Latest / Houston County Football Coach's Show Jeremy Edwards / 2026 | Ep. 7 | Big Offense, Tough Lessons, and a Much-Needed Bye Week

Transcript

2026 | Ep. 7 | Big Offense, Tough Lessons, and a Much-Needed Bye Week · Houston County Football Coach's Show Jeremy Edwards

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: All right, guys, welcome in to another week of talking
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Hoco Bears football, my favorite time of the week. In fact,
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: it's our very first show. We get started on with
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: Monday morning with all of our coaching shows that we do.
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: And again, we start the day, the week with the
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: man you see on your screen, none other than Jeremy Edwards,
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: the head coach of the Houston County Bears.
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: Coach, good morning, brother.
• 0:25
  Speaker 3: Good morning, Phil. How are you?
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: Coach, I'm doing great, man. Um, I would ask, I mean,
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: I know you're doing great. I know you would like
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: to be talking.
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: About a win.
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: Uh, but man, this thing was a crazy game. Second
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: straight week. Did you guys put up a lot of points?
• 0:40
  Speaker 4: Yeah, it was, uh, it was definitely a crazy game. Um,
• 0:45
  Speaker 4: you know, I was, it was good to be home, uh,
• 0:48
  Speaker 4: for the home crowd. We had a, we had a
• 0:50
  Speaker 4: really good crowd and then, and Westlake brought some charter
• 0:53
  Speaker 4: buses and brought some folks and, uh, So it was
• 0:56
  Speaker 4: a good night for football, and the weather cooperated with us,
• 1:00
  Speaker 4: you know, with no bad weather or anything like that.
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 1:04
  Speaker 4: Certainly, yeah, would have definitely liked to have come out
• 1:08
  Speaker 4: with a win for sure. We jumped out on them
• 1:10
  Speaker 4: 17 to nothing, and then, you know, they responded, and
• 1:16
  Speaker 4: then we kind of went a little bit back and forth,
• 1:19
  Speaker 4: and then they got the best of us in the end.
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: Yeah, like I mentioned, second straight week where you guys
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: have scored plenty of points, more than enough to win. But,
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: you know, again, just not able to get it done.
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: I want to ask you, Coach, you know.
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: And again, we've got a lot of football left to play,
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: and I want to stress that to everybody. I also
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: want to stress, by the way, our thanks to Ryan Lyons,
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: who sponsors our show.
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: Could not do this without his support.
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: So State Farm Agent Ryan Lyons, protectedbyryan.com is the website.
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: Go to there.
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: Go there, guys, and check out all the different services
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: that he offers. There's something for you, your family, to
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: protect you and your family. We, again, really give him
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: a big shout out as we do downtown super fan
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: Ronnie Brown.
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: All right, so Coach, I want to get back to it.
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: Obviously, there's, and I don't really know how to put it,
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: you know, Giving up a lot of points, you know,
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: just kind of want to start there and kind of
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: get your thoughts on anything you guys can do to
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: maybe try to shore up that defense or what?
• 2:26
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, you know, this is, you know, football
• 2:30
  Speaker 4: is a simple game complicated by coaches, right?
• 2:34
  Speaker 3: And so, you know, it really boils.
• 2:39
  Speaker 4: Down to being able to block and tackle, you know,
• 2:42
  Speaker 4: and at the end of the day, we got to
• 2:44
  Speaker 4: do a better job tackling, getting guys on the ground,
• 2:48
  Speaker 4: preventing explosive plays, you know, and causing some, some, some turnovers,
• 2:53
  Speaker 4: you know, and again, we've talked about it, you and
• 2:56
  Speaker 4: I before, probably on this show that those are the
• 2:59
  Speaker 4: two things that we look at week in and week
• 3:02
  Speaker 4: out or explosive plays and turnovers, uh, whether we're, um,
• 3:07
  Speaker 4: you know, we gauge whether we can get explosive plays
• 3:10
  Speaker 4: and then whether we can stop explosive plays. And right now, um,
• 3:15
  Speaker 4: You know, on defense, we've got a bye week this week,
• 3:19
  Speaker 4: so we've got to figure some things out, clearly, over
• 3:23
  Speaker 4: the past two weeks. You know, it's no secret. Yeah,
• 3:28
  Speaker 4: we've got to do better. I've got to do better.
• 3:32
  Speaker 4: Because at the end of the day, you know, it's
• 3:36
  Speaker 4: my responsibility to make sure it gets right, and I
• 3:39
  Speaker 4: take full responsibility for that.
