Grenada High School third-year head football coach Michael Fair never talked win streak with his squad.
It was always about the next game. Not many people were aware that the Chargers had won 18 games in a row heading into last week’s road game against Oxford. Now that the streak is over, the approach is still the same – win the next game, which will come next Friday, Oct 10, when the Chargers open Class 6A, Region 1 play at Center Hill, following an open date this week.
“It’s still an opportunity to get better – that hasn’t changed,” Fair said. “We never talked about how many we had won in a row. It’s all been about the next game. To hear that we had won 18 in a row was a surprise to a lot of us. We are trying to go 1-0 each week. I know it sounds like a cliché, but it’s really true. You have to stay grounded and I think we do a good job of that. With the way last week ended, it’s all about the next game and that game is Center Hill next week.”
Fair said the open date week has been about analyzation of the entire team from top to bottom.
“We know we have an opportunity to get better,” he said. “As a staff, we are looking at some personnel changes that we were going to make anyway. Sometimes when you lose a game everything gets magnified. We have a good football team, and we love our players. We just have to get better each day.”
Last week’s 35-17 loss to Class 7A Oxford was a tale of two halves.
“I thought the first half we played well on the line of scrimmage on both sides of the football,” Fair said. “The second half it was the complete opposite – we lost the line of scrimmage on both sides. I think we are running the football better and our quarterback was really dialed in, but we all made mistakes in the second half. It wasn’t just the guys that touch the football all the time. Defensively, we are better at tackling, but we need to be better on the line of scrimmage with getting off blocks. On the back end of the defense, I thought we covered better. They had some guys open in zone coverage and they made some big catches.”
All the second half struggles can be fixed, according to Fair.
“That’s the good thing,” Fair concluded. “We were not overwhelmed against Oxford at all of our position groups. We didn’t play as well as we are capable – we are going to move some guys around and look at some things scheme-wise to make us better. There is absolutely no panic. Oxford helped exposed a few things that we knew we needed to work on anyways. We had one of our best practices of the year the Monday following the loss. Not many people can say that. I’m proud of where our guys are – they are hungry and motivated. Every game from here on out counts.”
Following next Friday’s Region opener at Center Hill, the Chargers host Olive Branch for Homecoming on Oct. 17.
