Bulldawg football host Dragons in homer opener

By TJ MAXWELL
Cove Leader-Press

The Copperas Cove Bulldawgs football team will look to enter the win column tonight when they host the Round Rock Dragons at home. It’s an important game for the Bulldawgs to get in sync with just one more game remaining before District 12-6A play kicks off on Sept. 24 against Killeen at Leo Buckley. Head coach and athletic director Jack Welch knows it’s a big night for his team but he’s also looking forward to the pregame festivities honoring the tragedy of Sept. 11 and those who lost their lives that day and in the days since protecting our freedoms. “This is going to be exciting for us,” said Welch. “It’s 9-11 and we want to show respect – not only for the victims and the victims’ families – but to all of our first responders. We’ve got some things planned for our stadium. We’re going to have the ball parachuted in and right before it gets to the ground, you’re going to see a big American Flag come out. It will put goosebumps on your goose bumps when you see that. We also have Major. Gen. Jeffrey Colt doing the coin toss.” As for the football game, Welch just wants his team to continue to improve. “We’re focused on getting better every week,’ he said. “We knew coming into this year that we were a young football team and inexperienced, but we don’t make any excuses for it. Bottom line is, we’re going to be good. It’s getting better. The notso-fun thing about it is we don’t like to lose. Very seldom do we lose. The scoreboard will turn. Those things will happen.” Finding rhythm on offense is something the ‘Dawgs are really focused on. “We’ve got to mature,” said offensive coordinator and associate head coach Tracy Welch. “We’ve got to eliminate the penalties and eliminate the mistakes. We’ve got the running backs and our quarterback is developing. We’ve got some really talented receivers, we just have to get the ball in their hands. If we can sustain drives and get first downs, we’ll put points on the board.” Senior offensive tackle and Baylor-commit, J.P. Urquidez knows that starts with him and his offensive line. The line had several drive killing penalties in their loss to Lake Travis. “We’ve got to be more aggressive on the offensive line,” said Urquidez. “We have some fight in us but we have some kids playing a little too soft. We got to let the penalties go. I gave up 30 yards in penalties and I apologized to my team about that. It was a silly mistake.” Despite the mistakes, he likes where they’re heading offensively. “I’ve seen growth this week,” he said. “The past two weeks I’ve seen great growth in our offense. We’ll be ready to roll Friday night.” The Dragons have a solid defense with several returning starters. “Offensively we are focused on one thing – getting first downs,” said Tracy Welch. “If we get those first downs, everything will take care of itself.” Defensively, the Dawgs have their work cut out as well with Liam Beard and Marc Reed splitting time at quarterback. Along with returning running back Day’shus White and wide receiver A.J. Burleson. The Dragons also have running back/wide receiver Jason Uwaeze making big plays in their backfield and a solid offensive line opening holes. “The running back’s the real deal,” said Jack Welch. “They have two really big offensive linemen.” Senior linebacker Austin Rice feels his Bulldawg’ defense just needs to do what they’re taught and they be fine. “We’ve got to believe in ourselves, fill the gaps and make our tackles. Do everything we can to stop their offense.”