• 3:41
  Speaker 3: And so.
• 3:44
  Speaker 3: Anybody wants to point the finger, they can point it
• 3:46
  Speaker 3: at me.
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: Well, yeah, look, I know that's what a great head
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: football coach does. You know, the buck stops with you,
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: with whomever the head coach is, and I get that.
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: I want to ask you, though, I mean, obviously you've
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: got a great offense, and that's always been a staple since.
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: You've been there, okay, scoring a lot of points. Yeah.
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: Again, coming into this game, you guys have had some
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: really good wins. You know, you started off the season. So,
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: I guess what I'm trying to figure out is, does
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: it kind of get into one of those, you know,
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: just last team with the ball wins kind of thing?
• 4:29
  Speaker 1: I mean, because we have seen you guys play good defense,
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: and that's what I'm really trying to stress here is
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: the positive. But is it just kind of one of
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: those rhythmic things that, like, football can certainly be? momentum changes.
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: Hopefully I'm asking a question that you can understand and answer.
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: Yeah, sure.
• 4:48
  Speaker 4: I mean, let's, let's give credit where credit's due. You know,
• 4:52
  Speaker 4: we played two top offenses.
• 4:54
  Speaker 3: Of course.
• 4:55
  Speaker 4: Yes.
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 4:56
  Speaker 4: Central Carrollton is, I think I looked last, they were
• 5:01
  Speaker 4: number one in, in, in 5A in scoring offense. And so, obviously,
• 5:08
  Speaker 4: and they've got great players. They've got a great quarterback,
• 5:11
  Speaker 4: great running back, two great receivers.
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 5:13
  Speaker 4: Then you run into a 7A program who's, I think,
• 5:17
  Speaker 4: ranked eighth in the state in 7A, and then they're
• 5:19
  Speaker 4: a top five offense in 7A.
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: You know, they're– And always have been, but major athletes
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: over there.
• 5:25
  Speaker 4: Yeah, nearly 50 points a game. So, you know, I'm
• 5:29
  Speaker 4: not making excuses. We've got to be better. I mean, clearly,
• 5:32
  Speaker 4: we're in position a lot of times, and we just–
• 5:36
  Speaker 4: we're not making the tackles or you know, we'll have
• 5:40
  Speaker 4: a bust or something in the secondary that again, we, we,
• 5:43
  Speaker 4: we got some things that, that as coaches, we need
• 5:46
  Speaker 4: to fix and address.
• 5:48
  Speaker 3: And it's, it's a great time to do that.
• 5:51
  Speaker 4: But I want to make sure that, you know, credit is, is,
• 5:56
  Speaker 4: is due to the two offenses that we played.
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: I mean, Yeah.
• 6:00
  Speaker 3: They're going to score on a lot of folks.
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: Of course, yes.
• 6:03
  Speaker 3: We still haven't played two really, really good ones in
• 6:06
  Speaker 3: a row.
• 6:06
  Speaker 4: And, you know, they were able to do some things that,
• 6:10
  Speaker 4: you know, give us some information that we can go
• 6:13
  Speaker 4: back and try to fix. And that's– at the end
• 6:16
  Speaker 4: of the day, that's what we're here to do. You know,
• 6:18
  Speaker 4: it's still an early part of the year. We haven't
• 6:21
  Speaker 4: even started region play yet.
• 6:23
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 6:23
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 6:25
  Speaker 4: You know, I, I, I'm here to look at the
• 6:27
  Speaker 4: positives of what's happened, you know, of course, of course
• 6:30
  Speaker 4: we can, we can learn from it. You know, we,
• 6:33
  Speaker 4: if we're going to talk to kids about learning from
• 6:35
  Speaker 4: failure as coaches, we got to do the same thing.
• 6:38
  Speaker 4: And so, um, that's what we plan to do. And, uh,
• 6:42
  Speaker 4: you know, it, it, it's probably doesn't sound like the
• 6:46
  Speaker 4: right thing to say, but this is kind of what
• 6:47
  Speaker 4: makes it fun, right? You know, you got to go
• 6:49
  Speaker 4: back and, uh, figure out how to fix it. Um,
• 6:54
  Speaker 4: Like a technician, you've got to figure out how to
• 6:56
  Speaker 4: fix the problem. And, you know, obviously you'd love to
• 7:01
  Speaker 4: be talking it right now. I'd love to be talking
• 7:03
  Speaker 4: to you, Phil, being 4-0 and scoring a ton of
• 7:07
  Speaker 4: points and not giving up any points and all those things.
