After two losses, Southwest set to take on Jordan

The Southwest Patriots started the season in thrilling fashion with a comeback victory over Northeast. Since then, they have suffered two straight losses to Eagle’s Landing and Peach County.

On Thursday at Henderson Stadium, they are looking to get back on track as they face Jordan in GHSA Region 2-AAA play. The Patriots are not looking back at the losses but instead looking at the games ahead as they focus on the task at hand.

“We are taking it one game at a time. Win, lose or draw,” Southwest head coach Joseph Dupree said. “Learn from our mistakes, whether you win or lose, just keeping getting better and move on to the following game.”

The game will be won in the trenches, according to Dupree, as he expects his offensive and defensive lines to try and dictate the way the game is played.

“We focused this week on the fundamentals. We worked on blocking and tackling and fixing our mistakes,” Dupree said. “We have not made any adjustments scheme-wise but more just getting back to the basics.”

One player to watch, according to Dupree, is freshman quarterback Jordan Slocum. Slocum is a dual-threat quarterback who has the ability to make plays with his arm and his legs.

The Red Jackets enter the game with a 1-2 record following a loss to Central.

“They will be well-coached, so we have to limit our own mistakes and not turn the ball over,” Dupree said. “We just have to go in and take care of business and be fundamentally sound. If we do all that, I think we will win the game on Thursday”

The Thursday game, instead of the usual Friday kickoff, does lead to a shorter week in between games. And the game is at 7 p.m., instead of 7:30 p.m.

Those changes lead to adjustments.

“Your practice week changes; your procedures for how you get ready on game day changes, of course, because of the earlier start,” Dupree said. “Thirty minutes off can really affect a team. That is why we preach to our guys to take it one game at a time no matter whether we play on Thursday or Friday. We just try and keep it as normal as possible.”

This story was originally published September 16, 2015 at 10:01 PM with the headline "After two losses, Southwest set to take on Jordan ."