Published: August 22, 2008 12:54 am            

Moore defense determined to be physical

MOORE — Over the past eight months, Moore has gone through several major changes. From getting a new head coach to implementing an entirely different offensive playbook, the Lions will look brand new when they hit the field Sept. 5 against Westmoore.

However, when coach Scott Myers took over, he decided to leave the defensive side of the ball relatively the same. With Dale Brown overseeing operation, all Myers wanted to do was fine-tune a system he was already familiar with.

“It will be similar,” Myers said. “Probably add a little bit more. It’s just coach Brown taking it and running with it. “

The Lions’ defensive style has pretty much stayed the same since Myers was an assistant under coach Tom Noles. But he wants to add a little more aggressiveness this year that may have been missing the past few seasons.

“And being physical and coming after people,” Myers said. “A good mix of zone coverage, man coverage. A good mix of base defense versus stunt defense. I like where we are at defensively. We have a lot of looks. We want to be as complicated as we can be.”

One of the players charged with keeping the Lions on the attack is Chris Clarke. The 5-foot-10, 217-pound senior started last season at defensive end and racked up 43 tackles and eight sacks.

But the Moore coaching staff decided to move Clarke to inside linebacker, where he and Dalton Hilliard (5-foot-7, 202) will look to roam the field causing havoc.

“He has leadership skills and is a returning starter,” Myers said. “His work ethic is above everything. He doesn’t have a day off. He is willing to be coached and when he makes a mistake he fixes them.”

Clarke has already seen improvement in the Lions’ defense.

“The team is looking real good,” Clarke said. “We are hitting things fast paced. We are just looking good and looking crisp.”

When Moore faces Yukon tonight at Moore Stadium for its first preseason scrimmage, it will be the Lions’ first chance to hit someone other than a teammate.

“I want to see us basically hitting our schemes and hitting everything right,” Clark said. “Everybody knowing their positions and assignments. Just looking good and making plays.”

For the coaches, it’s an opportunity to evaluate where the team stands with only two weeks to go before Moore War.

“I want to see the defense be physical,” Myers said. “I want to see them fill gaps, play base assignment defense. We are not going to do a lot of our stunt game. We want them be technically sound, gap sound. Be physical.”

Michael Kinney

366-3537

mkinney@normantranscript.com

        

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