• 7:10
  Speaker 3: But, shoot, what fun is that?
• 7:16
  Speaker 5: I love your take on things, man. That's the way
• 7:20
  Speaker 5: every coach should look at things. It's not the end
• 7:24
  Speaker 5: of the world. The sun came up this morning.
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: There's still, what, six regular season games left to play
• 7:31
  Speaker 1: and then the playoffs, which you guys, of course, will
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: be a part of.
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: So there's something I like to say. Some people agree
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: with me on this. Some don't.
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: You know, there's such a thing as a good loss. Now,
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: some people will say, well, that's not true.
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: Well, sure it is. What is a good loss and
• 7:49
  Speaker 2: what do I mean by that?
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: It doesn't really hurt you. in terms of region, you know,
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: playoffs scores. We know now that playoff systems a little
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: bit different anyway, but you know, you're playing good teams.
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: That's going to help your calls. Okay.
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: You're getting, you know, the PSR set up to where
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: it rewards you for winning, but also rewards you for
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: playing good competition.
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: And if your competition plays good competition.
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: So just saying, there's a lot of positive here to
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: look at that people may not realize just on the surface.
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: Sure.
• 8:20
  Speaker 3: Yeah. I mean, and, uh, Like I said, I think
• 8:23
  Speaker 3: both those teams are going to make long.
• 8:25
  Speaker 4: Runs, and they're going to continue to get better, which
• 8:28
  Speaker 4: is kind of scary for their future opponents. But, yeah, man,
• 8:33
  Speaker 4: the sun came up on Saturday, you know, and it
• 8:39
  Speaker 4: was a good day Saturday, man. My daughter was at
• 8:42
  Speaker 4: competition cheer, and they won.
• 8:45
  Speaker 3: So that was awesome. Congratulations. Over at West Lawrence. So
• 8:49
  Speaker 3: great job by the cheer team.
• 8:51
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 8:52
  Speaker 4: Homecoming and my daughter went to homecoming and got a
• 8:54
  Speaker 4: chance to spend time.
• 8:55
  Speaker 3: With my family.
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: And, um, beautiful.
• 8:58
  Speaker 3: Yeah, man, you gotta, gotta keep things in perspective, man.
• 9:01
  Speaker 2: 100%.
• 9:02
  Speaker 3: It's a production, uh, based business.
• 9:04
  Speaker 4: Obviously we're judged by the scoreboard and, um, and that's
• 9:08
  Speaker 4: the intent is to try to, is to try to.
• 9:10
  Speaker 3: Win the game.
• 9:10
  Speaker 4: But, uh, you know, we didn't get it done and
• 9:13
  Speaker 4: we got to fix it. And, um, you know, we're
• 9:16
  Speaker 4: going to continue to, uh, to love on these kids.
• 9:19
  Speaker 4: We're going to continue to coach them hard. We're going
• 9:21
  Speaker 4: to continue to do things the right way here. And, um,
• 9:25
  Speaker 4: you know, at the end of the day, I can
• 9:27
  Speaker 4: sleep well knowing that. And, uh, but you know, this
• 9:30
  Speaker 4: program is, uh, you know, we, we've got a good,
• 9:34
  Speaker 4: a good culture and we've got a good group of
• 9:36
  Speaker 4: kids that are talented. And, um, we just got to
• 9:39
  Speaker 4: move some pieces around and figure some things out. But, uh,
• 9:43
  Speaker 4: I know that, uh, our staff will do a great
• 9:45
  Speaker 4: job of, identifying some of the things that we need
• 9:49
  Speaker 4: to fix and getting them fixed and be ready to
• 9:52
  Speaker 4: go in two weeks.
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: So you mentioned the fact that you guys will have
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: a bye week. I'm guessing now, and I'll let you talk.
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: a little bit more in detail about that, but I'm
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: guessing that this bye week really comes at a good time.
• 10:05
  Speaker 4: Yeah, well, you know, we already had a– we've already–
• 10:09
  Speaker 4: this will be our second bye, so we're going to.
• 10:11
  Speaker 3: Go six in a row after this.
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: Yep, yep.
• 10:14
  Speaker 3: Yeah, it did, though.
• 10:16
  Speaker 4: I mean, our kids– you know, they need a little
• 10:19
  Speaker 4: bit of a break. We gave them a break today.
