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South Fulton psyche, errors have Spivey’s full attention

South Fulton psyche, errors have Spivey’s full attention
The schedule says ‘Lake County,’ but Kelly Spivey is working on ‘South Fulton.’
The first-year Red Devil head coach says he and his staff are concentrating on correcting SF’s mistakes made in last week’s first loss of the season to Union City as well as the team’s psyche coming into Friday’s game with the Falcons.
“We’re focusing on us, more than anything else,” Spivey said before practice Tuesday. “We’ve done a lot of correcting, both physically and mentally, and we’ve implemented a few things that I expect us to use Friday.
“We’ve got to do a better job staying on our blocks and just fix a few little things about ourselves that, if corrected, I believe can make a big difference. I was worried about our kids’ mentality after Friday because they were so upset after losing to Union City, but I was extremely pleased with how better that was Monday in practice.”
Spivey said he would make a concentrated effort to get the ball in the hands of the team’s best playmaker — Jonathan Avent — more often this week. Avent, who had just 10 touches last week, is the team’s leading rusher (605 yards) and receiver (137 yards) and has also returned a fumble for a TD.
Jacob Wade, the Devils’ backup quarterback and a starter in the secondary on defense, will likely see considerably more time at a slot, starting immediately — according to Spivey.
“Lake County scares me with how well they improvise, but I’m really more concerned with us right now,” Spivey added.
UC TINKERING — With three games left in the regular season and a playoff berth all but sewn up, Darren Bowling will spend the next couple of weeks fine tuning his 10th-ranked Tornadoes for the postseason.
Some changes will be subtle. Others won’t.
“We’re really where we want to be right now,” the UC skipper claimed. “We’re nowhere close to peaking or playing our best football, and that gives us a goal to reach once we get to the playoffs. I still say we’re a work in progress.
“In that line of thinking, I’m always going to be tinkering to see what can make us better. You always want to be at your best and be explosive on both sides of the ball when the games are the most important. That’s what my intentions are for us.”
One position change that will be in effect this week is the moving of starting slot Josh Nicks to fullback in Bowling’s midline veer offense. Nicks will likely still see some time at a slot spot, but will also share time in the one-back scheme with Trey Maddox otherwise.
Starting fullback Luke Sanderson remains out for the Twisters with a dislocated elbow.
Zac Cavness, who played eight games at Obion Central last season before being injured and then transferred to UCHS at Christmas, will become eligible next week against West Carroll. He will be expected to provide depth at quarterback and defensive end.
REBS STILL PLUGGING — Despite still looking for its first win since 2006, Obion Central has not given up on the current campaign.
“We’re still good as far as attitude and work ethic, and the kids are getting better,” Rebel head coach Shawn Jackson said. “Covington’s good, but we’ve got a chance this week.”
“It depends on which Covington team shows up. They’ve been real good some weeks, and not so good other times.”
Jackson said the Rebels are as close to 100 percent as could be expected heading into this week’s game.