Dragons, Bulldogs ready to renew rivalry in league opener

In years past, Junction City and Strong have clashed twice in the playoffs and with postseason seeding at stake when they’ve met in the regular season.

And while their 8-2A clash tonight will obviously have an impact on the league standings, both teams enter their showdown looking to reverse their fortunes.

The Dragons (1-2) have lost two straight games, while the Bulldogs (0-3) have been outscored 120-20 in their first three games.

The Union County rivals meet tonight at 7 p.m. at Jerry Burson Field in Strong.

Junction City has dropped two of its first three games for the third time in the last four years, but in the previous two instances, the Dragons responded by winning five straight games en route to advancing to the second round of the playoffs.

In 2015, Strong opened the season with an 0-3 mark, but rallied to make the playoffs by winning four out of five games in one stretch.

Slow starts aside, the Bulldogs and Dragons have staged some classic battles in years past, and Junction City coach Steven Jones said it was an assistant coach that made a comment that seems rather appropriate whenever the Union County foes play.

“Coach Antoine Cook said to throw the records out when these two teams play,” Jones said. “It’s two schools that are close together in the same county, and they’ve had some battles. I know that a lot of the guys talk about the rivalry with Strong and look forward to that game, so we’re excited to play a familiar foe.”

Tonight’s game marks Strong coach Sirl Wright’s first taste of the rivalry, and he said the series takes on more of a personal touch.

“I know a lot of the kids know their kids by their first name,” Wright said. “They’ve played each other over the years, and they’ve gotten to know each other personally. It is a unique thing, and it’s a little bit more of a rivalry because they know one another so well.”

Jones said his team is ready to begin league play after playing a difficult non-conference slate.

“When you get into conference play, it’s a brand new season,” Jones said. “We’re looking forward to starting off our conference season with a good ballgame and put non-conference play behind us. We played some challenging opponents and didn’t do as well as we would’ve hoped, but we’ve gotten some mistakes fixed, and we’re ready to move forward. We’re ready to get back out there Friday night.”

Turnovers have hindered the Dragons early on in the season, and Jones said it has become a focal point for the team.

“I would say the mood of our team is focused,” Jones said. “I think that they know that we are a play here or a play there from being much more competitive in those two losses than we have. It all starts with taking care of the football. Turnovers have been our Achilles’ heel so far, so when we get that under control, we’re going to be able to move the football, and score points at a rate that we were able to last season.

“We’ve just got to do a good job in that aspect and continue to plug away at what we do until we get better and use those tough challenges that we had in the first three games as a learning piece and go forward with it.”

The Bulldogs were shut out last week by Rison, and Wright said mistakes hurt his team.

“We held our own with them in the first quarter, but once we got tired and they got ahead by so many points, our kids stopped focusing and stopped executing and Rison started capitalizing,” Wright said. “The game kind of got away from us, and we started making turnovers and silly mistakes. After halftime, we lost our composure, and I think that’s what we’ve got to find this week is to keep our composure and keep fighting and keep staying the course to stay in the game.”

Wright added that he is looking for more consistency from his defense.

“I think what exposed us a little bit is they were a little bit faster, and they could get the edge on us,” Wright said. “They could get around us. But it was more so consistency from the edge players from stopping those outside plays. One play, they’ll stop them, then they’ll run the same play on the next play, and the defender would play it totally different. That’s something we’ve gone over to make sure they know their responsibilities and be consistent in doing it the same way every time.”

Strong’s offense has struggled to put points on the scoreboard having scored only one touchdown in three games, and Wright said the Bulldogs must start winning the battle in the trenches if they are to improve.

“I think the numbers are more of an issue,” Wright said. “Kids are playing both sides of the ball, and they get tired. They start executing less and less. The quality gets more watered down the further the game goes. In all three games, we’ve been losing at the line of scrimmage, so our linemen have to secure their blocks or fire off the ball a little harder so the backs have some place to go.”

Jones said Strong’s offense is one his team must be diligent in preparing for.

“Strong is a team that likes to run the ball out of the power-I,” Jones said. “The power-I is something we haven’t seen this year, so we have to do a good job of preparing for that. It’s something different that you have to prepare for.

“They like to move their fullback around from time to time and run the ball between the tackles. At the end of the day, it comes down to blocking and tackling, and we have to be sound in knowing what they’re going to do formation-wise.”

Wright said the Bulldogs will have to find a way to combat the Dragons’ size and speed.

“They’ve definitely got size and speed, which they’re known for,” Wright said. “The last few games I’ve seen, they’ve had a little difficulty in executing and holding on to the ball kind of like us.

“They play hard defense and we’ll have our hands full, but I don’t think it’s an overmatched issue where it’s something we can’t handle. We’ve just got to fight for four quarters, but it’s always going to be hard with the few numbers we’re playing with.

“Like us, they’ve had a tough time starting out this season, so I feel like if we can capitalize on some things and execute better, I think we’ll have a fighting chance.”

Both coaches stressed that they are looking for their teams to put together a complete game when assessing their keys to success for tonight’s showdown.

“We’ve just got to piece four quarters together,” Jones said. “We’ve got to put clean play together. We’ve got to take care of the football and block and tackle.”

Wright added that his team must also execute if they are to win their first game.

“Number one, we’ve got to take care of the ball. Two, we’ve got to play four quarters, not a quarter and a half. Three, we’ve got to execute,” Wright said. “If we can do those things, then I think we’ll be all right.”