Golden Tigers not looking past Austin
By Staff
Mike Self FCT Sports Editor
With a huge region showdown against No. 2 Athens looming in Week 6, it might be tempting for top-ranked Russellville to look past this week's non-region game against Austin.
According to coach Perry Swindall, however, the Golden Tigers are concerned with only one team-and it isn't either of their upcoming opponents.
"Honestly, we really don't look ahead at the schedule that much," said Swindall, whose team is 4-0 overall and 3-0 in Class 5A, Region 8. "We don't talk about that kind of stuff. Right now, we're focusing on ourselves as a football team and correcting some of the things we've been doing wrong-which are numerous."
Swindall said the emphasis this week at practice has been on basic execution.
"We've been working on the fundamentals of catching the football, the fundamentals of blocking, the fundamentals of getting lined up right," he said. "We have to be sharper in all of those areas."
Swindall's main concern is a passing game that generated only six yards on seven attempts in last week's game against J.O. Johnson. The Golden Tigers prevailed 20-7 thanks to a big game from junior running back Mike Abernathy and a strong performance by the defense, but Swindall is determined to address the problems in the passing game.
"We've been having too many dropped balls," he said. "We're not asking our guys to make sensational catches like the one Rashad Graham made the other night [on a highlight reel interception]. We're just asking them to catch the ones that hit them in their hands. Most of the catches we're not making are unimpeded. That's the frustrating part.
"We have quite a few senior receivers, but they're not playing like seniors right now. They're playing like sophomores. If they don't step it up, we have some guys who are sophomores who are dying to get out there and play who might just get their chance."
The Golden Tigers struggled to get their passing game going in the season-opener against Deshler but survived to win 28-20. The following two weeks, the passing game clicked as junior quarterback Cory Trapp completed 42-of-58 passes for 551 yards and six touchdowns in blowout wins over Brewer and Hartselle.
The air attack was almost completely grounded again against Johnson, leaving Swindall and his staff searching for more consistency from the passing game.
This Friday's game with Austin may provide the perfect opportunity for Trapp and his receivers to get back on track.
The Black Bears (0-4) have allowed an average of nearly 37 points per game, with much of the damage coming through the air.
"Austin has a pretty strong front seven, but they're playing a lot of young guys in the secondary," Swindall said. "They've been having trouble stopping people in the passing game. If they have a weakness on defense, it's probably the secondary. That's not to see it will be easy for us, but it's certainly something we hope to exploit."
Austin's offense has shown potential but not consistency. The Black Bears topped the 30-point mark against Hartselle and Florence but managed just 14 points last week against Sparkman and only three in a Week 2 loss to Huntsville.
"Austin has fallen on hard times a little bit," Swindall said. "They're not really explosive on offense, but they don't try to be explosive on offense. They want to play a ball-control style and try to win games with their defense. That's fine, but if you do that your defense has to play really well."
This week's game will be homecoming for the Golden Tigers, who have won 23 consecutive regular season games. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
