J.Z. George head coach Ben Burton says it's not hard to figure out why his team is winless in 2018.
"It's all about fundamentals. We've got to block better and we need to tackle. It's that simple," said Burton, whose Jaguars are 0-6 after dropping a 43-6 decision to East Webster last week.
Burton and the Jaguars look to turn the page as they start Region 3-3A play Friday night in North Carrollton against Ruleville Central. The Tigers, who had an open date last week, are 2-3 overall. Their last game was a 21-8 win over Leflore County two weeks ago.
"Ruleville will be a lot more athletic than we are. They've played well at times this season," said Burton. "We need to be more concerned about fixing our problems than worrying about Ruleville. We have a lot of things that need to be fixed."
The Jaguars got a 120-yard, one touchdown performance from senior quarterback Malik Christian last week. He scored on a 70-yard run in the second quarter against East Webster.
Burton said freshman running back Deriaun Townsend and junior offensive lineman Cory Clay missed last week's game with injuries. Clay has a knee injury and could miss several more games.
The Jaguars haven't performed up to their potential since the second game of the season, according to Burton.
"We haven't played with the effort we need to have since the first half of the Noxapater game. We've got to get back to playing with effort to get our first win. A win would solve a lot of problems, and the only way we are going to get that win is play harder and do the fundamentals. We need to work harder Monday through Thursday so we can be prepared to play on Friday nights," said Burton.
Ruleville also owns a 26-14 win over North Bolivar, the new consolidated school of Broad Street and JFK. They opened the season with a 20-6 loss to Philadelphia. The Tigers also lost 8-0 to Gentry and 22-14 to O'Bannon.
Friday's game with Ruleville is the first of five straight region 3 games. The top four teams from the district will qualify for the 3A playoffs.
