Central hopes to ease mourning coach's mind with win

The Golden Eagle offense will look to take care of the football and eliminate costly mistakes when they journey to Clarksville to face Kenwood tonight at 7. (T-G Photo by Gary Johnson) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

It's been a different week for Shelbyville Central as they prepared for tonight's game against Kenwood in Clarksville.

The team practiced Wednesday and Thursday without head coach Jason Hardy, who traveled back to Jackson County to be with his family after the death of his father, Kenneth, Wednesday morning.

Coach Hardy will attempt to join the team in Clarksville for the game.

Assistant coach Kerry Thompson took over for Hardy at practice Wednesday and Thursday.

"This came as a shock to most of us and the players because most didn't know he was sick," Thompson said. "I think he just found out that he had cancer a short time ago.

"We met with the team before practice on Wednesday and told the players that coach Hardy expected them to practice as hard as they would if he was there. We did have a great practice and I really was impressed how the seniors took over and led practice. You could tell the intensity picked up in respect for coach Hardy."

The Golden Eagles (0-3) entered the non-region matchup winless, but with limited turnovers could just as easily be undefeated.

In losses to Coffee County, Warren County and Lawrence County, Shelbyville has committed 15 turnovers with a give away-take away of minus 13.

"Obviously every week we work on handoffs, holding on to the football and talk about not throwing interceptions," Thompson said. "More than anything else on offense, we've got to eliminate our mistakes. Our effort is there, we've just got to prevent those critical mistakes."

Kenwood (0-2) has lost 27-7 to Independence and 26-0 to Beech.

"Kenwood has some really good athletes," Thompson said. "They have some size and speed. I'd say they're a pretty good 0-2 team at this point."

Thompson said Kenwood has a huge offensive line anchored by a 340-pound center.

Kenwood is fairly balanced on offense with a mixture of run and pass. In their first two games, they have run 98 plays with 59 rushing attempts and 39 passes.

They have a very athletic quarterback that is very dangerous when he scrambles and their fullback is approximately 240 pounds and runs the ball very hard, Thompson said.

It's fair to say the Eagles defense will have their great task this season.

Thompson said the Eagle coaching staff believes that if the offense can take care of the football, they should have some success running the option, and said that they've continued to spend a lot of practice time working on the passing game.

"We've been able to move the football but we've just hurt ourselves with mistakes," Thompson said.

Sophomore quarterback Tre Stewart got his first start last week and did a good job of running the offense until the last three possessions of the game which ended in turnovers.

Other Region 5-4A action:

MBA at Hillwood

Maplewood at Hunters Lane

Pearl-Cohn at Whites Creek

Coffee County at Tullahoma

Spring Hill at Lawrence County

Stratford at David Lipscomb

BE CAREFUL

If you're planning on making the trip, leave early and drive safely. There is a known speed trap on Interstate 24 between mile markers 26 and 22 near Coopertown.