(Click Here To Listen To WIZS Live Online.)
For the second time in as many weeks, the Vance County Vipers will be playing on Thursday night, thanks to the forecast of stormy weather on Friday. Head Coach Aaron Elliott said the team practices this week have focused on tackling, timing and limiting turnovers after the season-opener loss at Warren County.
“It’s not that we can’t tackle,” Elliott said on Thursday’s SportsTalk. “We’re just not being physical.”
Junior quarterback Aiden Trowbridge had a good game for the Vipers, and Elliott said with a little more work on timing and connecting with his receivers, he’ll just get better and better.
Although playing on Thursday takes away a day of practice, Elliott said he expects tonight’s 7 p.m. home opener against South Granville High School to be a tough matchup.
(Story Continues Below; Click Play!)
The Vikings beat Bunn last week, so they’ll be coming to Henderson with some momentum. But Elliott pointed to contributions from Vipers Harry Cheek – who is expected to play tonight – and Jaleak Davis, who will share some playing time at running back. Davis had close to 100 yards in last week’s game that contributed to the Vipers’ 270 or so yards of total offense, the coach noted. And sophomore Jerimi Strong had 80-plus yards receiving last week, too.
Having depth at the different positions is key, Elliott said, especially in close games. Being able to move players in and out and not have to play them on defense and offense preserves their energy and keeps them humming along all game long.
“We’re able to last and play a full four quarters,” he said.
Next week’s game against Jordan in Durham was always on the schedule for Thursday, Sept. 3 in advance of the long Labor Day weekend. But last week’s and tonight’s games were shifted to Thursday because the weather was expected to be stormy.
Elliott said he can’t remember any time over his 19 years of coaching that any team of his has played three consecutive Thursday night games.
And although it means they miss that extra day of practice between contests, Elliott said this season’s Vipers team would probably be up to play games every night of the week.
They’re looking to redeem themselves tonight and improve their record to 1-1.
