Story by Rusty Ellis
One look at the region standings for the White County Warriors will tell you just how important Friday’s game against Green Hill is.
The Warriors are coming into the game at 0-2 in region play, knowing that a better start and better execution in those two losses could’ve led to two wins. As far as WCHS’ 44-32 loss to Mt. Juliet, head coach Mark Fraiser says there were plenty of positives to draw from in the comeback effort.
“Being down 24-0, it would’ve been really easy to quit, but these guys fought back,” Fraiser said. “They gave us a legitimate chance there if we could’ve gotten a couple stops…it gives you some confidence knowing that we can play with a team like Mt. Juliet. Obviously we want to win the game, but we can take some positives and build upon it.”
Normally when a team falls to 0-2 in their region, they might get a little down on themselves and lose some confidence along the way. That’s never been a problem for this group however.
“They know they can play,” Fraiser said. “I don’t know that confidence has ever been the problem with this specific bunch…we’ve just got to clean some things up and we will be fine.”
It was the first game this season where the defense struggled, albeit against a team filled with athletes that will likely play collegiate football. They still managed to get into the backfield and create pressure after falling behind early however, showing they can still make an impact against tougher opponents.
“Our gameplay was to make Mt. Juliet dink and dunk, and then they didn’t make any mistakes,” Fraiser said. “The defense rose to the occasion a couple times, we just couldn’t get the big stop at the end…to me, the most encouraging thing is that you look at film, you see that we just weren’t playing some technique properly. It wasn’t all just that the team was physically better than you.”
It won’t get any easier on Friday, as the Warriors take on Green Hill. While an 0-2 start isn’t ideal, the message to the team is that they still control their destiny.
“We definitely see it all in front of us,” Fraiser said. “We still want to make the playoffs and that hasn’t changed. All of our focus is on Green Hill, and I’m excited for the challenge. These guys know what they’re capable of and what they could potentially be.”
The two teams square off at 7 P.M. on Friday. The game will be live-streamed on Upper Cumberland Reporter 2 on Facebook.