CALEDONIA — Andy Crotwell and Kris Pickle have used bye weeks early in the 2016 season to gauge where their teams can improve.
At 7 tonight, the Caledonia and New Hope high school football coaches will get a chance to put what they have learned to the test when the Lowndes County rivals square off in Caledonia. WJEC-FM (106.5) will broadcast the game live.
Both teams enter the game at 2-1. Caledonia responded from a bye week with a 30-16 victory against Okolona. New Hope used its bye week to regroup from a 49-21 loss to Columbus.
Crotwell said his team isn’t as healthy as it would like to be with two games remaining before it begins Class 4A, Region 4 play against Houston on Sept. 23. Next week, Caledonia will play host to Tishomingo County.
Crotwell also is concerned about his team’s inability to put four quarters together in its first three games. He said a better third quarter against Shannon in the team’s season opener could have put it in position to be 3-0 entering tonight’s game. But Crotwell knows his team’s record won’t matter in the county rivalry game because both sides will be fired up. He hopes his team will play with the focus needed to execute against an opponent that has talented skill position players who could be challenging matchups.
“The last couple of weeks we have gotten up on our opponents and tried to coast in the second half,” Crotwell said. “I don’t think that will be an issue this week because New Hope is very, very talented and well coached. They’re a tall task for us.”
Crotwell said his team let up in victories against Mooreville and Okolona. He said the Confederates don’t have that problem when they trail in games, so he said the team worked on learning how to play the same way in all situations so it can move closer to playing a four-quarter ballgame. He said the team has focused on its conditioning the last two weeks to ensure all of the players are able to execute at the highest level each play.
Injuries have changed positions for some players, including running back Zion Ford and wide receiver Robert Hamilton. An injury to Will Burton in the secondary forced the coaches to move Ford to the secondary. Hamilton contributed on defense last week with an interception return for a touchdown.
Crotwell said Ford let the coaches know he was willing to do whatever the team needed, so he joined the ranks of the team’s two-way performers.
“He is just a very unselfish kid,” Crotwell said.
Ford and Hamilton likely will be put to the test tonight against senior quarterback Thomas Stevens and a group of talented wide receivers that includes Andre Erby, Terryonte Thomas, TJ Stephens, Jeremy Tate, and Aaron Brooks. Crotwell also likes the Trojans’ combination at running back of Tony Deloach and Tyran Reed.
“Stevens has a good feel for the position and has some very tall, very talented and fast weapons to distribute the ball to,” Crotwell said. “I have been really impressed with his progression from game one to this point. He is a very good quarterback. The thing that separates them from last year is they run the ball very, very well and they are multi-formational.”
Pickle said the Trojans used the time “off” to have a physical week of practice. He said the coaches used that strategy because they want to see his team be more physical at every position. He said New Hope doesn’t have a lot of depth, so the team didn’t use that approach earlier in the season. After Columbus rushed for 365 yards and gained 506 in the 28-point victory, Pickle said the Trojans had to make a change.
“We were pleased with what we saw (in the open week of practice),” Pickle said. “We found some guys that hit, and I think some of the guys realize they can hit and it wouldn’t hurt.”
Pickle attributed some of the absence of physical play to the team’s youth. He said he and the coaches continue to try to find the best mixes up front and on defense to give the Trojans the punch they need. Pickle said they did that this week by creating adversity for their players in their preparation for Caledonia. He said he is eager to see how his players respond after he felt they didn’t handle adversity well against Columbus.
“I thought against Louisville (a season-opening 27-26 win) we handled it well,” Pickle said. “We got down early, but we kept fighting and got back in it. It was a 49-21 ballgame, but it shouldn’t have been anywhere near that. Not to take anything away from Columbus because they whipped us, but we had several chances on offense that we didn’t make. We had several, several, several, big-opportunities that we just didn’t make or we busted mentally. I think what started happening was people started pointing the finger and saying, ‘You should have done this or that.’ That is the mental stuff and the adversity I don’t think we handled well instead of collectively trying to figure out a way to fix it.”
New Hope enters the game on an 11-game winning streak in the series. The run dates back to a Caledonia 14-10 victory on Sept. 10, 2004. The streak includes three one-point wins and six shutouts. Last season, New Hope won 27-24.
Pickle hopes his players handle the emotion of another rivalry matchup. He also hopes they continue to develop the right attitude and mentality to help them prepare for their Class 5A, Region 1 opener next week against Clarksdale at home.
“You have got to have to play relentlessly on offense and defense and refuse to lose,” Pickle said. “Mind-set, attitude, the overall toughness of a kid is way more important than plays. Until you get that fixed, plays are just going to put you in position. Then you have to go out and make the plays. … We want to make sure we’re fixed mentally and make sure from a heart standpoint that their hearts and minds are in the right places.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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