Cloudland fighting hard to put first win in the win column
Published 12:01 am Friday, September 20, 2019
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File Photo/Brandon Hyde Highlander quarterback Hunter Shell looks for an open receiver. Cloudland will be looking to their senior leadership to grab their first win of the season on the road at Hancock County tonight.
BY NIC MILLER
STAR CORRESPONDENT
ROAN MOUNTAIN – After a tough loss against the Bulldogs last Friday night it was back to the drawing board for the Cloudland Highlanders as they look for their first win of the season against Hancock County this week.
Head Coach Glenn White started off by speaking about last week’s game saying, “There weren’t too many things that we did right last week, to be honest.
“I watched the Hampton-Unicoi game and then I watched the Happy Valley-Hampton game and it looked like Hampton had gotten two times better in one week.
“One thing about our team is that we hit very well week one and two and with two of our players out for the year I decided to pull back a little bit on the aggressive hitting because if we were to lose any more guys then we won’t be able to finish the season,” White continued.
“That didn’t work too well so we’re gonna go back to the aggressive hitting because a fighter has to keep fighting.
But our guys are back out here working hard and ready to get back at it this week.”
In terms of preparation for this week’s game, White said, “We’re not changing anything, if you’ve read Tony Dungy’s book it says you’ve always gotta stay solid in what you’re doing. So this week we’re not really doing anything different we’re just polishing up our way of doing things.”
When asked about some keys to help his team get their first win of the season White commented, “For us, the biggest key is no injuries. Anybody with common sense knows that for a team as small as we are, the first few games are gonna be tough.
“Don’t get me wrong I’m not making any excuses, I could retire tomorrow if I wanted to. Our guys are successful in their own right, Coach Lunsford taught me that if we’re 2-8 then everyone has a concussion but if we’re 8-2 then no one has a concussion; we’re 0-3 and I’ve got one hundred percent of my guys out here practicing and that’s a success.”
Speaking about what he will do to motivate his team going into Friday’s affair White said, “It’s like when former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Chuck Noll said if I’ve gotta motivate you then I will fire you.
“This is a volunteer sport meaning I don’t have to be here and neither do the players but we’re all here so they seem motivated to me. Us as the coaching staff motivate our guys Monday through Thursday but when it comes to the game day, it’s our guy’s job to motivate themselves.”
The Highlanders will travel to Hancock County High School to take on the Indians in search of their first victory Friday night.
Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
