North Side football won’t dwell on rough start

Donnie Nickey said his team may be down right now, but they’re not out.

The head football coach at North Side said his team’s 45-0 loss to Oakland on Saturday night wasn’t the way he wanted to start his career as a high school football head coach, but the good thing is it’s over and it’s time to prepare for the next game.

“A short week for us might be a good thing,” Nickey said. “That way we’re done with it and we have to move on quickly.”

And there aren’t many opponents better for the Indians to move on to. An early season showdown with Liberty awaits on Friday night at North Side.

The Crusaders and Indians have become probably the biggest rivalry in Jackson in recent years as the two have had memorable matchups, particularly over the last six years when most games have come down to the final minutes.

“I think you might could even say all summer our guys were looking ahead to Liberty more than they were Oakland,” Nickey said. “That’s a game they really want to win against a close rival they know well.

“We wanted to beat Oakland, but we really want to beat Liberty.”

Before the Indians get to kickoff on Friday, there are things that need to be addressed from Saturday’s loss.

Special teams were the biggest problems schematically as there were mistakes on punts and punt returns.

There were mental errors in pass coverage as well.

“You take out mental mistakes in pass defense and special teams, then that’s 21 early points Oakland doesn’t have,” Nickey said. “I don’t know how much that changes the course of the game, but it would’ve definitely helped us early on.”

But Nickey said he’s not focusing on the “what ifs,” and he doesn’t expect his team to either.

“I believe in this team, and I believe we’re better than we were on Saturday night,” Nickey said. “We just need to make better decisions as players and as coaches.”

Nickey said there wasn’t much discussion about what could’ve been different on the long drive home back from Murfreesboro late Saturday night.

“There was plenty of discussion before we left, and we’ll discuss it more [Monday],” Nickey said. “The thing is we’ve got to keep our focus and not let adversity get to us.

“Adversity will come. It came against a good team from Oakland. Liberty is a good team, too, so we need to expect it from them and be ready for it. That’s our job this week, to prepare for that adversity and be ready to face it head on.”

Brandon Shields, 425-9751