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September 1, 2010

PREP FOOTBALL: Aggies taking on defensive mindset

By Stan Veitch The Cullman Times

FAIRVIEW —  In three short seasons, George Redding Jr. has turned Fairview High’s football program around, but most of the wins have come because of an overpowering offense.

Now, the Aggies (1-0) want to change the perception of all offense, no defense.

“My main goal now is to help us start being known for our defense as well as our offense,” said linebacker Cory Hampton. “It hurts my pride to hear people talking bad about our defense.”

Fairview has defeated Vinemont in the season opener three of the past four seasons. In Redding’s first game, the Eagles won, 16-8. In 2008, Fairview took home a 42-21 decision and last year, the Aggies won, 35-26.

Last week, however, Fairview’s defense showed it came to play, as the Aggies defeated Vinemont by a 42-14 margin. They also held Vinemont’s star running back Eli Harris to 59 yards on 15 carries.

“The defense played tremendously last week,” Redding said. “They played like they’re capable of playing.

“I feel good about what the defense has done so far. But we’ve still got a long way to go. You can’t live off what you did last week; you’ve got to take what you did last week and build on it.”

A monumental task faces the Aggies Friday, as defending Class 4A state champion Cherokee County tries to extend its 16-game winning streak. In fact, had the Warriors won the 2008 state title, instead of losing to UMS-Wright in the Super Six, there would be a 32-game winning streak on the line.

“I believe that if we go in with the right attitude, we can come out with a win,” said Hampton, who led the Aggies in tackles a year ago. “I know they’re a great team but I have faith in our defensive linemen and defensive backs, as well as our linebackers.

“We’ve just got to go in and do what we do.”

Four of the Aggies’ five linebackers are seniors, including Hampton.

Redding emphasized that the defensive schemes haven’t changed this year, but there was some tweaking.

“We spent seven or eight days this summer practicing with another high school,” he said. “After we got back, we tweaked some of the things we do.”

Last year’s defense was a big improvement, point-wise, over the 2008 season. In ’08, the Aggies gave up 32.5 points per game. That decreased to 23.8 points per game last season.

‰ Stan Veitch can be reached by phone at 734-2131, ext. 258 or by e-mail at sveitch@cullmantimes.com.

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