J.Z. George head coach Dustin Alford put it plain and simple in assessing how his team played in its season-opening 38-6 loss to Ethel High School last week in North Carrollton.
“We just found ways to screw it up,” he said. “There were penalties, bad snaps, fumbled snaps ... things that we have gone over in practice since summer workouts. It’s frustrating to watch. We did some good things, but we didn’t help ourselves out with all the penalties and mistakes.
“We’ve got to continue to work hard in practice. We started this thing three years ago playing mostly freshmen. Most of these guys have been with us since the start. It’s time for us to grow up. Our maturity level needs to change. We allowed the players to talk after the game. A lot of them just don’t believe in themselves, but us coaches do believe in them. We see the potential they have.”
The Jaguars’ lone touchdown came on a run by sophomore quarterback Josh Fleming. He only had eight yards on 13 carries and completed 2-of-4 passes for 34 yards.
Justin Weatherall led the rushing game with 66 yards on seven carries, and Sharod Wilson had 34 yards on seven totes. BJ Williams had 32 yards on 12 carries. Corey Reed had two receptions for 34 yards.
Arrick Green led the J.Z. George defense with two solo tackles and six assists, and Marva Williams and Alfonso Baskin had two solos and four assists each. Tyler Duren had three solos and two assists.
The Jaguars hit the road this week to battle the Coffeeville Pirates at 7 p.m. Friday. Coffeeville is 0-1 after dropping a 56-0 decision to Calhoun City last week.
“We are not a place to talk lightly about anybody,” said Alford. “This is a game we need to win when you look at the rest of our schedule. If we drop this one, it gets tough mentally and culturally to rebound.
“Ethel was fundamentally sound. They didn’t do anything fancy, but they ran some good plays and came right at us.”
