Ware County will have nine days to address issues ahead of the August 21 season opener at Bainrbidge.
Head coach Jason Strickland said two of the biggest are conditioning and situational football.
“I was pleased at how hard we played against Brunswick,” said Strickland, who is entering his eighth season. “We did a good job of communicating. We created a couple of turnovers, one a fumble recovery for a touchdown. The second was an interception in the end zone that stopped a possible Brunswick touchdown.
“Early on we looked fantastic, but as the game went on we started wearing down. Once we (defensive players) got tired, we started missing tackles. We (coaches) did a good job of rotating about 23 players in on the defensive side. Conditioning is going to be huge heading to Bainbridge.”
Offensively, the veteran head coach understands getting his rebuilt line working together is the key to having a good ground game. Ware County average less than four yards per attempt against the Pirates.
“Brunswick came in a loaded the box with eight and nine guys,” said Strickland. “That may be something we see more of this year and it caused us some problems. Our linemen struggled to get to the second and third levels.
“We struggled on first down all night ... it was bad, especially in the first half. It’s hard to get in a rhythm offensively when you are in second-and-long on nearly every possession.
“Our practices will focus on good vs. good. We’ve just got to be more efficient.”
With the struggles of the run game, the Gators went to the air riding the arm of senior quarterback Isaiah White, who overcame a slow start to finish with 105 yards passing.
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