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Jeff Morris decided to make a few changes to his Milan High School football team's weight-training program after a rather decisive loss to Alcoa in last year's Class 2A state championship game.

All of them were aimed at chasing down the five-time defending state champion Tornadoes.

"We really thought, especially on the offensive line, we just got physically manhandled (by Alcoa). We tried to change some things in our weight room with a little more emphasis through the year on building leg and hip strength, especially with our linemen," said Morris, who has won two state titles in 14 years as Milan's head coach.

"We had the idea that, if you catch up to Alcoa, you stay ahead of everybody else. We stayed ahead of everybody else. We just don't know if we've caught up to Alcoa yet."

The second-ranked Bulldogs (14-0) will find out once and for all at 4:30 p.m. Eastern time Friday when they once again will take on the top-ranked Tornadoes (14-0) in the Class 3A BlueCross Bowl at Tennessee Tech University's Tucker Stadium in Cookeville.

Morris believes his veteran team is "a little bit better" than a year ago, mostly because of the 26 seniors on Milan's roster, 19 of which will start against Alcoa.

Avery Williamson, a senior linebacker and fullback who verbally committed two weeks ago to play at the University of Kentucky, thinks the Bulldogs also are more capable of competing with the Tornadoes this time around.

"I know we are. We're just more ready," said Williamson, who was named the defensive most valuable player of last year's Class 2A BlueCross Bowl after setting a title-game record with 22 total tackles.

"We're more dedicated than last year's group, and I feel like we can give Alcoa more of a fight than we did last year."

All of Milan's offensive starters are seniors, including tailback Jobronski Gilbert, who has rushed for 1,588 yards and 31 touchdowns this season, and quarterback Zach Ryan, who has thrown for nearly 1,600 yards, 22 touchdowns and only five interceptions.

The Bulldogs are scoring 39.2 points per game, but their most noticeable improvement has been on defense. Nine of Milan's first 14 opponents scored fewer than 10 points, and three were shut out.

"The defense has been stingy with other offenses," Williamson said. "We've just been dominating everybody this year and not allowing them to get started. ...

"I'd say that's our strong point."