York

Defense Key For York Against Oneida

While they won a close game over Jackson County in their opener, the York Institute Dragons will focus on their secondary play, according to Head Coach Derwin Wright.

“Our secondary was absolutely horrible,” Wright said. “We had a couple guys that just weren’t reacting and playing the way they were supposed to, so we were lucky that Jackson County had a dropped ball and an overthrow on a wheel route that would’ve ended in points.”

Wright says that most of what he’s looking at is related to technique on that side of the ball.

“(They’re) not getting in a good back-pedal, not having their noses over their toes,” Wright said. “Just a lot of fundamentals that if you’re not executing, you’re losing two or three steps on a break on every pass.”

The offensive side of the ball faired much better in Wright’s eyes, as the Dragons racked up 405 yards on offense, and had two players go over the century-mark in rushing yards.  Senior Thomas Miller led the way with 165 yards on 17 carries, while junior Ben Cooper added 150 yards of his own.

When looking at what allowed them to be successful in the run game, Wright says it’s a combination of the running backs making good decisions and excellent offensive line play.

“I thought the right side of the line did an excellent job,” Wright said. “Thomas Miller and Ben Cooper both had an outstanding night running the ball.”

The Dragons next game is against the Oneida Indians, who won their first game over Oliver Springs by a final score of 26-20. Wright knows his defense will have to play at a higher level if they want to start the season 2-0.

“We’re going to have to play better than what we did defensively if we want to stop Oneida,” Wright said. “They’ve got a good running back and a very offensive line … we’ve got our work cut out for us. We’re going to have to do a much better job on the defensive line and in the secondary, we have to be much better than we were last week.”

York Institute and Oneida will do battle in Jamestown, Tennessee at 7 P.M. on Friday, Aug. 30.

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