Dragons up against defending state champs

Talk about it

ADRIAN — Being undefeated at the half way point of the season might seem like a big deal to some, but Dragons football coach Randy Strand knows there is still a lot of the season left to go.

“It’s been a pleasant surprise that we are undefeated,” Strand said. “We are a very young team, so we’ve been fortunate, under these circumstances, to continue to get it done as a team.

“Our seniors have done a good job leading the team. But mostly we’ve been trying to take it once game at a time.”

This week’s matchup with the defending state champion Dawson-Boyd Blackjacks (3-1) will be a tough battle for the young Dragon squad.

“They are one of the elite teams in Minnesota,” Strand said. “They lost a game to a good Minneota/Lincoln HI team last week, so they will be hungry to get back to their winning ways.”

If Adrian hopes to come out on top Friday, it will need to defend against the well-oiled machine that is the Blackjacks’ offense.

“They are a well-balanced team on offense,” Strand said. “They have a lot of skilled players at every position.

“They can step back and throw it or hand it off and run it right at you. So you can’t focus on just one thing.”

When it comes to the Dragons’ offense, Strand isn’t going to try and do anything fancy. He knows that for his team to win, it will have to stick with its bread and butter — running the ball.

“We like to grind it out on the ground running the ball,” Strand said. “If we can get three or four yards each of the first two downs, we know we can get it done on third down.”

On defense, Adrian’s main goal will be to take away Dawson-Boyd’s big-play ability.

“We have to stop their run game and take away the throwing game as well,” Strand said. “And then on offense, we have to move the ball on the ground.”

One other area of the game Strand knows will decide the game is special teams.

“Special teams can really mean the difference in a tight game,” Strand said. “We have to play a complete game if we want to win.”

Win or lose, Strand just hopes his team comes to play and does the best it can throughout the whole game.

“I just want us to give everyone a good football game,” Strand said. “If the guys give it their best shot, I can live with that.”

The Dragons will put their perfect record on the line Friday in Adrian, with kickoff set for 7 p. m.

“We haven’t talked much about being undefeated,” Strand said. “If we win we don’t do a lot of celebrating, because if you do and let it get out of hand your celebrating will be cut short. We just focus on what needs to get done every game.”

Tags: sports