Andalusia football players have been put through their paces the last couple of weeks as the Bulldogs wrap up their 2014 session of spring training this week.

Every day, the Bulldogs have been in full pads, and coaches have wanted practice to be as physical as possible, AHS head football coach Brian Seymore said.

Although that may be a good indicator of what separates the men from the boys, it does, however, mean that players have gotten injuries.

“We’ve got a lot of kids banged up,” Seymore said. “Unlike in the fall, now you have time to wait. They have time to heal over the summer.”

Seymore said spring training this year has gone real well.

“I think, as far as coming to work every day and learning quickly and us just throwing a lot at them, our kids have responded,” he said. “I think our kids are looking forward to competing against somebody else.”

Seymore is talking about Saturday night’s spring game at Brantley. Andalusia and Brantley are set to kick off at 6 p.m. with the first quarter for the younger kids — middle schoolers moving up to high school and the junior varsity players. The second quarter is for all reserve players on both sides of the ball. In the second half, both teams will play whoever is left or who they want to play.

Seymore said the spring game will be a good way for kids to get a good look from coaches because the Bulldogs are dealing with depth issues.

Now that spring sports are over at AHS, the Bulldogs have all of their coaches and each are on the same page.

“This is an opportunity to get 10 more days of practice in,” Seymore said.

The biggest positive Seymore said he’s seen during the spring is his team’s offensive line production.

“They set the tone at the end of last year,” he said. “They carried that over on what they had already built last year.”

One of the biggest questions Bulldogs fans are asking is what the defense looks like early on.

Seymore said he knows that there are going to be some big shoes to fill at the linebacker spots with Montel Lee and Daniel Henderson graduating.

However, the coach did say that they went back to a 4-2-5 defensive formation this spring from a 3-4 last year.

“I feel like guys have stepped up and took those roles,” he said. “That’s (the linebackers) still going to be a question mark going into the fall.

“But, to see those guys respond and hungry still is good,” he said. “It’s a big opportunity (for them). We’ve been based out of the 3-4 the last two years, and we went to a 4-2-5 formation, which is what I’ve done in the past.”

The new formation will allow Andalusia’s defensive linemen to participate more in a pass-rush scheme if need be.

Seymore said all of the players will enter the summer workout season on a good note.