AUBURN, AL— For the folks in the south this time of the year, everyone is focused on football! On the first edition of the East Alabama Coaches Show of the 2023 season, Coach Matt Johnson sits down and discusses the road matchup with Abbeville

Everyone has different plans for how they spend their Wednesday afternoons, but for a big crowd of people in East Alabama that involves heading down I-85 for a trip to Moes Barbecue and viewing the East Alabama High School Football Coaches show live. The coaches show is hosted by great friends of Beulah Athletics, Kicker FM and Fox Sports the Game. The coaches show lasts the whole football season and is held each Wednesday night at Moes Barbecue on Bent Creek Road in Auburn.

Head Football Coach Matt Johnson was in attendence Wednesday night, and discussed with the radio crew about this weeks road matchup at Abbeville.

For Coach Johnson, he realizes the job at task with Abbeville, having played them last year. In last years game with Abbeville, turnovers got the best of the Bobcats and was the ultimate main reason for the deficit. The Bobcats had 7 turnovers last year vs. Abbeville, with 4 fumbles— one costing Beulah when Abbeville scored a touchdown off of a 70+ yard run. “You know Abbeville is a tough opponent. They’re big, they’re fast — they’re a really good team but I really have faith in our guys that they can get the job done.” Johnson said.

Beulah had a chance to cap off their pre season with a jamboree game vs. Woodland last Thursday. Johnson said “That game really helped us get the jitters out, the nervousness. We saw what mistakes we needed to correct and we tackled those mistakes first hand at practice, so it was good to have that going in.”

The Beulah Bobcats had it out for the Woodland Bobcats in the jamboree, winning by a score of 55-16. “I think it also gives our guys confidence in what they’re doing.” The Beulah Bobcats got a lot of their depth guys playing in the jamboree.

With being in the south this time of the year, we are experiencing heat like never before. DMark Mitchell opened up the radio broadcast discussing how this heat is the “hottest we’ve seen this time of the year since 2007.”

Coach Johnson knows the heat can be very challenging. “You have to go in there and acclimate them the best you can you know. It’s hot. We got to make sure we are staying healthy and not overdoing it in this heat.”

Johnson is thankful for the opportunity of having a jamboree. “It really helped us get acclimated to this heat — It was hot during the first half of that game and I think it’s really gonna benefit us having played in it already.”

Johnson credits Beulah’s athletic trainer, Payton Bradford for all of her hard work to keep them healthy. “We check their weight before practice and weight after practice — We’ve had a kid lose 6lbs in a practice before.” Johnson says that having Payton at Beulah has helped Beulah keep the ball rolling. Johnson says after practice, she works with the guys to help them get their weight back to where it needs to be. “She’s phenomenal.”

Beulah will play the Abbeville Yellow Jackets Friday Night at Henry County Board Of Education. Kickoff is set for a 7PM CT kick.