SPORTS

H.S. FOOTBALL: Bolivar getting in shape for season

Brandon Shields

BOLIVAR – When Woodrow Lowe left Bolivar before the 2013 season after a year as defensive coordinator to help at Rossville Christian, he said he thought there was a lot of potential for the Tigers to be good.

But a combination of injuries and lack of conditioning hurt Bolivar's efforts last year, especially early in the season, and they were unable to make good on the athleticism each player brought to the team.

Now Lowe is back as head coach, and he and the coaching staff are trying to make sure they take care of the aspects of the team they can control.

"Conditioning has been a big emphasis for me, especially early in the summer," Lowe said. "These guys are too good and too athletic to take the losses they took last year, and we're trying to make sure they're ready to go when the season gets here."

Cramps kept some of Bolivar's top athletes off the field in the second half of games early in the season last year, and some of those games like Crockett County and Adamsville exploded from two- or three-score games to 40-point routs.

"That's what we're trying to avoid," Lowe said. "If your guys can't go for four quarters, I'm not sure there's a coach in the country at any level that could've won those games."

The Tigers have a couple of good athletes that are gaining a bit of college interest to build their offense around. One is 2013 All-West Tennessee Junior of the Year Keyon Crisp. When the regular season ended, he was the area's leading rusher with more than 1,800 yards.

His cousin, Javonte Crisp, is a receiver who has a big enough frame to attract the attention of other college scouts.

"There are a lot of good-looking athletes on this team, so I'm excited to see what they can do and try to get them prepared for the long haul of the season," Lowe said.

Brandon Shields, 425-9751

Bolivar Tigers

• 2013 record: 3-7

• Woodrow Lowe is the son of a high school football coaching legend in Alabama, Woodrow Lowe Sr., who played college ball at Alabama in the 1970s and won a couple of national championships under Paul "Bear" Bryant.

• Lowe said he does like the amount of experience returning on both sides of the line.