• 10:21
  Speaker 4: We didn't practice this morning. And, you know, we'll kind
• 10:25
  Speaker 4: of let them recover. We've got, you know, we've sustained
• 10:28
  Speaker 4: some injuries. So we need to heal up a little bit. But, yeah,
• 10:35
  Speaker 4: I mean, anytime you got a chance. Now, I'll be
• 10:38
  Speaker 4: honest with you. I can't remember the last time we've
• 10:41
  Speaker 4: lost two in a row. So that ain't fun. Going
• 10:45
  Speaker 4: into a bye week. That's not a lot of fun, but,
• 10:49
  Speaker 4: you know, because you got you want to get that
• 10:50
  Speaker 4: taste out of your mouth pretty fast.
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: And, you know, but at.
• 10:54
  Speaker 3: The end of the day, I think it comes at
• 10:56
  Speaker 3: a good time. I think you're right.
• 10:59
  Speaker 4: You know, like I said, we've got a lot of
• 11:00
  Speaker 4: information now that we can go back and kind of
• 11:03
  Speaker 4: dissect and figure out.
• 11:05
  Speaker 3: And and that's what we intend to do over the
• 11:08
  Speaker 3: next two weeks.
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: Well, 100%, Coach, and I love your approach. I love
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: the outlook like that because you're right. That's exactly what
• 11:16
  Speaker 1: you've got to do. There's a term, a phrase called
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: flush it. Just flush it, move on. But, again, taking
• 11:22
  Speaker 1: the positives out of this thing, like I mentioned earlier. So,
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: Ryan Maxwell continues to impress. You are as good, you
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: go as good as your quarterback will take you. Right now,
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: he's doing a pretty darn good job. It ain't the
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: lack of offense, that's for sure. And with the defense, obviously,
• 11:39
  Speaker 1: they'll come back together And they'll, they'll start playing their
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: game again. Uh, and I mean, those are a lot
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: of things you got to feel good about.
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 11:47
  Speaker 4: Yeah. I mean, it's, uh, you know, offensively we we're,
• 11:50
  Speaker 4: we're playing pretty good right now. We got a great
• 11:52
  Speaker 4: running back in Austin Stinson who, uh, probably leads the
• 11:56
  Speaker 4: state in rushing now. Um, you know, he's got over
• 12:00
  Speaker 4: 1100 yards and, and, uh, in four games, uh, which
• 12:05
  Speaker 4: is crazy. Um, Ryan really probably may have played his
• 12:10
  Speaker 4: best game he's ever played, uh, over 70%, uh, completion
• 12:15
  Speaker 4: percentage and three yards and four touchdowns. And, uh, JT
• 12:20
  Speaker 4: Thomas is playing really, really good. I think he's nearing
• 12:23
  Speaker 4: 50 catches already for the year. And so we got
• 12:27
  Speaker 4: some balance there, you know, we got, we're able to
• 12:30
  Speaker 4: throw and we're able to run and, um.
• 12:34
  Speaker 3: You know, we got to continue to get better on
• 12:36
  Speaker 3: that end as well.
• 12:37
  Speaker 4: You know, we, we still have some things that we
• 12:40
  Speaker 4: need to be able to correct, but I like where.
• 12:43
  Speaker 3: We're at right now.
• 12:44
  Speaker 4: You know, obviously we, we, and we're playing great special teams.
• 12:48
  Speaker 4: I'd love to mention that, you know, our, our kicker
• 12:52
  Speaker 4: Harrison Ludwig is geez, he had a 46 yard or
• 12:56
  Speaker 4: Friday night. And I think he kicked every single kickoff
• 13:00
  Speaker 4: into the end zone. He, you know, we punted a
• 13:02
  Speaker 4: few times and he just flips the field and he's
• 13:06
  Speaker 4: a weapon right now and really, really.
• 13:08
  Speaker 3: Playing at a high level.
• 13:10
  Speaker 4: And in fact, our entire special teams is playing really clean.
• 13:14
  Speaker 4: So if we can get, you know, we want to
• 13:18
  Speaker 4: get all three phases clicking and I'm going to go
• 13:22
  Speaker 4: to work to figure that out.
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: All right.
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: So, and of course we'll talk next week a lot
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: more about this, but you know, You get the bye week,
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: and you'll get ready for region play like you mentioned.
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: And I've talked about it before, Coach.
• 13:38
  Speaker 1: I will dare say that this region in Class 6A
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: may very well be, from top to bottom, the most
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: competitive in the state. So there's definitely no room or
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: no time to feel sorry for you.
