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Tide focusing on winning attitude
long football
Prince Moody gets tackled during spring practice. Moody and the Tide are excited about the 2007 football season. - photo by Photo by Mike Riddle
Even though it is still four months before Long County takes on Savannah Country Day in their first football game, coach Kyle Wilson knows the spring training practices going on now will tell him a lot about where the team will be on that first Friday.  
Coming off a 2-8 year, where the Long County athletic program moved up from the Region 3-A to Region 2-AA, Wilson knows he and his team cannot get in too many practices.
Last year, the team was the most competitive it had been since the football program was re-started in 2000. But the Tide was unable to close out several games where there was an opportunity for a win. Inconsistent play plagued the team.
“We improved on getting a winning attitude, but at times, the team just wanted to get through the game and they didn’t expect to win,” Wilson said. “We have got to get past that and have the expectation that we will win.”
The Blue Tide should improve on last year’s record, having eight starters returning on the offense and six on the defense.  
According to Wilson, he feels his team is pretty strong in the skill positions, but has several holes to fill on both sides of the line.
Sophomore Justin Boyd will be returning in the quarterback position, and he should have more than enough targets with Wilson planning on using the 4-Wide Spread formation as the primary set.
Wilson said he planed to throw the ball to open up the running game.
“We hope to go about 60-40 with the pass, so we can set up the running game, but all that will depend on our protection,” he said.
Wilson did say that the team would be getting the ball in senior Prince Moody’s hands as much as possible.  
At tailback and wide receiver, Moody was the most productive offensive weapon for the Blue Tide last year.  
Robert Williams and Scott Haverstraw return to the offensive line, but other than them, the line is wide open for change.
When asked how the defense looked this week, Wilson said: “We are looking pretty strong at linebacker, even though we are looking for one in the middle, and we are looking good in the secondary. Our weak point there is also on the line.
According to the coach, one way he may have to deal with the shortage of linemen is to have some players play on both offense and defense.
 “I’m depending on my seniors to step it up and lead the team this year,” Wilson said. “That first game must be a win, no excuses. If we are going to have a winning attitude, we have to start out with one from the start.”

 

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