CALEDONIA — It’s time for an attitude adjustment.
Through three weeks, the Caledonia High School football team averaged more than 35 points a game in getting off to a 2-1 start.
A shutout of East Webster the next week lifted Caledonia to 3-1, but shutout losses to New Hope and to Ackerman followed. The losing streak grew to three last week after a 20-6 loss to Leake Central in the Class 4A, Region 4 opener.
“I just didn’t think we played well,” said Kendrick, whose team will play host to Houston at 7 p.m. Friday in another Class 4A-4 game. “We’re not playing as hard as we did early in the year. We have to find a way to fix that.”
Caledonia coach Ricky Kendrick acknowledges his team is playing tougher competition than it did earlier in the season, but he said the Confederates (3-4) aren’t playing like they did in that opening stretch.
Kendrick said Caledonia continues to make too many mistakes. He pointed to a block in the back penalty in last week’s game that wiped out a touchdown that could have tied the game. He said the Confederates weren’t making those mistakes early in the season.
Kendrick isn’t sure about his team’s mind-set. He said the Confederates are playing hard and are investing good effort into the plays, but the discipline is lacking because there have been too many mental breakdowns. He isn’t sure if his players are trying too hard or if they are in unfamiliar territory against tough district competition.
Things only will get tougher for Caledonia. It will have to face region front-runners Louisville and Noxubee County in its final three games. Winless Kosciusko also is in that mix. The top four teams from the region will advance to the postseason, so Kendrick knows the Confederates still have time to make their case. But he said everyone has to regroup and find the focus that sparked the team’s fast start.
“I think it is growing pains,” Kendrick said. “I wouldn’t have expected (these things would be happening). I thought we would be competing a little better than what we are. The injuries caught us, but something has rattled us and shook us.”
Kendrick said he watched film of Caledonia’s game against Leake Central and its season-opening game against Nettleton. He said several guests were in the video room watching the videos and one remarked that Caledonia looked like two different teams. He agreed and said that the players agree, too. The trick is finding the attitude that gives the Confederates an edge and helps it overcome other areas Kendrick said his team and others in the district are working to improve.
“I thought the Houston coach said it real well the other day when we were talking about being behind some of the other teams in our district,” Kendrick said. “He said, ‘Well, they ain’t going to stop and wait for us to catch up.’ We just have to work with our young kids and get them by the time they get up here that they can physically match people. We’re getting physically overmatched. I think that is getting in our kids’ heads. I think from the New Hope game forward we have been facing a little better caliber people, and I think it is not so much we’re doing anything wrong, but I think mentally we have let that affect us a little bit.”
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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