Warriors look to build on Week 1 momentum

Published 1:11 pm Tuesday, August 23, 2022

There is nothing sweeter than opening up a brand new season with a win and the Happy Valley Warriors have been feasting on honey this week as they head into Week 2 after coming off a big 22-14 win over neighboring Cloudland last Friday night.

However, the road this week leads to a place that can cast a dark shadow over that opening week victory as Coach Jason Jarrett and his squad board the bus and head to the Black Hole in Afton to face off with the hard-charging Black Knights of Chuckey Doak High School.

The Black Knights (0-1) stood toe-to-toe with Knox Catholic in their opening contest as it was a 21-14 game at the half before the Knoxville team pulled away for a 41-14 victory.

Jarrett said that his team was ready to get back to the practice field on Monday after the big win.

“All of our kids were upbeat,” said Jarrett. “Being 1-0 is a confidence booster especially when you have such a long offseason in preparation for that first game. Being able to get a victory over a good caliber team as Cloudland is important. We are off to a good start right now.”

Chuckey-Doak will bring multiply offensive weapons to the table Friday night as the HV coach said it doesn’t take long to notice their high-octane, quick scoring offensive prowess when breaking down the film.

“Watching film it doesn’t take long to see athletes all over the field,” Jarrett said. “They got a quarterback that can really sling it around. He threw it 41 times against Catholic. They have a boat load of receivers that can stretch the field vertically and make you miss in open in space. They have a fast, physical running back as well. We faced him last year and he is a presence back there. They are really big upfront on both sides of the line. We are definitely going to have our hands full this week as ‘Doak is definitely impressive on film.”

For the Warriors, the recipe that they will be utilizing according to Jarrett is the same type as last week as the Warriors played really physical and tough against Cloudland with a bend but don’t break state of mind showing their true grit in the process.

“We have to be good in open-field tackling – we have to get better there,” Jarrett said. “Obviously, we have to keep everything in front of us. They got guys that can spread the field so the best pass defense is the pass rush. We have to get after the quarterback and corral him. We have to continue to run the ball. I was impressed with our offensive line last week as we were efficient in the run game. We are going to have to maintain good balance and play fundamentally sound football.”

Game kickoff is slated for 7:30 p.m.