Sports
Riverside Ready for Eastside After Preason of "Ups and Downs"
Riverside High School Head Football Coach Phil Smith said his team is "making strides."
Smith spoke to members of the Greer Touchdown Club Thursday afternoon.
Smith said the team is responding well to the new staff and their new philosophies.
“They're making strides,” he said.
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He said the preseason has had its “ups and downs.”
“We played Christchurch 7-0 in the half,” Smith said. “We played Blue Ridge – they took it easy on us, thank goodness.”
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Smith said the team changed its offense last week before the Jamboree.
“We had practiced it for four days and we went out and held our own against Chapman,” he said. “They're a really good football team and they've got some great athletes on that team. And we lost 16-14, so our kids are seeing strides and seeing improvement.
“They have bought in to what we're trying to do, with our philosophy as well,” Smith said. “That's all we can ask for as coaches – that they work hard and believe in us, and hopefully good things are going to happen.”
Riverside takes on the Eastside Eagles tonight at home.
“Eastside has a good running game, a good running back,” Smith said. “We've got our work cut out for us. Hopefully our offense can generate some ground yardage and chew up some clocks, so that game will be over. We start at 7:30, it might be over at 8:30, the way we run the ball.”
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