Milan looking for consistency vs. Covington

Luis Torres
USA TODAY NETWORK – Tennessee
Milan prepares to take the field against Trenton Peabody on Aug. 25, 2017.

Most coaches know what kind of team they have heading into Week 5.

Milan coach Jeff Morris isn’t one of them.

“Well, we don't know yet,” Morris said. “We're 3-1. The tougher part of our schedule starts this week, so I feel like we're capable of being a good team but we need to prove it this week.”

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There have been peaks and valleys for the Bulldogs. The good has been the three wins by a combined score of 131-13, including two shutouts. The bad was the 28-21 loss to Trenton Peabody.

Morris is hoping the good side of Milan shows up Friday. The Bulldogs host Covington in a key Region 7-3A game at Johnnie Hale Stadium. Both teams are 3-1 and 1-0 in region play. A win for either side firmly establishes prime playoff position.

Consistency has been the cause of some frustration for Morris.

“Our play has been in and out a little bit,” Morris said. “We've looked real good at times, but in our toughest competition against Trenton, we got beat on the line of scrimmage. We hope we've gotten better since then. We hope to better handle that this week against Covington.”

Milan can’t lose the battle at the line of scrimmage against Covington. The Chargers run a Wing-T offense and pack up to 10 players near the line of scrimmage. Covington wants to gain 3 to 4 yards per play and control the clock.

“That's our game plan for every ball game,” Covington coach Marty Wheeler said. “Our kids like the big plays. They want to break big runs. And we've done that in the past, too, but the best defense is the one standing beside you. It frustrates a team to limit their opportunities to have the ball on offense.”

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Milan and Covington are no strangers to each other. Both used to play in the same region until a few years ago. Now they’re back in the same region this season with the same aspirations on the line.

“It's a fun game to play in,” Wheeler said. “If I was a football player, I would really love to play in this kind of game as well as coach in it. We got our work cut out for us going to their place, and hopefully our kids can respond to that challenge.”

Morris is amping up practice this week to resolve the inconsistency issues and hopes they’ll be fixed in time for Friday night.

“There's no miracle. You go out there and work at it every day,” Morris said. “That's all. There's no magic formula to success. Fundamentals win football games, and we're trying to get the fundamentals (down) on how to play.”

Reach Luis Torres at ltorres1@jacksonsun.com and follow him on Twitter @LFTorresIII.