TIFTON — Fitzgerald High Purple Hurricanes football coach Robby Pruitt began his high school coaching career in Jacksonville. At the same time in another school in the Florida city, Jim Scroggins was also coaching.
After a long, successful career in Florida, Pruitt would eventually go on to Fitzgerald in 2000, where he has made the Purple Hurricanes a perennial state power.
Scroggins stayed in Florida until this year when he became the head coach at Cook High School in Adel.
The two coaches will see their careers again intersect Friday when Scroggins takes his Cook High Hornets to Fitzgerald to face Pruitt and the Purple Hurricanes.
“We have known each other a long time,” Scroggins said of his friendship with Pruitt.
The Fitzgerald coach also praised Scroggins and the remainder of the Cook coaching staff.
“I know their coaches well. They are all good men,” said Pruitt.
While the coaches have a lot of respect for each other, both also want their teams to perform well Friday night.
Fitzgerald will enter the game with a 7-1 overall record, coming off of their first loss of the year, 28-14 last Friday at Thomasville. Cook will enter with a 6-2 overall mark. The Hornets have also fallen to Thomasville, 28-0, while Cook’s other defeat came at the hands of Early County, 21-14. Fitzgerald defeated Early 24-21 Oct. 19 in Blakely.
The Cook contest will be Fitzgerald’s third straight against either team that is ranked among the top 10 teams in the state or has been ranked this season.
“Right now we’re beat up. We have a lot of kids hobbling with shoulders and ankles,” said Pruitt. “We will just have to fight through it.”
Those injuries could have played a part in the loss to Thomasville as the Bulldogs jumped out to a quick 21-0 lead over the Hurricanes.
“They were up on us, 21-0, before the second quarter had even begun good,” said Pruitt. “I was proud of the way we fought back. We outscored them the rest of the way and we had a dropped touchdown pass and had a kickoff return called back because of a penalty.”
Scroggins noted Fitzgerald’s late success against Thomasville.
“They moved the ball a lot better against Thomasville than we did,” the Cook coach said.
While the Hurricanes were falling in Thomasville, the Hornets enjoyed a 48-7 victory over Berrien High in Nashville.
“I think we are making some progress. We are doing some things better and I was very happy that we had no turnovers against Berrien,” said Scroggins.
Jawon Smith leads Cook in rushing with 457 yards on 52 carries, an average of 8.8 yards per carry. Smith also has eight touchdowns on the year.
Shannon Brown has 451 yards on 53 carries and five scores, while Thad Williams has 232 yards on 51 carries.
Quarterback T.J. Payne has rushed for 151 yards on 16 carries. He also has completed 20-of-59 passes for 309 yards.
“We seem to be throwing the ball a bit better,” said Scroggins.
Williams has been Payne’s favorite target as he has caught 18 passes for 156 yards.
“They have a lot of quickness, they are a typical Cook team,” Pruitt said.
Jemea Thomas leads the Hurricanes with 567 yards rushing on 63 carries. He also has seven touchdowns on the year.
Larry King has rushed 63 times for 411 yards and six scores, while Nick Williams has rushed for 360 yards on 59 carries.
Trenton Pruitt has 276 yards rushing on 52 carries and has caught 20 passes for 180 more yards.
Brad Taylor has completed 44-of-99 passes for 564 yards and six touchdowns.
Thomas has eight catches for 128 yards and R.J. Davis has seven catches for 150 yards.
“They are a mighty good football team,” said Scroggins. “They are a well-oiled machine on offense.”
The Cook coach continued, “I think we have improved a lot this year. I am just hoping we can have a real good football game and stay close to them and hopefully win at the end. They will be a good measuring stick for us.”
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