J.Z. George head coach Ben Burton isn't about to dwell on his team's 0-3 start to the 2018 football season.
"We have been competitive in all but one of our first three games, and we feel we can compete with the teams we play in our next four games and have a chance to be 4-3," said Burton. "Of course, we need to play much better than we did last week. We need to turn things around on offense.
"We need better production at some key positions on offense. We haven't had much success running the ball other than the quarterback. We need some other people to step up and compliment what Malik (Christian) is doing."
Christian, a senior signal-caller, ran for 129 yards and a 15-yard touchdown on 27 carries in the Jaguars' 41-6 loss to Water Valley last week. However, other J.Z. George backs could only muster 14 yards rushing on nine carries. Christian was 4 of 6 for 15 yards in the passing department.
"It's not the personnel we have on the field, but it's more of a confidence issue. They are young and inexperienced. We have a 9th-, 10th- and 11-grader at running back and none of them have much experience. They need to get more comfortable in what they are doing," Burton added.
"Our offensive line has done a good job up until last week. We have one linemen who is banged up and may not play Friday. We just can't play behind the chains on offense."
The Jaguars look to snap their three-game skid as they take on the Yellowjackets of Union High School Friday at 7 p.m. at Union. The Yellowjackets are a Class 2A school and are 1-2 on the season. They dropped a 20-7 decision to Noxapater last week. Noxapater beat J.Z. George 26-18 two weeks ago.
Union opened with a 43-35 win over Choctaw Central and lost 42-0 to Nanih Waiya in the second week.
"On defense, we have made some changes. We've moved a few guys around, and we've simplified the way we do things on defense. How we play Friday will be determined how we practice Monday through Thursday," Burton said.
