Fort Dale won the battle versus Lee-Scott last Friday, but not without incurring some casualties. Full strength or not, however, Fort Dale will face Lyman Ward next week, a 1-A school that has been struggling to compete at the 3-A level, Sampley said.

Three Fort Dale starters are now on the bench, and the possibility of all them returning this season is slim to none.

“In this game, people are going to get hurt,” said head coach Speed Sampley. “You better have a plan or a way around it or you aren’t going to be that successful.”

An emergency appendectomy put tight end Caleb Luckie out of commission last Wednesday, but he is expected to return.

The Eagles lost two wide receivers in Friday’s game. Eli Blackmon is expected to be out for seven weeks while he recovers from a broken ankle. Stuart Matthews, however, tore his ACL in the fourth and is not expected to return for the remainder of the season.

“We really got to rally the troops and get these other guys ready to play, because that’s what we are going to have to work with for the rest of the season,” Sampley said. “We tell them everyday in practice, ‘you better work hard cause it is going to be your turn sometime down the road.’ And sometimes, like now, that time comes a little sooner than you intended it to.”