Following a 35-13 loss to Morgan County last week, Greene County looks to get back in the win column this Friday.
Tigers’ head coach, Terrance Banks, had a simple, clear message for his team.
“It’s over,” Banks said. “I’m proud of how we responded in the second half. We’ll keep pushing forward and getting ready for our next opponent as we get better headed toward region play.”
Banks acknowledged he was glad his team faced some early season adversity before region play begins.
“I think adversity is good. I don’t think anybody likes to lose, and [my players] are definitely upset because [the loss] was [to] Morgan,” Banks said. “Anytime there’s wins and losses, it’s about finding the messaging, and for them it was, when we do things well, we have success.
“If you look at the second half, it was a pretty even game, and that’s because we got back to [executing] and not pressing. That was the overall message.
Performing to our abilities is the most important thing.”
The Tigers (3-1), ranked No. 6 in Class A Division II, will host Class AA’s Laney (3-1) at Tiger Stadium for a 7:30 p.m. kick-off. The Wildcats have won three consecutive games, with victories over Hephizbah, Putnam County, and Oglethorpe County, and hope to continue the streak.
Laney is a physical football team on each side of the ball. The Wildcats have averaged nearly 32 points over the last three games, led by dual-threat weapons Angus Myrick and Carl Holmes.
“Laney is a lot like us and even Putnam County,” Banks said. “They want to run the ball physically out of the single-wing (formation) and then throw when they need to. They want to control the ball.”
Laney’s defense has given opponents fits this season despite giving up an average of 20 points in the last three weeks. The Wildcats’ defensive front has proven vulnerable against the run.
Fortunately, Greene has three solid options at running back with Doremus Alexander, Amari Durham, and Travez Gibson. Morgan County didn’t do a solid job of keeping them contained in last week’s game.
Banks’ primary focus is on his team, though. He wants his players to keep improving from week to week.
“We’ve just got to continue to get better,” he said. “We took these games [against Morgan County and Laney] back-to-back as measuring sticks to find out what we’re made of and where we’re at. So, it’ll be good to get one more game in before the bye week, which will allow us to rest up.”