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Andalusia (7-4) will take on a familiar foe and look to make history at UMS-Wright (5-6) in the second round of the Class 5A AHSAA state playoffs on Friday, Nov. 15, at 7 p.m.

This will be the 21st battle of the Bulldogs and their fifth encounter in the playoffs following three semi-final matchups and a quarterfinal contest. UMS-Wright leads the all-time series 18-2. Andalusia, which seeks its first-ever win in Mobile, won the last meeting on a goal-line stand at home in the third round during the 2021 season.

Head Coach Trent Taylor said UMS-Wright would be no stranger to his team.

“Over the last 10 years, we have played them in a lot of games and sometimes twice in the same year. They will be super well coached and play in a very tough region with Vigor, Williamson, and Citronelle, who are all really good football teams. There has not been a single game in which they have been blown out. Coach (Terry) Curtis will have them ready to play, and they would love nothing more than to get to the quarterfinals just like we would,” Taylor said.

Andalusia comes into the game with a 12-4 record in the second round and is 5-3 on the road. UMS-Wright is 26-6 in round two and sports a 17-3 home record at this stage.

Taylor added that UMS’ overall record does not indicate the type of team they have this season. One of those factors is how each region falls every two years geographically with re-alignment.

“The last couple of years when we were in 4A, we were not in a very good region. You can have a really impressive record but not necessarily be a really good football team. On the other hand, your record cannot be indicative of the football team you have. That’s certainly the case with UMS, but I’d like to think it’s also the same as far as Andalusia is concerned. We played in a really good region but also played some really non-region opponents,” he said.

Last week, Andalusia downed Elmore County in the first round at home, 27-7. UMS-Wright made the trip to Demopolis and earned a 21-7 win.

Taylor said he felt his team played well defensively against Elmore County.

“We took advantage of some turnovers and brought pressure against them. Elmore County was not your typical three seed and like us, they also played in a tough region with Central of Clay County and Beauregard. In years past, we have been accustomed to an easier opponent in the first round but knew that wasn’t the case this time after watching film. It was not our best performance offensively. Regardless of the numbers, we have to create space for our running backs. This week, we have to do a better job of making sure we have people headed in the right direction doing what we need to do up front,” he said.

Coupled with a heavy non-region schedule and region opponents, the Bulldogs have faced adversity at several points this year.

“We have handled the wins and losses well and have come back to work on Monday. We put ourselves in this situation starting with 32 teams last week in the playoffs. Now, we are down to 16, and I don’t think anybody would have given Andalusia a chance around week 5 or 6 of being in the top 16 teams in 5A football. I can’t say enough about how proud I am of this particular group,” Taylor said.

The winner will play Vigor or Eufaula in the quarterfinal round next week.