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: And I know you're not.
• 13:56
  Speaker 1: I'm just really kind of talking to the fans who
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: may be down a little bit.
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: Look, that's natural after.
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: A loss, but look, there's all there, you know, we're
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: about to go into a region, uh, starting with shift County,
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: who's playing a really good football. And so if anybody's
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: feeling sorry for themselves, yeah, you better knock that off
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: because I promise you, none of the teams that is.
• 14:20
  Speaker 2: About to play feels that way.
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: Right. And I know I'm preaching to the choir here, but, uh,
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: talk a little bit about that, getting ready for this region.
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: That's, uh, right around the corner.
• 14:30
  Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, you're right. There's nobody feeling sorry for us
• 14:33
  Speaker 3: right now in our region.
• 14:36
  Speaker 4: You know, we've kind of had a bullseye.
• 14:40
  Speaker 3: On us.
• 14:40
  Speaker 4: But, yeah, I mean, you add Tift County to the
• 14:45
  Speaker 4: region already with coffee and Thomas County Central, Lee County,
• 14:51
  Speaker 4: Northside Veterans. I mean, yeah, it's going to be six
• 14:54
  Speaker 4: in a row. And, you know, we've got a favorable,
• 14:59
  Speaker 4: I guess, uh, schedule in terms of travel. You know, we, uh,
• 15:03
  Speaker 4: we don't have to go down to Thomas County central
• 15:06
  Speaker 4: this year.
• 15:06
  Speaker 3: We will travel to Lee and in game 10.
• 15:10
  Speaker 4: Um, and we've got to go to coffee, but other
• 15:12
  Speaker 4: than that, you know, um, you know, we'll play locally,
• 15:16
  Speaker 4: whether we're playing at freedom or at the Mac, you know,
• 15:20
  Speaker 4: we got to go to the Mac to play North side,
• 15:21
  Speaker 4: but it's, uh, not a long trip.
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: So yeah, in.
• 15:25
  Speaker 3: Terms of that, you know, that, that's a positive, uh,
• 15:28
  Speaker 3: but yeah, we'll, we'll take one at a time.
• 15:31
  Speaker 4: Right now we're really focused on us. Probably spent a
• 15:38
  Speaker 4: lot of time this week focusing on us, and then
• 15:41
  Speaker 4: next week we'll kind of dive into Tiff County. We'll
• 15:44
  Speaker 4: have a chance to kind of scout them and then
• 15:47
  Speaker 4: see what they're all about. But certainly they've got a
• 15:50
  Speaker 4: great coach, and Coach Littleton, he does a great job.
• 15:52
  Speaker 4: I get a lot of respect for him, and so
• 15:55
  Speaker 4: I know he'll have them ready to go. They'll obviously
• 15:58
  Speaker 4: start region play this week, As they play coffee.
• 16:02
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 16:03
  Speaker 4: So we'll be, we'll get a chance to kind of
• 16:05
  Speaker 4: check them out and see, but yeah, we're, we're, we're
• 16:09
  Speaker 4: excited about the future. You know, we're, we're, we're rear
• 16:13
  Speaker 4: view mirror, you know, that all that's, that's done with
• 16:16
  Speaker 4: it's the past. We can't go and change it. You know,
• 16:19
  Speaker 4: as much as I'd love to, I'd love, you know,
• 16:21
  Speaker 4: cause you're talking about in two games, you're talking about
• 16:25
  Speaker 4: a handful of plays and the game goes either way.
• 16:29
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 16:30
  Speaker 4: Now that's, Some people will say that's kind of a
• 16:32
  Speaker 4: loser mentality to make it– it's not intended to be
• 16:36
  Speaker 4: an excuse.
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 16:38
  Speaker 4: It's just to tell the truth that, you know, football
• 16:42
  Speaker 4: is a game of inches and a game of a
• 16:44
  Speaker 4: few plays here or there. And if, you know, you
• 16:48
  Speaker 4: let your guard down, you miss a tackle or you
• 16:52
  Speaker 4: don't execute, you turn the ball over at the wrong time,
• 16:55
  Speaker 4: it could go.
• 16:56
  Speaker 3: The other way.
• 16:56
  Speaker 4: And, you know, we could be sitting up 4-0– feeling
• 17:01
  Speaker 4: great about things.
• 17:02
  Speaker 3: Um, but I don't know that we would, uh, be.
