The Greene County football team has been preparing for their intersquad Black and Gold game is set to be played this Friday at 6 p.m. in Tiger Stadium.
With first-year head coach Terrance Banks at the helm, the Tigers have been focusing on the fundamentals.
After going 4-6 last year and barely missing the state playoffs, Banks believes the culture his staff is instilling will bring more success.
“The main things we focus the most on is teaching the kids fundamentals and seeing who wants to perform hard,” Banks said. “That will make them better, and that’s what we’re trying to leave the spring with.”
A lot of changes are coming to the program, but the continuity of the roster is one of the main strengths of this year’s Tigers team. Greene County only graduated six seniors last year, and some of their most dynamic playmakers are returning for another season.
Sophomore Steve Miller is one of those players, and Banks believes his leadership and aspirations will have a big impact on the team.
“[He] wants to reach this lofty status of being talked about one day at Greene County, and he’s put in so many hours of work to do so,” Banks said. “He wants to be mentioned with the Kelly’s and the Nesbitt’s of the world, and those are high aspirations that most kids would back down from but not for him.”
Other players like senior running back and outside linebacker Malik West and junior wide receiver and safety Kamari Smith will also play an instrumental role on both sides of the ball for the Tigers.
In terms of position groups, Banks has been very pleased with the way his veteran offensive line has looked during spring practice.
“I don’t think people realize how much experience is back on our offensive line, and like anything in football, if our offensive line gels and meshes, then that’s going to propel us further,” Banks said. “I think our line has a very good chance to be good the way they are coming together.”
The Tigers have been stressing the importance of family and togetherness over the last two weeks. So much so that it played a role in not scheduling an outside opponent for their spring scrimmage game.
Banks truly believes that the team focusing on itself will bring more consistency for years to come.
“Greene County football, for the last six to seven years, has been up and down. They win games and make the quarterfinals, and then they fall off a cliff,” Banks said. “My main thing is that I want to keep us on that winning plateau. I think the talent is there, but it’s the cohesiveness that needs to be there when it comes down to it.”