By Jason Avery
News-Times Staff
For Parkers Chapel, there is no rest for the weary.
After falling in their season opener against Fouke on Monday, the Trojans take on Lafayette County in their home opener tonight.
Game time is set for 7 p.m. from Victor Nipper Stadium.
With such a quick turnaround, Parkers Chapel coach Jacob Midyett and his staff have had to walk a fine line in not only getting the Trojans ready, but also making sure they’re healthy.
“It’s definitely a different animal,” Midyett said. “They’re still sore from Monday, even today (Wednesday). We’ve put them in shoulder pads the past two days just to get some weight on them and try to work out some of that soreness.
“It’s been a lot of mental reps and a lot of not necessarily walking through things, but making sure we’re in the right spots and not necessarily hitting. It’s definitely a different task, and we’re trying to be as creative as possible without not practicing.”
Midyett himself believes the Trojans will be ready to go.
“We’re definitely still a little sore right now, but we picked it up a little more today (Wednesday), and we’ll do a little more with the preparation of being back to full speed on Friday,” Midyett said.
Turnovers were at the root of the Trojans’ loss on Monday, and Midyett said that while he doesn’t want the team to dwell on the loss, he wants them not to forget about those mistakes.
“We definitely don’t want to be hung up on it, but at the same time, I want them to think about it,” Midyett said. “We still feel like we beat ourselves. We turned the ball over three times in plus territory. We made a bunch of really dumb mistakes, and that’s why we lost. I want that in the back of their minds. We had it, we just didn’t execute. When we execute, we can be pretty good.”
While the Trojans (0-1) started their season on Monday, the Cougars (0-1) were shut out by Prescott 41-0 last Friday in their opener.
“Very athletic,” Midyett said of the Cougars. “They’ve got skill kids all over the place. Their big guys are very athletic as well. They got beat pretty bad by Prescott, but we know what Prescott is and what kind of team they have. You can’t look at that and let that be the indicator. They’re well-coached and they play hard.”
On offense, Midyett singled out senior wide receiver Drew Harris as a player the Trojans will have to keep an eye on.
“He can flat roll,” Midyett said. “He’s a big kid with a big body.”
C.J. Williams, a sophomore, is the Cougars’ quarterback.
Against Prescott, Williams was 7-for-10 passing for 47 yards with an interception while adding 30 yards rushing on 12 carries.
“Their quarterback is very mobile,” Midyett said. “He moves well and likes to keep the game in his hands. Holding him in check is going to be a big key.”
Midyett is also expecting the Cougars to try and pound the Trojans’ defense on the ground after Fouke’s success on Monday.
“I think they want to be spread, but after seeing what Fouke did to us, I’m sure we’ll get a heavy dose of the power-I as well,” Midyett said.
Senior Corderious Thompson, who registered seven tackles last week against Prescott, will have to be accounted for when the Trojans have the ball.
“He is a big body,” Midyett said, adding that the Cougars switch between a 3-3 and a 4-2 look on defense. “He looks around 6-2, 6-3, probably about 230, 240, and can move when he wants to.”
If the Trojans are to pick up their first win of the year, Midyett said they must avoid repeating Monday’s mistakes.
“We’ve got to eliminate the mistakes,” Midyett said. “Defensively, we’ve got to be aligned properly and be aware of our assignments and execute those assignments. Offensively, we’ve got to execute.”