Southern Coffey County football head coach Brian Rand believes his team has taken a giant leap forward from last season when the Titans finished 1-8.
The Titans (1-1) earned their first win of the season Friday at home against Centre High School, 39-36. This came after SCC fell to Waverly in the season opener, 54-6.
Seniors Reeston Cox, Xavier Cross and Thomas Nickel have stepped up big for the Titans.
Cross and junior Isaac Higdon combined to rush for over 250 yards last week against Centre High while the defense made a number of key stops. Cox has been the man under center and at defensive end while Nickel has lined up primarily at nose guard.
“We have the saying to strive for perfection,” said Rand. “If we do it perfectly, great, and if we’re close, there’s positive things that happen.”
Freshmen Lane Brooks and Cyrus Nickel are impressing Rand.
“They’ve come in wanting to learn the game and as a result played varsity minutes,” Rand said.
Rand noted the positives of last week’s game against Centre, including overcoming a deficit early on.
“We were able to block down the field and our defense stepped up and made stops,” he said. “We gave up two touchdowns early but our defense came up big. The momentum turned when they made stops. Just trying to keep them in front and open field corralling and tackling.”
Now in its third year of playing six-man football, SCC has grown accustomed to its faster pace, Rand said. Critical to their success are dominant runners.
SCC’s defense has combined to give up 90 points through the opening two games but the mix of a contained defense and a smashmouth run game could bode well for the Titans.
“We have to clean up all the silly things. We have to corral their quarterback. Offensively, we need to have clean plays and make fewer mistakes,” said Rand.
SCC’s 11-man roster includes sophomores Cayden Mizer and John Rolf and freshman John Snyder.
“I’ll use them all,” said Rand.
