Neither Perry Wheat nor any of his players at Purvis are happy with their 1-2 start to the 2017 season. At the same time, it’s always better to iron out the kinks early as opposed to in the middle of district play or even the playoffs.
Coming off a much-needed bye week, Wheat is confident his recharged Tornadoes are ready to turn the corner.
“We’re getting closer and making progress,” Wheat said. “We’ve just had a lot of work to get done and a lot of football knowledge to absorb. Day by day, we’re trying to build on that and get better.”
For Purvis, this is far from a new perspective. Last season, the Tornadoes started 0-2 before winning seven of their last eight regular season games in finishing 7-3. The year before that, they started 1-4 and went on to win six-straight and a district title.
“They’ve been in this situation before because the last couple of years, we’ve had a slow start,” Wheat said. “We’re not going to worry about that. We’re going to worry about getting ready to play and hopefully by midseason, we can get on a roll.”
Half the work is having players with a good mindset. Wheat is not worried about that.
“Every day, these guys show up ready to go. That means a lot, that our kids are going to work hard.”
For the most part, the Tornadoes are healthy heading into this week’s matchup with Mendenhall. Starting kicker and punter Steven Anderson will miss significant time with a serious leg injury. That’s big considering Wheat called the senior one of the team’s strengths heading into the season.
“Really unfortunate because Steven’s worked so hard to get to where he’s going and where he’s at as a kicker,” Wheat said. “He was doing a fine job kicking for us and plus, I think he’s good enough to kick at the next level. I think he still will be able to. He’s a tough kid and will handle it like a man. We’ll be there to support him.”
Wheat expects kicking duties will be handled by committee moving forward.
In the face of any kind of adversity, Wheat also expects his players to pull through. All of their goals are still right in front of them for the taking.
“I think they’re smart enough to know we can be a pretty good football team,” Wheat concluded. “It’s not who we play, it’s how we play. We have to go back and be a good ball club. We can’t turn the ball over, and we can’t bust plays and things like that. We beat ourself, and we’re going to keep working.”
Purvis (1-2) will look to pick up win No. 2 this Friday night at Mendenhall (2-1).
