Simply Put- "David vs Goliath "

9/11/08
By: Clint Cox

Most of us remember the bible story of David, the small sheepherder boy, taking on Goliath, the massive giant of a man. And as most of us know, the outcome went the way of David. Of course he didn’t do it alone.
The story of David and Goliath has been used for many years in sports analogies when a small school or team takes on a large school or team. This Friday night the Graceville Tigers come to Marianna to take on the Bulldogs. The Tigers are a class 1B school, the smallest football classification in our state. The Bulldogs are a Class 2A school. Our state currently has six football classifications, which in ascending order are 1B, 1A, 2B, 2A, 3, 4, and 5. So from that you can tell Marianna is two classifications higher than Graceville.
Thus it is easy to make the David and Goliath comparison. And while the two teams do not play every year, they have played often enough that this is a big rivalry. Marianna has won the last two contest in 2006 and 2007. But the Tigers have had some success against Marianna in years past. And to say that they are chompin’ at the bit to take on the Bulldogs would be an understatement.
Small schools love to take on a larger school, as long as they don’t have to do it every week. When taking on a larger school they can play up the underdog mentality. They have nothing to lose in some respects. They are not picked by most folks to beat the larger school so if they do, it’s a feather in their cap. If they lose nobody expected them to win anyway. But don’t let that fool you into thinking they don’t want to win. Rest assured. The Graceville Tigers would love nothing more than to come into Marianna, the largest school in the county and the county seat, and knock off the Bulldogs. And they’ve got a team that could do just that this year. For the larger schools, in this case Marianna, playing the smaller schools is somewhat of a no win situation. If they win, everybody will say "So what, you beat a smaller school." If they lose, everybody will tease them that they got beat by a smaller school. But make no mistake, the Marianna Bulldogs would much rather be in the former situation than the latter. The ‘Dogs will be just as hungry for a victory.
So Simply Put, when it comes to an all Jackson County Football rivalry, both squads will lay everything on the line. Come out to Bulldog Stadium on Friday night and watch David (Graceville) take on Goliath (Marianna). It should be an outstanding game.

From the front porch: Coach said wisdom is knowing when to speak your mind and when to mind your speech.