Like most football coaches, Grenada High School first-year head football coach Michael Fair wants to see his team make the Week 1 to Week 2 improvement that all coaches seek from their teams. There were good and not so good points in the Chargers’ 30-7 season-opening victory over the Pine Bluff (Ark.) Zebras last week.
“I thought our effort was good, but our execution was not good at time especially offensively in the third quarter,” Fair said. “There were some things that we didn’t play well in particularly in the special teams that we need to clean up. When you play against a really good team those mistakes are magnified. We have a list of things that we are not very good at and have been working each day in practice to correct.”
In addition to special teams, Fair thought another area that needs to be improved is tackling.
“I thought we tackled well early in the game, but we missed some tackles,” he said. “Tackling is always a fundamental that defenses have to work on. Alignment was probably the biggest problem we had in the game. There were a couple of times that we didn’t line up right and they had a big play. If we line up right, there is probably nothing there.”
A concern on the offensive side was ball security.
“We had a fumble early that hurt us,” Fair said. “Ball security is something that we work on constantly. Up front, we want to be a little more physical. We ran the ball well at times and there were times where there was little movement.”
This week, Fair and his Chargers make the 25-minute drive south to face the Winona Tigers. It will be the first time since 2012 that the teams have played. Grenada faces a team that some experts have playing for the Class 3A State Championship in December at Ole Miss.
“They are an outstanding football team regardless of what classification they are,” Fair said. “As a team, they have size, physicality and experience with seniors scattered across the board on both sides of the football. Joey (Tompkins) and his staff do an outstanding job. It’s a heck of an opportunity for our guys.”
One of the challenges for the Chargers’ defensive unit is stopping senior quarterback Chase Richardson. In last week’s 47-14 win over Newton County, he rushed for 200 yards on 10 carries and passed for 191 yards and a touchdown.
“They have a senior quarterback that has been playing since his freshman season,” Fair said. “Everything runs through him, both running and passing. The offensive line is big and physical, and they are sound at running back.”
The Tigers also have two of the top linebackers in the state in senior Fred Clark (6-foot-2, 225), who has committed to Mississippi State, and junior Tyler Lockhart (6-foot-3, 195), who is receiving early offers from a host of schools.”
A huge crowd is anticipated for the 7 p.m. kickoff in Winona.
