After being shutout in their season opener Thursday against 2A Flomaton 35-0, things do not get any easier for the W.S. Neal Eagles this week as they welcome preseason No. 1 UMS-Wright to town for their home and region opener.

UMS-Wright dropped their season opener as well Friday losing to 6A McGill-Toolen 41-16.

W.S. Neal Eagle head coach Kevin Jordan said his team and coaches are making changes for this week after being ‘embarrassed’ Thursday on the road in the loss to Flomaton.

“Obviously we are disappointed in the way we played,” Jordan said. “To be honest with you, I did not see that coming. I thought we would play a little better than we did but you have to give Flomaton credit. They did a good job.”

As for the UMS-Wright game Friday in East Brewton, the Bulldogs return running back Chris Dukes who has more than 2,000 yards in the 2008 and 2009 seasons.

“First of all, he is one of the best backs in the state,” Jordan said. “He has been for a couple of years. They are solid on both offense and defense and it is your typical type of UMS team. They don’t make mistakes and are very well coached.

“They are very solid on both sides of the ball and very solid in their kicking game as well.”

Jordan said the Bulldogs have one of the best punters in the state in No. 14, Chase Williamson.

“They are very solid all the way around,” Jordan said. “They are not quite as big upfront as they have been but they come off the ball very well. They do a good job with their three-man front and they move a lot of people around, twisting and that type of thing so we will have to be prepared for that.”

Another key player is a big defensive end in No. 84, Dreshun Buford.

“He is a 6-4, 240 pound senior and is one of their defensive ends,” Jordan said. “He is a good football player. They are just real solid.”

Jordan said the Bulldogs played two quarterbacks Friday against McGill.

“They are both solid and it is going to be a challenge for us,” Jordan said.

Jordan said the thing his team has to do is to work on themselves.

“I think first of all we have to block and tackle better,” Jordan said. “It seems like right now we will have everyone doing their job on offense and one guy will get beat and we will get tackled in the backfield. We have not played that bad upfront on offense. It just seems like a different guy will miss a block on a particular play and then it is a negative play for us. We are not executing each play offensively and that is something we have to work on having all 11 guys working and doing their job because right now it is just one guy costing us.”

Jordan said on defense, it is just simple—tackle.

“We missed 29 tackles the other night,” Jordan said. “If we tackle better, we will instantly become a better football team. We had six missed tackles on Flomaton’s first touchdown. We missed another six on special teams. If we tackle better, we will be better. We are going to make some changes this week moving some kids around to find the best spot for them.

“Bottom line is we are going to get better. The kids are committed to it, we are going to get better as a coaching staff. We were all embarrassed by the way we played. We are going to go out and have a good week of practice and get better.”

Game time is at 7 p.m. in East Brewton.