By Jason Avery
News-Times Staff
Junction City concluded its first week of practice by working on both offense and defense Friday afternoon.
“We did some group work and installed a couple of running plays,” said Junction City coach Brad Smith. “We took the offense outside for about 45-50 minutes and worked on that. Then we came inside and worked about 30 minutes on defense. We alternated with Monday with offense and Tuesday with defense just trying to install what we had to get in this week.”
Smith missed a few days this week due to a death in the family, but was pleased with what he saw of his team and appreciative of his coaching staff for their effort in his absence.
“I liked what I saw of them all week,” Smith said. “I had a to miss a couple of times this week, but those guys shared their enthusiasm and you can just tell that their was a lot of coaching going on when I wasn’t here. That’s the most perfect thing you can have. Those guys worked their rear ends off. I had a tragedy in the family, and those guys did a super, super job.”
Junction City will have a busy week next week with their annual Purple & Gold Game set for Thursday.
When asked what he would like to focus on prior to Thursday, Smith indicated he would like to work on special teams.
“We need to get some work on special teams,” Smith said. “We started working on them, and that’s been a staple of what’s been going on here for years is aggressive special teams. We basically won two state championships with special teams, so that’s a big part of what we’re going to do.”
Smith said the Dragons worked both outside and inside during their practice on Friday, and he was proud of his team’s work while he was away.
“The coaching staff did a great job in my absence, but the kids were even better,” Smith said. “They showed up every day and worked until they were dog tired. Then you go home and eat and reload and come back the next day. That’s the motto of Junction City football. They did a great job.”