After strong preseason showing, Patriots ready for Seminoles
When the 2015 football season came to a close, Southwest had a lot of work to do.
After a 3-3 start, the Patriots dropped their final four games, including a 52-28 loss to Westside to close the season, to finish with their second straight 3-7 record.
With a quarterback returning for his sophomore season and an experienced defensive front coming back, however, head coach Joseph Dupree knew he had a base with which to work.
And, yes, they worked. Hard.
Southwest began to show some improvement in 7-on-7 sessions with other teams. Then, when it came time for the Patriots’ scrimmage game Aug. 11 at Mary Persons, the real head turning took place. Southwest jumped out to a 20-13 halftime lead over the Bulldogs before Mary Persons rallied for a 27-20 victory.
“We went up there and competed hard,” Dupree said. “That’s what I told the guys, to compete at a high level and have fun, and that’s what they did. We still have a long ways to go and a lot of work to do, and we’re going to take care of those things this week and try to get better.”
The near-upset of a team preparing to open with Houston County the following week on Fox Sports South might have given Southwest’s early opponents a wake-up call. It caught the attention of the coaches and players at Westside, the team that will be Southwest’s season-opening opponent Friday at the Ed DeFore Sports Complex.
Dupree said Southwest’s running game, both offensive and defensive, clicked against Mary Persons. While the defensive line, paced by three-star end B.J. Sharpe, was expected to have some strong games this season, the emergence of a run game is giving the Patriots an extra element after averaging just 102.7 yards per game on the ground last year as a team.
“We executed and did what the coaches coached us to do,” Sharpe said of the Mary Persons scrimmage. “We just went out there and played hard, played physical. We executed.”
Westside (1-0) opened last week with a 21-0 victory over Howard that, while not exactly dominant, got the Seminoles out of the gate.
None of the Seminoles’ running backs or receivers topped the 100-yard mark against Howard, and there were plenty of penalties to address. But Westside did not turn the ball over, and the Seminoles came out of the game without any serious injuries. Even running back Donta Pate, who had to leave the game in the second half after an apparent lower leg injury, is ready to play this week, head coach Spoon Risper said.
“It’s going to be a tough game,” Risper said. “We scouted them against Mary Persons, and they’re big and fast. Their quarterback (Jordan Slocum) can throw it a country mile. They’re well-coached. Coach Dupree has done a good job of turning around the program there.”
This story was originally published August 26, 2016 at 7:22 AM.