Dragons Still Improving As Playoffs Begin

York Institute focused on Chattanooga and the pursuit of a title as the football post-season begins Friday night against Hampton.

For the third straight year, the Dragons went undefeated in their region with an 8-2 mark. Head Coach Derwin Wright said the team is excited at the prospect of returning to Chattanooga. He said the message to the team about how to go about the post-season was clear.

“If you’ll work hard and you’ll commit and you work on your techniques, you’ll go as far as you let yourself go,” Wright said. “It’s a new season now and you can’t make mistakes and win.”

Despite winning last week, Wright said he was not pleased with the Dragons performance against Polk County. Penalties plagued the Dragons last week. Wright said his lineman have to perform better this week.

“This is the point where you have to be sharp,” Wright said. “It doesn’t matter what they throw at you, if they move around, bring linebackers, whatever. You should know what you’re doing and pick those up and we’ve really got to work on that this week.”

The incoming Hampton Bulldogs come into the playoffs with a 3-6 record and have dropped their last two outings. In their three wins, the Bulldogs have averaged 52 points and let up just 10.6 point per game.

Wright said the Bulldogs posses a big, physical offensive line and noted that their quarterback has impressed him with his running ability.

“We’ve got to do a good job, we’ve got to hope they make mistakes and get behind in down and distance,” Wright said. “They’re going to play us a lot like Polk County did, try to keep the ball out of our hands and ground and pound three yards at a time. So, we’re going to have to take care of the football and do a great job up front on both sides of the ball.”

Kickoff Friday at 7pm.