BEARVILLE — Pierce County opens the 2026 season Friday with the longest bus ride in program history traveling over 360 miles to Gadsden, Ala.
The pre-season Class AAA 10th-ranked Bears open against defending Class AA state champion Coosa Christian at Phillip Ellen Stadium with kickoff set for 7 p.m. central time and 8 p.m. eastern time.
The facility is located at 2736 Wills Creek in Gadsden for those planning to make the six-hour plus drive.
The meeting is the third straight year between the two programs and the first for PCHS in the state of Alabama. The Bears won 41-7 in 2024 and 20-7 last season. Coosa Christian returns to Bearville next year.
“We’ve still got a ways to go,” was eighth-year head coach Ryan Herring’s assessment following the last pre-season scrimmage at Wayne County. “We (coaches) saw some things that we definitely have got to improve on.”
Three things jumped out for Herring — better blocking, better tackling and better conditioning.
“We didn’t put our (blocking) rules into use at times and we didn’t stay on a couple blocks,” he said. “Defenders were getting off blocks and making plays. We missed tackles hoping the runner would just fall down. We’ve got to finish with our hands.
“We got a little tired and had several guys cramp up in third quarter. We can’t have that happen. We’ve (staff) got to do a lot better job with hydration, getting electrolytes and stuff in them. It’s going to be hot and it’s going to be tougher as we get into the schedule. So, we’ve got a lot of stuff we definitely can work on and improve on.”
Coosa Christian, which graduated nine seniors, is under the leadership of first-year head coach Alaric Williams, who served as the Conquerors’ offensive coordinator last year under legendary head coach Rush Propst. After dropping its first two games, Coosa Christian won its final 13 games to claim the state title.
It marked the third time in four years the Conquerors reached the final game of the year having lost in 2022 and 2023. Coosa Christian missed the playoffs in 2024 after the Alabama High School Association discovered infractions in the program.
Coach Williams said in an interview after his hiring he was hitting the hallways trying to recruit players who played other sports.
“I’m looking for high character guys who relentless and won’t quit,” he said.
Four returning senior players joined Williams for a pre-season press conference. The list included senior wide receiver/cornerback Rex Dodd (5-foot-9, 175 lbs.), defensive back Trevon Heard (5-9, 150), wide receiver/cornerback Hayden Pearce (5-6, 140) and middle linebacker/strong safety Haden Palmer (6-foot, 160).
Palmer returns as the leading tackler to the defensive side. He recorded the fifth-most tackles with 111 and was third with 21 tackles for loss (165 for team). Palmer had 2.5 sacks and one fumble recovery.
Pearce was sixth in tackles with 109 and had one TFL. Offensively, he had five carries for 34 yards and two receptions for one yard.
Dodd finished last season with 61 tackles and three tackles behind the line of scrimmage. Heard totaled 59 tackles, five TFLs, recovered three fumbles and had one interception. On the offensive side, Dodd carried eight times for 57 yards and a touchdown.
“Some of their (Conquerors) top players have transfered out,” said Herring of the matchup. “Our first two meetings have been good games.”
The veteran coach said Coosa Christian is running some of the same stuff from the past two years under Williams as the offensive coordinator.
“They (Conquerors) are going to give you a lot of flavors with a two-back, one-back and spread look,” said Herring. “They want to run at you, hit you with some jet sweeps, throw the quick passing game and throw it deep.
“I want to see us continue to play hard on defense. I’ve been happy with the effort in the two scrimmages. We’ve just got to get our football IQ better and improve our tackling.”
Herring said Coosa Christian wants to be an even front (four-man) from what he has seen on tape.
“We’ll probably see a lot of things,” he added. “We’ve got to establish a physical dominance because we’re going to have more people dressed than they will. I would like for our run-pass ratio to be about 80-20 and throw when we want. If that percentage is higher than 20 then we’re not doing what we want.”
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