Thursday, September 13, 2001

The Natchez Democrat

The mission is simple this Friday for the Huntington Hounds:

get a win.

&uot;This time last year we were 1-1, which is a helluva lot

better than 0-2,&uot; said Huntington coach Gerald Reeves.

The Hounds have had a rough start to the year. Reeves’ squad

fell to Glenbrook 20-14 in the home- and season-opener. Last week,

Huntington dropped one to Tensas, 33-15. The Hounds will look

to notch one in the win column when they travel to Plain Dealing

this Friday for a 7:30 p.m. game.

Reeves thinks the Hounds are moving in the right direction,

despite the two losses. He said he and his coaching staff should

be done moving some players around. Crawford Kifer switched from

tight end to offensive guard, and Will Moak and Bret Tosspon are

taking turns at fullback and tight end.

Offensively, the Hounds are getting better, Reeves noted. Patrick

Clayton has had two straight 90-plus yard rushing games. The offensive

line is blocking better. and Barrett Arthur is running the option

more effectively than at the beginning of the season.

On the defensive side, Reeves has seen improvements. The 33

points Huntington gave up to Tensas wouldn’t lead many to believe

that, but three Chief scores came via a punt return touchdown,

kickoff return touchdown and a blocked punt in Hound territory.

&uot;We played better defensively, especially at linebacker,&uot;

he said. &uot;We gang-tackled better.&uot;

The Hounds need to work harder on opponents’ blitzing linebackers,

Reeves said. Too many are barreling through the Hounds offensive

line.

And that concerns Reeves for the Plain Dealing game. He said

the Bulldogs have two good linebackers that like to blitz.

&uot;They’re pretty scrappy, defensively,&uot; Reeves said.

&uot;They do a good job of running the ball (on offense) and

getting to the ball on defense.&uot;

With district play starting in two weeks, Reeves said getting

a win is important.

&uot;We’re trying to get better at something every week,&uot;

he said. &uot;But you can only get better for so long before

it’s for real.&uot;