Thursday, October 25, 2001

The Natchez Democrat

Untitled Document

Work still to be done at Natchez

By NICK WEBER

The Natchez Democrat

At the beginning of the football season, Natchez High football

coach James Denson and the rest of his new coaching staff had

hoped to turn the Bulldog program around. Not a drastic turnaround,

like going from 3-8 last year to a playoff team, but steering

the program in the right direction.

Unfortunately, the Bulldogs haven’t posted any wins to show

for Denson’s first year. But Denson sees things coming around,

as the Bulldogs continue to search for their first win as they

play Oak Grove in a Region 3-5A contest at 7:30 tonight at Natchez

Stadium for the school’s homecoming.

&uot;The main thing is trying to lay a good solid foundation.

This team’s time is yet to come,&uot; Denson said. &uot;There’s

a lot of good people, but a lot of inexperience.

&uot;What I’ve said from day one is that we’re trying to teach

fundamentals and attitude here. We’re laying the foundation for

when this team becomes a winning football team.&uot;

And Denson says the players are starting to respond.

&uot;A kid said to me the other day, ‘Coach, you’re working

us like we’re 7-0.’&uot; Denson said. &uot;That’s the seed we’re

trying to plant. The process is just going to be a little more

difficult than we expected.&uot;

But a win, especially on homecoming, over Oak Grove would help

give the team confidence. Denson said Oak Grove has had similar

troubles.

&uot;They’ve played pretty much up and down football, like

we are,&uot; he said. &uot;Play a quarter or two of decent football,

then revert back to old habits and ways.&uot;

Oak Grove is a passing team, and Natchez had some problems

with the last passing team it faced. Hattiesburg lit up the Bulldog

secondary for 37 points three weeks ago.

&uot;We’ve had some problems on our coverage. But we have

a different approach and better approach,&uot; Denson said. &uot;(The

players) have got a better feel for the scheme we’re trying to

run.&uot;