As Parklane Academy football team prepares for a Friday showdown at home against Brookhaven Academy, head coach Mike Powell is stressing improvements in all areas.
Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
The Pioneers fell short to Simpson Academy at home last week in the season opener, 20-7.
Powell said they needed to review where they made mistakes and look at the things they did well and continue to do them.
“Going back to the jamboree ... we had some busted assignments on both sides of the ball. Kicking game, I thought we played pretty solid in, but we’ve got to find a way to fix what we’re doing and eliminate mistakes the other team has nothing to do with.”
The Pioneers expect to have everyone healthy by Friday, with the exception of senior wide receiver and defensive back Cody Harvey.
Powell said Harvey’s status is “week-to-week.”
Senior Sanders Ott and sophomore Ben Lampton will share duties at wide receiver and in the secondary in place of Harvey.
Going into the second game of season, Powell said the Pioneers need to have a balanced attack depending on the Cougars defensive strategy.
“We like our offensive line and the improvement they’ve made, and our running backs are getting it done. ... We need to make sure we’re hitting on all cylinders in all three phases to be successful,” Powell said.
Senior quarterback Carr Young leads the offense along with junior Cole Smith at running back.
While the Cougars run a zone type spread offense, the Pioneers defense should expect a balanced attack.
“Primarily in high school football, if you can run the football and you can stop it, you’re gonna have a really good chance. ... First priority is to stop the run and make them go to the air, and adjust from there,” Powell said.
Other keys to victory this week are listening, executing, winning individual match-ups regardless of what’s going on.
“There are 11 guys out there at a time with 11 specific jobs to do,” Powell said.
Powell added Friday’s game is “the biggest of the year for us” when talking about the importance of having home field advantage the first two games of the season.
“It’s up to the staff to make sure we’re prepared and the players are prepared going into the game, and ultimately up to the players to execute that plan,” Powell said.
Parklane defeated Brookhaven Academy the past two years, and won 26-0 in last year’s outing.
However, the Pioneers head coach is reminding his squad they will get a great effort from a well coached team that plays a tough brand of football.
“Brookhaven has a lot of pride and tradition in what they do and we’re gonna have to earn it if we want to win,” Powell said.