• 17:07
  Speaker 4: In the situation that we are right now to go
• 17:09
  Speaker 4: in and, and, uh, really kind of turn over every
• 17:13
  Speaker 4: rock and figure out, you know, what is, what are
• 17:16
  Speaker 4: the fine details?
• 17:17
  Speaker 3: And that's what I talked to.
• 17:18
  Speaker 4: The kids about after the game. You know, this is
• 17:21
  Speaker 4: a game of details and we're all about details in
• 17:24
  Speaker 4: our program.
• 17:25
  Speaker 3: Every single thing from.
• 17:27
  Speaker 4: Top to bottom is, uh, evaluated and looked at and
• 17:31
  Speaker 4: and it's detailed and so yeah we're gonna we're gonna
• 17:34
  Speaker 4: do that when it comes to you know not just
• 17:37
  Speaker 4: defensively offensively special teams how we practice um you know
• 17:42
  Speaker 4: um pre-game meal you know things like that you know
• 17:47
  Speaker 4: i think everything is uh up for evaluation during especially
• 17:51
  Speaker 4: during a bi-week mid-season like this.
• 17:54
  Speaker 2: So how, how do you handle the bye week? What
• 17:58
  Speaker 2: is the schedule for the bye week? What are you,
• 18:00
  Speaker 2: give us some insight into that coach.
• 18:03
  Speaker 4: Well, like, like I said, you know, it'd be nice
• 18:06
  Speaker 4: if we had one now and we had another one later,
• 18:09
  Speaker 4: you know, maybe after two or three games, but at
• 18:12
  Speaker 4: the end of the day, you know, I think you
• 18:15
  Speaker 4: got to take the approach of you're going to play
• 18:18
  Speaker 4: six in a row and then you're going to jump
• 18:20
  Speaker 4: into the playoffs.
• 18:21
  Speaker 3: And so, I think you've got to preserve their bodies.
• 18:26
  Speaker 4: Our running back, he's carried the ball a lot, more
• 18:30
  Speaker 4: than he ever has. Normally, backs carry it 15, 20,
• 18:32
  Speaker 4: 25 times a game. We've just always been in a
• 18:33
  Speaker 4: situation where we've really split the carries. We've got a
• 18:35
  Speaker 4: very able backup running back, too, that's Jared Henry that's
• 18:51
  Speaker 4: playing really well I mean he's tough as nails so
• 18:55
  Speaker 4: but Austin has kind of been the hot hand and
• 18:57
  Speaker 4: so we've but he probably could use a couple days
• 19:01
  Speaker 4: to kind of recharge himself not just him you know
• 19:06
  Speaker 4: offensive line defensive line I mean they're playing a lot
• 19:08
  Speaker 4: of snaps I mean we played offensively we played 94
• 19:11
  Speaker 4: plays the other night you know you know that's a
• 19:16
  Speaker 4: tribute to obviously because we're a tempo team but uh,
• 19:20
  Speaker 4: playing a lot of snaps and, um, you know, so
• 19:23
  Speaker 4: those guys are going to need some time to kind
• 19:25
  Speaker 4: of recover. So to answer your question, I know kind
• 19:29
  Speaker 4: of went around about, wait, I'm sorry, Phil. Um, we'll
• 19:33
  Speaker 4: practice Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday this week. Um, we'll spend
• 19:37
  Speaker 4: a lot of time in meetings, uh, today. Um, and
• 19:41
  Speaker 4: then Friday, uh, we'll, we'll just, um, we'll give them
• 19:45
  Speaker 4: the day off as well, you know, as far as
• 19:47
  Speaker 4: practice goes and, We'll get back.
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: At it on.
• 19:49
  Speaker 3: Uh, next Monday morning.
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: Um, you know, another thing you gotta be, or I guess, um,
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: grateful for is injuries or lack thereof, I should say
• 19:59
  Speaker 1: in that department, how's the team doing?
• 20:03
  Speaker 4: Uh, you know, we, we were hit with some injuries
• 20:05
  Speaker 4: early on in the summer. Um, We lost some guys, but,
• 20:09
  Speaker 4: you know, it's part of it.
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: In terms of now, though, coming into the bye week,
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: I guess is my question.
• 20:15
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, for the most part, we've got some
• 20:17
  Speaker 3: things that we need to heal up that.
• 20:18
  Speaker 4: We'll come back from. We've got an injury that was
• 20:24
  Speaker 4: sustained on Friday night. We still got to get some
• 20:27
  Speaker 4: images and see what that looks like. So, you know,
• 20:32
  Speaker 4: obviously praying for those guys that are injured that they
• 20:35
  Speaker 4: can get back.
