RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 1 sourcesKINSTON, Ala. ( WDHN )—If you just look at their overall record, the Kinston Bulldogs simply had a disappointing 2025 season after finishing 3-7.
But in all actuality, that record doesn't tell the full story of that team's season and their performance.
Of their seven losses, three came in matchups that ended with a seven-point deficit or less, but the team's head coach, Rudy Free, believes his team is better suited to finish close games heading into the new season.
"We lost three games on the last play of the game," Free said. "I think we were fatigued a lot of the time at the end of games because we had guys playing both ways. It's not an excuse, but I feel it factored into those losses. But now, we'll have more kids that can play."
The Bulldogs enter the 2026 season with one of their deepest rosters in recent memory, as they will dress out around 50 players, with a core nucleus of juniors and seniors accounting for half of the roster size.
Junior quarterback John Simmons will be leading the offense for yet another season, and will be joined by his running mate in the backfield, Judson Green, Kinston's lead running back, who accounted for 1,400 yards and 14 touchdowns during his junior season last year.
With the bulked-up roster, it provides the Kinston coaching staff with a breath of fresh air, but it also indicates this team can no longer use inexperience as a crutch for its performance.
"The last couple of years, we've always said we were young, and we were. But that's not an excuse now...To me, that's probably the biggest difference right now from the last couple of years: we're going to have older kids. In football, you need older kids to be successful."
In addition to opening their season with a three-game road stretch, Kinston's road to the playoffs won't get any easier in 2026 as the team will now compete in an updated region that adds programs like Abbeville and Samson, while keeping other mainstays like Brantley and Florala.
For Free, he knows that if his team wants to have a post-season run, they cannot afford to let close ball games slip away from them.
"In the fourth quarter, hopefully we'll be a little fresher with the more guys and more depth that we have; I think that will help us finish games a little better. We were very close last year at times, but we've been close too much. We have to get over the hump"
2026 Kinston Bulldog Football Schedule (* denotes region game)
Aug. 21st - @ Zion Chapel
Aug. 28th - @ Geneva County
Sep. 4th - @ Elba *
Sep. 11th - Brantley *
Sep. 18th - @ Florala *
Sep. 25th - @ Red Level
Oct. 2nd - Barbour County *
Oct. 9th - Samson *
Oct. 16th - @ Abbeville *
Oct. 23rd - Pleasant Home *
Oct. 30th - OPEN
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