Generals to challenge Bulldogs

William Campbell football coach Brad Bradley is never one to shun a challenge.

So when it comes time to fill the Generals’ non-district schedule, he’ll play up in classification and travel out of state if necessary to test his team’s mettle early on.

That’s especially true this season, with William Campbell returning all but a few of its starters from last year’s squad that lost in the Region B championship game for the second straight season.

Bradley said he believes the Generals will match up well in tonight’s season opener at home against Thomasville, which has won three of the last four North Carolina Group AA title. Its 48-game winning streak was snapped in last year’s state semifinals.

“We’re definitely looking forward to the challenge,” Bradley said. “I’ll take my chances with my football team any day of the week. This year’s 2008 seniors, they’re hungry, they’re excited, they’re not going to back down from anybody. They’re never going to forget this game.”

That said, the Generals have their work cut out for them against a team that has seven state championships to its credit and hasn’t lost a regular-season game since 2003. In 2005, the year William Campbell won its second Group A, Division 1, VHSL state title in four years, Thomasville captured state crowns in football, boys and girls basketball and boys soccer.

“They’re probably the best program we’ve ever played at William Campbell,” Bradley said. “They’re right up there with Gretna or Buffalo Gap. We’ve seen film. They have a lot of great athletes, a lot of speed on defense. They have a great tailback (Jonathan Hinson-Braddy), a very elusive, very quick kid, and a defense that flies around very aggressively. We’ll match up well.”

Both teams may wind up starting back-up quarterbacks tonight due to injury. Junior Brandon “BeBe” Adams, a starting cornerback for the Generals last year, could get the nod over his older brother Baron, the projected third-year starter who sprained his ankle in a scrimmage two weeks ago against Amherst.

BeBe (pronounced “Bay-Bay”) Adams was the JV team’s starting QB as a freshman and played in last Friday’s scrimmage against Martinsville, throwing four touchdown passes.

“I’ve got full confidence in BeBe,” Bradley said. “BeBe is starting as a receiver so he knows the offense. He runs the offense. It’s not going to affect our play calling a bit.”

Thomasville is in a similar situation, with its starting quarterback having missed a scrimmage due to injury last week and his status questionable for tonight.

“(The starter) is more of a taller kid, a pocket passer,” Bradley said. “His backup, Isaiah Williams, is a very elusive kid with a good arm. He scares us with his scrambling ability.”

The Bulldogs run mostly a pro-I/multiple-I offensive set.

“Coach (Allen) Brown’s been there forever and he’s won a lot of football games,” Bradley said. “He keeps it simple. What he does, he does well. They play with discipline, they don’t make a lot of mistakes. We’ve got to make things happen on our side of the football.”