The Fort Dale Eagles are getting ready for a big celebration Friday night, but it won’t be Halloween. This is homecoming week at FDA.

During a regular game week, one of a coach’s biggest goals is getting his team to focus on the game, and that gets even harder during homecoming week.

“We’re going to have to work on that,” said head coach Speed Sampley. “Focus is going to be one of our hardest things this week.”

The Eagles are getting a visit from Shelby Academy.

“They’ve got a fairly decent line,” Sampley said. “They’re averaging around 293 across the front, which is as big as any team we’ve seen in a long time.”

“We may try to use that to our advantage and be a little quicker than they are,” he added.

Sampley said Shelby’s defense is built to not allow big plays.

“We’re going to see what we can find and then try to execute,” he said.

The Eagles are in the middle of several big games in a row.

Last week, they clinched a home field berth in the playoffs with a win over Lee-Scott, this week is homecoming, and next week the playoffs begin.

“We need to build on last week’s momentum,” Sampley said. “One of the biggest things is that we need to keep on rolling.”