Dora quarterback Justin Shaddix throws a pass during practice at the school on Wednesday. Dora opens the season on Aug. 26 on the road at Cordova, the Class 3A state runner up.
Just ask Dora football coach Martin Glover.
His first two seasons have included three wins and countless lopsided losses.
An optimistic Glover hopes the third year is the charm.
The offense has been overhauled — from Wing-T to spread — and the Bulldogs have a new defensive coordinator after giving up an average of 34 points a game over the last two seasons.
“It’s a different atmosphere,” Glover said. “There’s not any dead weight around here. All the kids enjoy being around each other. They are friends. That’s something I have seen since I’ve been here.”
Glover put 47 players through practice Wednesday afternoon.
Thanks to the boost in numbers, Glover said most of his players will play on just one side of the ball.
“We will try to go one way except for about three people,” Glover said. “We have a lot more skill people than we’ve had in the past.”
Dora has struggled to put points on the scoreboard each of the last two seasons.
In 2009, the Bulldogs had the seventh worst scoring offense in Class 4A, scoring just 121 points. In the last four games Dora was shutout three times and scored seven points.
Glover said it was time for a change on the offensive side of the ball.
“It’s completely different. We’ve thrown the ball more this week than we did all of last year. I think this offense will help us. We ran the Wing-T last year. We didn’t have the skill players we have this year. Now we’ve got people in the right positions,” Glover added.
Brett Andrews, Chris Ryan, Stevie Woods and Glover will be involved with the offense.
On defense, the team gave up 339 points last year. The Bulldogs were ranked 56 out of 63 teams in Class 4A.
This year Michael Bridges will be the new defensive coordinator. He spent last season at Carbon Hill.
Dora will open the season Thursday, Aug. 26 at Cordova. The Blue Devils have won the last three meetings by a combined score of 139-34.
The Bulldogs will play a jamboree at Mortimer Jordan on Aug. 19.
Dora will compete in Class 4A, Region 5 along with Fayette County, Haleyville, Tarrant, Corner, Oak Grove, Midfield and Good Hope. All three of Dora’s non-region games involved teams in the county. Along with the opener against Cordova, Dora will host Curry in Week 5 and will close the season at home against Walker.
Glover is taking the team to the 4-H Center in Columbiana for a team camp Friday through Saturday.
Dora alumnus Preston Headrick will speak to the team on Friday.