A lot has changed in the past year for the West Lowndes High School football team.
More than 13 months ago, Anthony King returned to his alma mater to take over for Bobby Berry as the school’s football coach.
As excited as King was to wear the navy and gold that he did as a player at Motley High, he realized that the approval of his hiring in July left him little time to prepare his players and the program for the 2011 season.
As a result, King felt West Lowndes lacked the staying power and the conditioning needed to compete at the highest level and lost its final seven games of the season en route to a 2-9 finish.
King is confident this season will be different. Not only have he and his assistant coaches worked hard to get their players in the weight room, but the chance to work with them in seventh-period athletics also has helped push the Panthers to a higher state of readiness.
The progression showed last week in a 33-6 victory against Montgomery County in the season opener for both teams. West Lowndes will try to make it 2-0 and get some payback at 7:30 tonight when it plays host to Class 4A rival Caledonia.
“We looked at the film from last year and saw plays that we missed and good passes that were catchable passes that we missed,” King said. “We also saw defensive blown assignments. We pretty much beat ourselves last year, and we want to come out and prove it was a mistake and get the upper hand.”
Last season, Caledonia earned a 29-15 victory, it first in the series since 2004. West Lowndes won the previous two meetings in 2010 and ’09 that renewed a rivalry that saw Caledonia win in 2000 and 2002-04. West Lowndes won in 2001.
King said last season that conditioning played a part in the result. He believes the Panthers are in better shape and are better equipped to handle a talented opponent. King feels the Confederates will be dangerous operating out of the Wing-T, but that his defense will be able to use its speed to slow them down.
“Coach (Ricky) Kendrick is doing a really good job with those guys,” King said. “We looked at their film against Nettleton (a 50-6 victory) and they looked really good on special teams and are well coached. We think we should be able to play with them, and we think we should be able to get them. They’re not going to beat themselves, so we’re going to have to come out and be physical with them.”
King likes his team’s chances in that area because he feels this year’s team has better chemistry thanks in part to the work the team did in the offseason and in the preseason. He feels he has developed better relationships with the players and they have a better understanding of what he expects from them. Now it is time to go out and reap the benefits of all of the hard work and to have fun, he said.
“They are pretty excited about (last Friday) and are ready for the rest of the season,” King said. “We want to win it on the defensive side first. (The players) are pretty fired up. They are talking about how they’re going to be really aggressive up front. The guys on defense really believe they can stop any offense. … We have a fast defense with a lot of athletes on offense and defense, and our defense is real fast and physical.”
Kendrick also hopes to rely on chemistry in his third season at the school. After winning one game in 2010 and four in 2011, Kendrick feels the program is moving in the right direction. He acknowledges work still has to be done, especially to compete against Class 4A, Region 4 powers like Noxubee County and Louisville, but Kendrick saw plenty of positives from his team’s play against Nettleton. He believes a class of 21 seniors is going to make sure the team plays hard every week.
“We were efficient. That was the big thing,” Kendrick said. “You always worry about conditioning, and we’re in pretty good shape, but we had very few mistakes. On offense, the average grade for our kids on their positions was an 80. … They graded real high, which was pleasant surprise (given the time of the season). We had very few penalties. They played very disciplined.”
Kendrick also praised the play of the offensive line, which he said has come a long way since the spring. He said that unit has negotiated a move to the spread and the decision to go back to the Wing-T the team used last season. He doesn’t know if his kids like the Wing-T better, but he feels they have bought into the system and will do their best regardless of whether they are at a size disadvantage.
Kendrick hopes the presence of weapons like quarterback Ben Marchbanks, running back Onterio Lowery, and wide receiver Luke Eads, just to name three, helps the Confederates to make up for what they lack. Kendrick said Caledonia showed last week it has plenty of other players ready to contribute, which means a balanced attack
“You can’t run the Wing-T with one person. It is not that kind of offense,” Kendrick aid. “I think Ben and Onterio are good athletes. We will face some other teams down the road that probably have superior athletes that will be bigger and maybe faster, but if we just split it up and keep them from keying on those kids it will open opportunities for them.”
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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