Strong looking ahead to 2021 football season
Low numbers have been a concern at Strong in recent seasons, and for the majority of the 2020 season, the Bulldogs had only 11 players on their roster.
But despite those numbers, the Bulldogs were able to finish the season.
“I guess the big thing was once our numbers got low, they showed perseverance,” Strong coach Sirl Wright said. “A lot of teams would've went on and folded the season, but those 11 guys wanted to push through and finish the season and do the best they can basically with a one-platoon unit.”
Strong opened its season with a win over Lake Village, but finished winless in the 8-2A for the third straight year.
“During the pandemic, I guess they performed as well as they could,” Wright said. “It was one of those years you'll go back and tell your kids or even when you have your own little coaching circle, the mad stories or what crazy things or weird things that went on throughout the 2020 football season.”
As far as the offseason goes, Wright likely won't have the bulk of his team available until basketball finishes its season.
“We're a small school, so the majority of them go on to the next sport,” Wright said. “They're starting to have similar issues over in the next sport with a lot of cancellations, but the guys that don't do multiple sports, the current theme is always when you don't finish out the way you want to, you've got to get bigger, stronger and faster.
“In order to compete, in which the last few years the state champion has come out of our conference, so in order for us to compete for a state title, we've got to start defeating those conference teams. The only way we can match up with those guys is to get bigger, stronger and faster the old-fashioned way in the weight room and just try to outperform them next year and use that as a motivation tool.”
After having to compete with the minimum number of players to field a team, Wright is hoping Strong's numbers will improve.
“This past year and 2021 were going to be our hard years as far as numbers,” Wright said. “Those classes, not necessarily the senior classes, it was more so the freshman and eighth-grade classes that had real low, low numbers. When we went into 2020, those would be sophomores, and if you're only picking up two or three kids for that year, then you've really got to depend on the other classes to carry the load.
“The eighth-graders that are becoming freshmen are kind of low, so that was the big thing. The other factor that you just couldn't control was people choosing their health over athletics and just not participating, so those were the major factors. Hopefully, our numbers can improve. You can't get no lower than 11, so hopefully we can improve from that number and start growing in the future.”
The 2020 season saw senior offensive lineman Jayson Edwards and junior defensive lineman Jayme Correa earn 8-2A All-Conference honors.
“Edwards was the strongest Bulldog,” Wright said. “He benches 400 pounds and squats nearly 600 pounds. He was a one-man bulldozer for us. If we needed one yard, then anyone could run to daylight behind him. Plus, he was our anchor on the defensive line, too.”
With Edwards graduating, Correa will be counted on to anchor the defense up front next year.
“Correa was the most determined Bulldog,” Wright said. “If we are up or down, his effort would not change. He is relentless on the field or in the weight room. He is the pure example of asking for a 100 percent, and he will give you that and more.”
Although the Bulldogs have struggled, the 2020 season saw the junior high team post a 5-1 record and finish second in the conference.
“It's not just us, it's any school,” Wright said. “You're going to have your decades where you're up and decades where you're down, and unfortunately, we're not having so great of an output, but I see the future coming.
“We were runner-up in the junior district, and a lot of those were younger kids, so it's just if I can keep them together and everybody jell together and not give up, because when you're on those low units, it's easy to lose morale and get into bad habits that you can't break, but I think the future is bright for Strong.”