By Jason Avery
News-Times Staff
The last few weeks have been ones of constant adjustment for Strong’s coaching staff.
After losing to Woodlawn 46-6 in Week 4, Hermitage canceled the rest of their season due to low numbers, giving the Bulldogs a bye week in Week 7.
Woodlawn themselves struggled with low numbers all season long, and after losing a few players to injuries in last week’s 47-0 loss to Hampton, the Bears elected to cancel their remaining three games earlier this week, giving Strong an unexpected second straight week off.
“They started with 19 players, and that was because they canceled the junior high season and moved their four ninth-graders up,” Strong coach Greg Anthony said. “They wanted to have a senior high program so it wouldn’t throw all of the senior high teams in the conference in a bind for not playing.
“He (Woodlawn coach Neil Barbaree) used his ninth-graders mainly for practice and didn’t play them. After they played Hampton on Friday, he texted me Saturday and he told me they were down to 10 players. He had three get hurt in the Hampton game that had to be taken to the hospital.
“We talked Saturday night two or three times, and we talked on Sunday. On Monday, I talked with him early in the morning, and he said it looked like that two of those guys were going to be able to play, and another guy that was previously hurt looked like he was going to be able to play, so he was back up to 13 and was planning on coming.
“Coach (Anthony) Avery talked to their principal on Monday, and he really had not talked to the coach and he really didn’t know the whole story, so he told coach Avery that him, the superintendent, the athletic director and the head coach would talk Tuesday morning. Coach Barbaree texted me about 9:30 in the morning that they had decided to go ahead and cancel the rest of the season due to safety concerns.”
By being idle for a second straight week, it will have been three weeks since the Bulldogs have played when they travel to Parkers Chapel next week in a showdown with major playoff implications for both schools.
The Trojans won at Woodlawn 44-13 in Week 5, but are idle this week due to Hermitage ending their season.
If there is one benefit to having this week off for the Bulldogs, it gives them extra time to prepare for the Trojans.
“We’ve changed our preparation from Woodlawn to Parkers Chapel,” Anthony said. “We looked at some stuff defensively and started installing what we’re doing. What it allows us to do is now we have all of this week and the first part of next week to get everything in instead of two days, so we’re putting in the game plan for Parkers Chapel in phases.
“It gives us a little bit more time to make sure they understand exactly what we’re doing. We don’t have to rush as much. It’s going to be the same thing for them. We’re in the same boat.”
After a 3-0 start, the Bulldogs lost their first three games in league play before their break, and Anthony said his team has gotten plenty of bumps and bruises healed.
“Since we were off last week, it looks like we got everybody healed up for the most part,” Anthony said. “They’re moving a whole lot better in practice. They have a little bit more spring to them.”
Among those that have been hobbled but are working their back to full strength is senior Desmond Newton.
“Dez didn’t play but a quarter against Hampton. He played the first quarter, and then he didn’t play again,” Anthony said.
“His thigh had been real sore and tight for about two or three weeks. We couldn’t get it loose, but he’s moving a whole lot better.
“We had some linemen that were banged up a little bit, and we’ve been trying to get them healthy.
“I think everybody is pretty much healthy. Going into these last few weeks, you want everybody to be healthy, and you want everybody to stay healthy with what’s on the line.”
One concern Anthony does have is that the Bulldogs won’t have seen any live competition until they face the Trojans.
“That is a concern,” Anthony said. “Last week, we didn’t put the pads on at all.
“We just went back to fundamentals and stayed in shorts and helmets and got everybody healthy.
“On Monday, we watched film on Woodlawn, and it just happened to be the Woodlawn-Parkers Chapel film.
“We were planning on getting ready for Woodlawn, but we put them in full pads and went back through some basic fundamentals. Being out two weeks is a concern.
“My main concern is not playing competition. The hitting, I think we’ll be OK.
“They hit pretty well and they were excited to get the pads back on.
“They had competition amongst themselves about who was going to whip who on pass rush and who could block who and everything, so if we can carry that over to next week, I think we’ll be fine, but it’s a concern.”