Foster: ‘An emotional game’

AUBURN -- Don’t let the final score fool you.

Foster will play LB and RB as a senior.

Auburn High School coach Tim Carter was not pleased with Thursday’s night’s 38-7 win over Troup County in a scrimmage game. His starters stumbled through a penalty- and mistake-filled first half and led just 14-7 at the break before turning it over to the backups.

“I think we’re a little overrated,” Carter said. “We’ve got to play a lot better offensively, especially. We made too many mistakes. I thought we controlled the flow of the game but we didn’t do a good job of capitalizing on our opportunities.

“...No serious injuries -- that’s great. We’ve got to keep getting better. If not, we’re going to be in for a short season. But there were a lot of positives to build on.”

One of the biggest stories heading into the game was the matchup of Auburn senior linebacker Reuben Foster against the school he transferred from last April. Foster finished with four tackles, a tackle-for-loss and one sack.

“It was an emotional game,” Foster said. “It felt like I didn’t want to hit them hard but at the same time, coach said get all up in them so I had to hit them.”

Foster, who is committed to Auburn University, even got some time on offense but his only carry turned into a 3-yard loss.

“Offense was good,” Foster said. “Someone came off their block so I had to bounce outside. It didn’t go to well.”

Foster should see his playing time on offense increase as the season moves along.

“Reuben is going to be a big part of what we do on offense, especially later in the season when the weather cools off. He’s a good back,” Carter said.

The stars of the night for Auburn’s offense were senior quarterback Cameron Echols-Luper and junior wide receiver Blaise Taylor. Echols-Luper, who is committed to Texas A&M, completed 5-of-11 passes for 123 yards and one touchdown. He also rushed for 43 yards on seven carries.


Taylor had two catches for 58 yards and had another 40-yard reception called back on a penalty.


“They made some plays and had some negated by penalties that would have allowed us to take a commanding league,” Carter said.

Taylor said he and Luper spent a lot of time working together this summer and is excited about the potential of their offense. He’s also very excited about the addition of Foster.

“He’s a phenomenal player and I love playing football with him,” Taylor said. “He makes the game exciting.”

Junior defensive end Rashaan Evans, who has offers from Auburn and Georgia, finished with 1.5 tackles and 1 tackles-for-loss.

Auburn opens the regular season Friday, Aug. 31 at Valley High School.