By Jason Avery
News-Times Staff
EL DORADO - Since returning to Junction City, Steven Jones has kept a very close eye on the Dragons.
Named as David Carpenter’s successor back in January, Jones has used a personal touch in getting to know his new team.
“We’ve worked a lot just with our guys,” Jones said. “We’ve had a lot of time together in the weight room, getting some reps in on the field, doing different position drills to try and get ahead before August gets here.”
Thus far, the Dragons have only participated in one 7-on-7 tournament this summer, finishing with a 2-2 record at Camden Fairview.
However, that will change this week when the Dragons head to El Dorado to participate in their 7-on-7 tournament.
“I was proud of them,” Jones said of his team’s effort in Camden. “We’re trying to get a lot of new stuff in and trying to see what different people can do at different spots, move some people around. That’s really what the summer is for, just reps and try to see what certain people can do.”
Jones added that the lack of 7-on-7’s and participation in team camps was due to wanting to get his schemes installed.
“Coming in fresh like this and kind of late, we wanted to get everything installed and just have that time where we have those guys one-on-one,” Jones said. “We can show them film and be able to talk with just our group and be able to run things more often than at a team camp. We get more reps by ourselves right now. Team camps and 7-on-7’s are great, and once we get everything installed, I feel like next summer we’ll really do a lot more of that.”
Jones has also changed his schedule to accommodate players who either work or play multiple sports during the summer.
“No doubt we’ve had to work around it, but at a small school, we want those guys to play everything they can, so we’re more than willing to try to be able to where when we do host things, we can have all of our guys there,” Jones said. “We have a lot of kids that work during the summer, and it’s really helpful for them to be able to save up some money, so we work around that in June and July. We’ll go later in the day to try and allow for those guys to do stuff like that.”
If there is a spot where the Dragons have shined during the summer, it’s on the defensive line.
“The defensive line looks sharp so far,” Jones said. “Coach (Justin) Thompson and coach (Brad) Smith have a lot of guys coming back, and I just think that not changing anything schematically on defense has been beneficial, so those guys are really taking off. They’ve just been adding to it and picking up from last season, so we really haven’t had to go back to square one for defense.”
With the start of practice looming on the horizon, Jones said he has been pleased with what has transpired thus far.
“So far so good,” Jones said. “We’re trying to get a new offense installed, and it’s a challenge with new terminology and verbiage, but the kids are picking up on it. I think the more that we work at it, the better we’re going to be. We’re trying to get everything worked out.”