• 20:36
  Speaker 3: Absolutely.
• 20:37
  Speaker 2: Absolutely.
• 20:38
  Speaker 3: Pretty quick to help us out, you know?
• 20:40
  Speaker 4: And so just part of the game, man, you just,
• 20:43
  Speaker 4: you know, I guess people that have had an opportunity
• 20:49
  Speaker 4: to play game 15 or even win one, that takes,
• 20:53
  Speaker 4: you gotta be really skilled. You gotta have great players,
• 20:57
  Speaker 4: but you also gotta have a lot of luck, you know,
• 20:59
  Speaker 4: a little bit of luck at least. And one of
• 21:02
  Speaker 4: those things is making sure that you, you stay healthy.
• 21:06
  Speaker 3: Because it's high.
• 21:07
  Speaker 4: School football and, you know, we don't do the transfer
• 21:11
  Speaker 4: portal and all those things. And we don't have free
• 21:14
  Speaker 4: agency like, you know, NFL and all that. So you
• 21:17
  Speaker 4: lose a guy in a key position.
• 21:20
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 21:21
  Speaker 3: Do you have a backup?
• 21:22
  Speaker 4: Are you deep enough to put somebody else on the
• 21:25
  Speaker 4: field that's, A, you know, good enough or, B, ready
• 21:30
  Speaker 4: to play in Friday.
• 21:31
  Speaker 3: Night football, you know?
• 21:32
  Speaker 2: That's what I am.
• 21:34
  Speaker 4: And we try to develop a lot of guys through
• 21:36
  Speaker 4: our ninth grade and JV. Um, and those guys are
• 21:39
  Speaker 4: having a lot of success right now. So we feel
• 21:41
  Speaker 4: good about that.
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: That is the future of Hoku football, as much as, uh,
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: you know, you coach in the here and the now,
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: but got to keep an eye peeled, of course, to
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: what tomorrow holds, because that is, uh, you know, that's,
• 21:52
  Speaker 1: that's going to be the future of Houston County football.
• 21:55
  Speaker 2: So certainly sounds like you guys are on track there
• 21:58
  Speaker 2: as well.
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: Well, coach, uh, enjoyed the bye week, obviously, you know, uh,
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: You know what you guys have got to do.
• 22:07
  Speaker 2: You did have, like I said, Ryan Maxwell a big time.
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: You've got several offensive guys who are really playing lights out,
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: probably since we've been talking, since I've known you, probably
• 22:17
  Speaker 1: playing as good, if not better, than they've ever played.
• 22:22
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, we were, we did some good things
• 22:27
  Speaker 3: last year.
• 22:27
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah.
• 22:30
  Speaker 3: I like where we're at right now.
• 22:31
  Speaker 4: You know, we've got, what is balance?
• 22:36
  Speaker 3: For us, balance is taking what the defense gives us.
• 22:39
  Speaker 3: That's right. If they're going to load the box up,
• 22:41
  Speaker 3: we're going to throw it.
• 22:42
  Speaker 4: We've got the ability to throw it. The other night,
• 22:47
  Speaker 4: I think Westlake did a nice job. Austin ran for
• 22:52
  Speaker 4: 226 yards, but their safeties really did a good job
• 22:56
  Speaker 4: of coming downhill and preventing the more explosive plays.
• 23:01
  Speaker 3: He had a couple really long runs.
• 23:05
  Speaker 4: In a long touchdown run, but I thought those safeties
• 23:07
  Speaker 4: did a good job for them, you know, of getting
• 23:11
  Speaker 4: him on the ground. But whereas in the past, you know,
• 23:15
  Speaker 4: he's been able to.
• 23:17
  Speaker 3: Break a little bit more. But 226 yards, I mean,
• 23:20
  Speaker 3: that's a pretty good day for him. You know, not
• 23:23
  Speaker 3: really compared to the week before where he ran for 400.
• 23:26
  Speaker 4: It's just crazy. But I'm so proud of him. You know, again,
• 23:29
  Speaker 4: he worked really hard for this. I'm not surprised. by
• 23:35
  Speaker 4: the success he's having and credit to our offensive line,
• 23:39
  Speaker 4: who's doing a really good job of opening up holes
• 23:43
  Speaker 4: for him and protecting our quarterback. And I don't think
• 23:46
  Speaker 4: those guys get enough love and they work extremely.
