dawg Network logo. Airtime is set for 6:30 pm with the Coach Brian Blackmon pre-game show and kickoff set for 7:00 pm.

J.V./9^th Grade Football

Both the 9^th Grade and J.V. Football teams will be off this week. Both teams play Central-Phenix City this week. Both teams will travel to Prattville on October 5^th for a match up between the Lions. The 9^th Grade kicks off at 5:30 with the J.V. to follow afterwards.

Middle School

Both the 7^th and 8^th grade games against Auburn were cancelled due to rain last Thursday night. OMS travels to Smiths Station Thursday to take on the Panthers. The 7^th Grade kicks off at 5 pm with the 8^th Grade game to follow.

Opelika High School has launched a new web site for athletics. This site will be your new source for information on all things involving Opelika Athletics and will continue to improve daily. You can find information on all of the sports at the high school or middle school. You can watch highlights of the game, highlight tapes of some of OHS’s top athletes, view schedules for every athletic team and interviews from the players and coaches.  Go to www.thedawgnetwork.com for more information.

YOU CAN KEEP UP WITH OPELIKA ATHLETICS EVERYDAY BY TUNING INTO “ON THE MARK”, EVERY MORNING FROM 7-9 A.M. ON WTLM 1520a.m. OR ON THE WEB AT kickerfm.com (CLICK ON SPORTS ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE HOME PAGE, THEN CLICK the “ON THE MARK” BANNER).