After opening their season with a loss at the hands of Genoa Central, Strong has been busy preparing for its conference opener on Sept. 23 against Dermott.
For Strong coach Jason Porter, conditioning and fine-tuning the offense have been two top priorities for his team.
“We have focused heavily on conditioning and installing more offensive formations that fits our current personnel,” Porter said. “With Kaiden McHenry at quarterback at the moment, we have looked at some run wrinkles for him. This week we will be looking at our offensive line and getting them on the same page. We had some breakdowns that we just can’t have moving forward.”
Although the Bulldogs are in the midst of being idle for two weeks, Porter said staying healthy and making sure the team continues to work on conditioning are two areas he wants resolved before Strong starts conference play.
“I’m always concerned with conditioning and remaining healthy,” Porter said. “Additionally, we will be working with our backup quarterback to get him up to speed on things. Cedric Brown is the backup. He throws the ball very well and has plus speed.”
Porter added he was pleased with the effort of his defense in the setback to Genoa Central.
“Our defense played very well,” Porter said. “Only giving up two touchdowns to a 4A opponent was a bright spot. We had quite a few missed tackles that we are gonna clean up in the next few weeks in practice.”
With Spring Hill, Mountain Pine and Woodlawn all undefeated through the first three weeks of the season, the 2A-South looks to be even tougher than a year ago when the Bulldogs and Red Devils finished as the top two teams in the class.
“I feel like the conference is pretty stacked,” Porter said. “I haven’t seen Dermott or Hermitage, but the others all look stout. Hopefully, we can get a win against Dermott to start out 1-0 in conference.”
One area where Strong has made inroads is with streaming their football games.
Strong had its first stream with the contest against Genoa Central, and Porter said he has gotten positive feedback.
“I’m not sure how many watched on the live stream,” Porter said. “Both sides of our bleachers were full Friday night, so we had a huge turnout for the game. I did have some people say they watched it and were very happy they could watch at home, so we are glad we can provide that service.”