“Put Another Log on the Fire”

This Friday night the Marianna Bulldogs play host to the Chipley Tigers. This game has always been Marianna’s biggest rivalry on the grid iron. In fact the two squads hooked up in 1925 in Marianna’s first football season and have played almost every year since. A check in the record book reveals the only team that Marianna has played more is Walton County.

Throw into this year’s game that it’s homecoming, and Chipley is now in Marianna’s district again. A win by the Bulldogs puts them into the playoffs. And oh yeah there is one more twist that will make this year’s game even more interesting. Chipley’s current Head Football Coach was Marianna’s Head Football Coach for the last two seasons.

Rob Armstrong came to Marianna for the 2007 football season. For two years he put a solid team out on the field that made the playoffs as the district runner up. Last year’s squad won 8 regular season games, the most by a Bulldog squad since the 2000 season. But after two seasons he departed this past summer and took the job at Chipley.

Another check of the record books reveals no previous Marianna Head Football coach that left to take the same job at Chipley. In fact I don’t know of any Marianna Head Football Coach that has ever been a Head Football Coach at Chipley. So Armstrong’s departure to Chipley, and return to Marianna this Friday night, is history in the making.

I’ll be the first to admit that I was not close enough to the situation to know exactly why Armstrong left Marianna for Chipley. I do know that he was close to Marianna’s Principal Randy Ward, who hired Armstrong in 2007. The two had coached together at Graceville years ago and both liked each other. With a new superintendent of schools there were some shuffling of principals and Ward was one of those principals. He was transferred to Grand Ridge.

Like most folks I suspect I have heard some of the other reasons he might of left. But I don’t know what is factual or not. I’ve never asked Armstrong and don’t plan to, ‘cause I figure it ain’t any of my business.

What I do know is that it is going to be very interesting this Friday night. As far as I know, both Armstrong and the current Bulldog coaches and players have nothing but mutual admiration for each other. But while neither side would publically admit it, rest assured both want to beat the other awfully bad. Not out of disrespect or dislike, but rather out of respect. So an already intense rivalry, Simply Put, just got another log put on the fire.

From the front porch: Uncle Bob says he is not a brick shy of a load, as some have claimed. He does admit however that the load has shifted a bit.