TheTimesTribune.com, Corbin, KY
CORBIN —
By Les Dixon / Sports Editor
Both Harlan and Williamsburg had rough games last week and each team hopes to get back on track Friday at Legion Finley Field.
The Green Dragons fell to 0-1 on the season after being upended by Corbin, 52-14, while the Yellow Jackets are now 1-1 after their 41-20 loss to North Laurel in Cumberland Valley Bowl X.
Both teams had one thing in common in both of their losses — their defense couldn’t stop the opposing team’s rushing attack.
Harlan surrendered 299 yards on the ground to Corbin, while North Laurel ran for more than 400 yards against Williamsburg.
“Things will have to change this week,” Williamsburg coach Jerry Herron said. “We’ve had some good practices, so I feel really confident things will be better. The one thing we’ve got to do this week is play better on defense and actually make tackles. If we do that we’ll be better.”
Another concern for Herron is turnovers.
Williamsburg turned out to be its own worst enemy last week by turning the ball over the first three times it had the ball and by the time the Yellow Jackets managed to put a drive together, the game was out of reach.
“We had very poor ball control last week,” Herron admitted. “It was really just a lack of focus.”
Herron said he feels better heading into Friday’s game against the Green Dragons, while saying in the process that he’ll continue to use the two quarterback system he has in place.
“Like I’ve said, we’ve had a good week of practice and we’ve had some problems and we have fixed them,” he said. “The big thing is that we fixed the problems we’ve had recently.
“As for the quarterbacks, we’ll continue to do what we’ve been doing and play both,” Herron added.
Harlan will try to throw the ball and establish a running attack against Williamsburg. The Green Dragons are led by quarterback Ty Saragas, who completed 10-of-21 pass attempts for 85 yards and four interceptions.
DeMarcus Williams led J.B. Donahue’s team in rushing this past week with 109 yards on only 11 carries.
“Harlan is a well-coached football team and we know we’re going to have our hands full,” Herron said. “They are young and they lost a lot off last year’s regional final team, but they are still good. They’ve got a lot of team speed.
“The big thing for us is that we’re finally going to be able to play at home,” he added. “We’re glad to be home and it’s going to be nice to be able to play in front of your fans.”
