News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
The York Institute Dragons head coach Derwin Wright said his team is coming off their most complete game of the season and are ready for the challenge of facing Livingston Academy in week six.
Following a 2023 season where the Dragons lone loss was in the state title game, starting 0-2 was less than ideal for the program. Wright said his players battled hard the past few weeks to correct mistakes and the team is benefiting from their work.
“Honestly, I think it starts up front,” Wright said. “I think the defensive line and offensive line both have been playing much better. Defensively we’ve been swarming to the football, like we did last year. From the offensive standpoint, we’ve finally put together a game without a turnover. You can’t have turnovers like we did in the first two games and expect to win.”
This week the Dragons offense will face off against an LA defense who’s given up just six total points in their three wins. Wright said although the line has made the most improvement, there are still mistakes being made.
“Even with the yards we made last week, we had a couple of lineman step with the wrong foot all night long,” Wright said. “When we watch film and we point it out and they see it and just say ‘Hey, what could we have got on this play if we made the right step and not made a mistake?’ So you just continue to work on it, I don’t think we got close to where we could be.”
Wright said early on this year, he saw that his senior leaders were not having fun at practices or games. He said he met with his seniors and explained to them that this year is what they will be remembered for, not previous season’s success.
“I’ve seen the attitude change in the locker room,” Wright said. “It seems like guys are coming to practice with an attitude to get better and going into games with an attitude.”
With a pivotal game ahead of the Dragons this Friday, Wright said the message to the team is clear, execute and limit unforced errors.
“I tell our guys that we’ve got to go in and expect to win and we’ve got to go in and play hard,” Wright said. “But at the same time, if we’re going to win these football games we can’t make mistakes, we’ve got to play solid football and that’s just been the emphasis.”
The York Institute Dragons welcome the Livingston Academy Wildcats to town this Friday. Kickoff at 7pm.
