East Ridge Hoping to Grind Out Another Winning Season

East Ridge-(WDEF-TV) East Ridge went 7-4 last season with another berth in the state playoffs. And while the Pioneers graduated a lot of talent, they’re hoping the grind of fall camp will help build another winning season.

Head coach Tim James is set to go on molding another winner at East Ridge.
Reporter:”Can you mold a team in a week or two?”
Said James:”You know I don’t know. I don’t know. A lot of it depends on just the chemistry of the team. That’s one of the things of us coming into camp. We’re here from eight to three everyday. We do some team building stuff in the time. We do classroom time as far as learning our assignments. We eat breakfast and lunch together. A lot of that time together helps build our team chemistry.”
Reporter:”What do you think will be the strength of this team?”
Said linebacker Nitravus Jett:”Definitely our defense. Our defense is probably the better part of our team.”
Coach James might have a clearer picture of his defense at the moment because he’s breaking in a new quarterback.
Said James:”Alonzo Russell was our back-up quarterback last year. He got quite a few snaps. Right now he’s the leads on favorite going in.”
Reporter:”Do you want to open up the passing game?”
Said James:”It does. It takes a little pressure off of our offensive line hopefully. We don’t have to bully everybody around until we get a little maturity under our belt.”
Maturity and hard work could carry the Pioneers a long ways this season.
Said Russell:”Like it’s the mental toughness part. That’s all I’m worried about. The mental toughness. We have the athleticism and the strength. It’s just about do our guys want to work hard to get that win on Friday.”