High School Sports

WEAVER — Weaver coach Paul Farlow knows all about tough.

Tough describes the past three weeks for the Bearcats.

Tough is exactly what he needs his defense to be if it is to break out of a three-game losing skid.

"It's been a tough few weeks," Farlow said. "We're trying to regroup. We've got to find a way to stop people defensively. We're giving up too many points, getting behind early and taking us out of our offense."

The Bearcats (2-3) face yet another tough opponent tonight when they host Tarrant, one of the top teams in Class 3A, Region 5. This, after the Bearcats have taken a hit the previous three weeks against Piedmont, Leeds and Cedar Bluff.

Those three weeks derailed a nice start that saw Weaver win its opening two games thanks to a strong running attack. Now, the Bearcats want to get back to that point.

It starts with defense, Farlow said. An inexplicable inability to make routine tackles marred Weaver's past few games.

"We're working on all kinds of toughness drills," Farlow said. "We've got to get guys more aggressive and flying to the football. We've got to make tackles. We're not getting to the ball as hard as we need to."

The offense has fared well in Weaver's losses, putting up points and moving the ball against quality opponents. The problem has been the deficit the Bearcats faced by the time the offense got on track.

Against Cedar Bluff, the Bearcats were down three touchdowns almost before they could blink. Similarly, the Bearcats started slowly against a pumped-up Piedmont squad and never made it close.

"Against Piedmont, everything they did worked to perfection," Farlow said.

"Nothing worked for us. Leeds, we played with them for a half and had chances to score and didn't punch it in. Last week, we came out, they scored, we had a three-and-out and they scored again. We got close, then gave up a three-play, 74-yard drive."

Tarrant brings plenty of speed and ability with it, something that will be hard for the Bearcats to defend. However, Farlow said he isn't totally concerned about the opponent. This week has been all about getting things back on track with his team.

"We're out here this week trying to fix us," Farlow said. "We've got to play with more urgency and take the tempo to a higher level."

There's still plenty of hope residing with the Bearcats. It all starts with Tarrant. The Bearcats have to get things rolling in the right direction again. The Bearcats finish up with region games against Tarrant, Wellborn, White Plains and Pleasant Valley, then end the season with rival Saks.

"We get started with Tarrant and improve with them," Farlow said.

"Hopefully, we can play hard for 48 minutes and see what the outcome is. Hopefully, we'll win some games down the stretch and get in the playoffs."