ABERDEEN — Staying positive is the only way Aberdeen High School football coach Chris Duncan knows.
While some around the state and in Aberdeen might be scratching their heads wondering how a team many pegged as the Class 3A state champion before the season started can be 2-2.
A schedule whose strength compares to some Southeastern Conference schools is a good reason. The Bulldogs have defeated Class 4A Amory and Shannon and have lost to Class 4A Noxubee County and Class 6A Columbus.
Things don”t figure to get any easier tonight, even though Aberdeen will step down in classification to play host to Class 2A West Bolivar at 7:30.
West Bolivar (3-1) lost to Calhoun City in the Class 2A North State title game last season. It returns junior running back Kailo Moore, a 5-foot-11, 190-pound junior, who gave a verbal commitment to the University of Mississippi in June. He has rushed for 528 yards (7.7 yards per carry) and six touchdowns, including a 213-yard effort last week in a 16-14 loss to East Side. He also rushed for more than 100 yards in victories against Clarksdale and Cleveland.
Duncan knows his defense led by Justin Lucas, Channing Ward, and Zavia Forshee, which already is being asked to do a lot, will have a tough challenge tonight.
“We”re playing the best running back in the state,” Duncan said.
Duncan stuck to his positive message Friday following a 16-6 loss to Noxubee County. He praised his players for their effort against one of the best defenses in the state, and complimented the offense and freshman quarterback Josh Williams for their improvement. He lamented the fact a penalty in the fourth quarter wiped a long gain that would have given the Bulldogs the ball in the Tigers” red zone, but he remains confident this schedule will prepare his team for the playoffs.
“We had three or four teams on the schedule last year in the first six games that we could do whatever we wanted to,” Duncan said. “I could go out there and turned my back and called the play and we would have won the ballgame. This year, the teams we are playing are so much better and really good defensively.”
Duncan said he purposely increased the strength of his team”s schedule because he wanted the Bulldogs to be tested each week and to work hard every day in practice. He said it was impossible to know other circumstances would come into play and that the Bulldogs would be without a player who was projected to be one of their leaders on offense. Still, he said the players have responded and are up to the challenge of getting the program back to Jackson, the site of the Class 3A state title game, and win it this year after finishing as the runner-up the past two years.
“I think in two weeks (and the start of district play) things will be a whole lot better,” Duncan said. “I think it has been good for us. I think our kids have had to fight every week and it has made them better. We are a more physical ballteam than we were at this time last year, and I think it is because of the competition we”re playing. We have to be.”
Duncan feels it will be a “matter of time” before the Bulldogs rebuild their confidence, which he admits has been shaken in part because so many people, especially in Aberdeen, have pushed the panic button. Duncan said the key for the Bulldogs will be to tune out the outsiders and to believe in themselves and to believe in the program. If they do, he feels the six-round warmup, which ends next week with a game at Louisville, will teach his players how to respond when they are punched in the mouth by a physical team with comparable athletes.
“You got beat by two real good football teams, and you felt like in both of them that if you would have been a little more mature you would have had a chance to win the game,” Duncan said. “I think there are some good things down the road. The kids and coaches have to keep things in perspective, and the fans have to understand we”re playing Noxubee County, Columbus, Shannon, and teams like that that are really good and it is not going to be name the score.
“If we want to get to the level we want to get to in Class 3A, we have to play these type of teams.”
To prove his point, Duncan referred to the 2008 Louisville High team that started the season 0-3 and won the state title. He said Aberdeen is playing a schedule that compares in terms of difficulty and one he knows will get everyone ready.
“I think we”re going to get in division and we will start rolling and I don”t think we will look back,” Duncan said.
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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