WS Chronicle

BY CRAIG T. GREENLEE

FOR THE CHRONICLE

When football teams get time off during the season, it can be a plus as well as a minus.

On the one hand, a week off provides additional time for injuries to heal. That’s especially crucial in the case of key players who had been sidelined or playing at less than full capacity because of being hurt.

On the other hand, getting too much time off could lead to rustiness. That’s the situation for Carver’s JV football team. When the Yellowjackets go on the road to play Surry Central tonight (Oct. 8), it will mark more than a month since they last played (6-0 win over Mount Tabor on Sept. 3).

Typically, football coaches aren’t big fans of extended layoffs. They understand that inactivity can wreak havoc with timing and execution on both sides of the ball.

Coach Alonzo Winfield knows this as well as anyone. Even so, he chooses to look on the bright side of the situation. “One thing I can say is that since we haven’t played in awhile, everybody on the team is healthy,” he said. “So, that’s always a plus.”

Due to the heavy rains over the past few weeks, high schools in the area have rescheduled games in an effort to play under more favorable field conditions. Carver was originally scheduled to play North Forsyth on Sept. 10, but because of inclement weather, that game has yet to be played.

The game date was switched to Sept. 28, but the elements intervened again and now the two teams are set to face each other on Oct. 26.

“We were prepared to play, it was just a case where the weather wouldn’t permit it,” Winfield said. “Because we couldn’t play, it gave the players additional time to focus on academics and we got some more days in the weight room that we wouldn’t have had under normal circumstances.”

Although this team was idle from game competition, it wasn’t a case of being non-productive during down time. Winfield believes his team will reap benefits in the weeks to come because the JV players were able to compete against varsity players in practice a lot more than they normally do.

“That’s only going to help us,” he said. “With our guys pushing the varsity players every day in practice, it will make our JV players better than they were.

“As for tonight [against Surry Central], I’m excited for us to finally get the opportunity to get back on the field. I’m ready to see how they’re going to respond.”

Having had so much time off, it seems reasonable to assume that Winfield would add some new wrinkles to Carver’s scheme. At this juncture, Winfield is more interested in seeing his team continue to build on the game plan that gave the Yellowjackets back-to-back wins before the layoff.

“Our goals for the season haven’t changed [to win the Western Piedmont 2-A Conference],” he said. “And we’re not changing our approach, either. As long as we play tough defense and take care of the ball on offense, we’ll be in good shape.”