• 23:50
  Speaker 3: Hard and very well coached.
• 23:52
  Speaker 4: And, and it's it's exciting for, for, for those guys,
• 23:56
  Speaker 4: but I like to highlight them any, anytime that we can.
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: Hey, listen, and I want to encourage you to do
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: that on this show. I want to encourage you just
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: to give me these young men's names, you know, because
• 24:08
  Speaker 1: one thing we've started doing is starting to acknowledge the
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: big guys offensively, offensive linemen, defensive linemen, and our top performers, okay,
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: because they have been getting left out. But we are
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: changing that now, making sure that we recognize the young
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: men for a job well done.
• 24:27
  Speaker 2: Like I said, offensive line, defensive line, make sure that
• 24:29
  Speaker 2: they are not forgotten Right.
• 24:31
  Speaker 3: Right. Absolutely. You, you, you, you're only as good as your, uh,
• 24:35
  Speaker 3: O-line D-line for sure.
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: Uh, 100%. Well, we hear that talked about, but again,
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: it's getting the notoriety for these guys, letting people know
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: about it, you know?
• 24:44
  Speaker 3: That's right. That's right.
• 24:45
  Speaker 5: Yeah.
• 24:45
  Speaker 4: Braylon Mills, our left tackle, he's committed to Georgia Tech.
• 24:48
  Speaker 4: He does a great job. Uh, Antonio Bridges plays guard
• 24:52
  Speaker 4: for us. He's a senior. Both those are seniors. Aiden
• 24:55
  Speaker 4: Wiley is our center. Um, He's a junior.
• 25:00
  Speaker 3: Playing really, really well.
• 25:02
  Speaker 4: Andrew Becker, our right guard, he sustained an ankle sprain,
• 25:07
  Speaker 4: and then Xavier Montford did a great job of coming
• 25:10
  Speaker 4: in and really didn't miss a beat with him in there.
• 25:14
  Speaker 4: And then Horace Sanford, our right tackle, who just picked
• 25:18
  Speaker 4: up an offer from Savannah State last week. And so, yeah,
• 25:22
  Speaker 4: those guys really play well together, and they work really,
• 25:26
  Speaker 4: really hard. um you know week in and week out
• 25:30
  Speaker 4: and um you know who knows you know in the
• 25:33
  Speaker 4: past we've we've rewarded those guys with some trick plays
• 25:37
  Speaker 4: you never know throw a screen pass and pitch it
• 25:39
  Speaker 4: to one of those guys behind the line let them
• 25:41
  Speaker 4: let them get some love we've done that before.
• 25:43
  Speaker 2: So yeah sure whatever it takes.
• 25:45
  Speaker 4: Right yeah yeah i mean it's but yeah it's um
• 25:49
  Speaker 4: it's good to have those guys they're all great kids
• 25:51
  Speaker 4: great families.
• 25:53
  Speaker 2: And you have really done a.
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: Great job of creating that family atmosphere there, Coach.
• 26:01
  Speaker 2: And I'm not just saying that. That's the truth.
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: I mean, you can tell from our conversations, the people
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: I have conversations with, you know, that know you and
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: know how you run the football program. So, Coach, keep
• 26:12
  Speaker 1: it up. Things will fall into place. All this, too,
• 26:15
  Speaker 1: shall pass, meaning the last two losses. and so I
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: know you guys will get back up on the horse
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: and can't wait to be a part of it with
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: you when we talk to you next week and go
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: a little bit more in depth about your next opponent,
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: which is Tiff County. Yes, sir.
• 26:31
  Speaker 3: Look forward to it, Phil. Thank you so much.
• 26:33
  Speaker 2: Thank you, Coach. Appreciate you, brother. Thank you.
• 26:37
  Speaker 3: Bye-bye.
• 26:38
  Speaker 2: There he is.
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: That's Jeremy Edwards, head coach of the Houston County Bears. Man,
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: we appreciate Coach taking time to join us every week.
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: I know you guys do as well. We also really
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: want to thank Ryan Lyons, State Farm Agent Ryan Lyons,
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: for sponsoring our weekly conversation with Jeremy Edwards. And again,
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: if you're watching downtown Ronnie Brown, I know the Bears
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: certainly do appreciate you. We appreciate you guys watching this.
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: We'll be back next week to talk more Bears football
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: as the Bears get ready for Tift County. Be sure
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: to join us right here at ITG Next. Until then,
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: have a great week, guys.