By Elyssa Parnell

eparnell@civitasmedia.com

Coach Phil Strickland said the Newberry High School Bulldogs were ready to compete. They have their season opener tonight against Union County High School at Union. UCHS leads the series 28-25 since 1930, but Newberry has won four straight season openers, winning a school record of five straight from 2001-2005.
https://www.newberryobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_VFTB-team.jpgCoach Phil Strickland said the Newberry High School Bulldogs were ready to compete. They have their season opener tonight against Union County High School at Union. UCHS leads the series 28-25 since 1930, but Newberry has won four straight season openers, winning a school record of five straight from 2001-2005. Courtesy photo

NEWBERRY — Coach Phil Strickland said the Newberry High School Bulldogs had a solid preseason, with the players working harder than ever.

“The kids have really worked hard,” Strickland said. “We will probably have more kids with their name on the back of their jerseys than we ever have.”

Strickland said the Bulldogs have gotten stronger and faster and he was pleased with their preseason.

The team traveled to Abbeville for a jamboree, of which Strickland said “they put it to us.” He said they simply were not ready.

“We had had one day of pads, we got rained out and then went down there and just didn’t do very well,” he said.

However, the team came back against Strom Thurmond with a good scrimmage, Strickland said.

“The kids are getting a whole lot better and learning,” Strickland said. “They’re developing a whole lot of depth.”

Against Greenwood High School, Strickland said they came out and beat them 21-7 in a long quarter.

“They came out and were ready to compete,” Strickland said. “They didn’t care if it was a 5A school or a 1A school. A lot of good things happened in that scrimmage.”

Strickland said the preseason means nothing for wins or losses counted and tonight’s gameagainst Union is what he was worried about.

Strickland said they have a senior led team this year – out of the 58 dressed out players, 31 of them are seniors this year.

“That’s going to be a tough pill to swallow,” Strickland said.

Strickland said he the team is ready to play and ready to compete and he was pleased with how they have done so far.

Newberry at Union

The Bulldogs travel to Union tonight for a kick off time of 7:30 p.m. Strickland said he had the opportunity to scout them last Friday.

“They probably have the best receivers that I’ve ever seen,” Strickland said.

While Union’s defense looked good against Gaffney, Strickland said Gaffney ran a lot of spread offense and their goal as a team would be to keep the ball away from Union.

“We’ll see if they can stop us and run the quarterback some,” Strickland said. “We know we have our work cut out for us, they’re a huge football team, but we’re hoping they don’t react well.”

Strickland said it would suit him to snap the ball every 25 seconds to keep the ball away from them.

“They’re extremely explosive offensively,” Strickland said.

Union currently leads the series 28-25 since 1930, but Newberry has won four straight season openers, winning a school record of five straight from 2001-2005.

The last time Newberry won at Union was in 2003, a 14-12 victory.

Reach Elyssa Parnell at 803-276-0625, ext. 1868, or on Twitter @TheNBOnews.