Photo

Click on photo to enlarge

Kenny Fey | For The Journal

Daniel High School’s Antonio Cannon (1) runs after a catch against West-Oak last Friday at Singleton Field in Central. This Friday, the Lions go on the road to face rival Pickens looking to finish off an undefeated regular season.

CENTRAL — Despite clinching a third straight Western 3A region crown last week with a 27-7 win over West-Oak, Daniel head coach Randy Robinson wasn't exactly cheery once the dust had settled.

Not particularly known for radiating sunshine after any given win, with even his wife encouraging him to be a bit nicer to his team from time to time, Robinson saw plenty that made him sick during the Lions' most recent win, as his team suffered through several special teams mistakes and committed four turnovers after having coughed the ball up on just six occasions all season coming into the game.

It wasn't until he saw the stat sheet long after the game had finished that Robinson's mood shifted a bit, as he even felt a little guilty for laying into his team after the game, though the fourth-year Daniel coach isn't anywhere near satisfied with his team's effort.

"There were a lot of things that are just not characteristic of what we want to do," Robinson said. "Obviously averaging eight yards per play is pretty good, 400 yards of offense is good and holding them to 120 yards is what you're looking for, but it just wasn't a typical Daniel game."

And with a game at cross-county rival Pickens on Friday night to close out the regular season in a tilt that has no bearing on the postseason, the Lions (9-0, 4-0 Western 3A) will still go into Bruce Field with a sense of urgency, as they'll look for a complete performance to cap region play.

As Robinson says, his team will simply be looking to get back to the basics and play Daniel's brand of football.

"We want to do what gets us in these situations of winning the region," Robinson said. "That's playing our style of football, playing fast and being confident. We want our guys going at full speed at all times, so hopefully we'll do a little bit better job this week getting back to our style of football."

In addition to the turnovers, the Lions had to overcome an onside kick, while they also gave up several long kickoff returns that were tough for Robinson to stomach.

While the defense is still playing at the dominating level he had anticipated coming into the season, as it gives up just 127.7 yards and 3.9 points per game, Robinson said his offense still has plenty of room for improvement, as the passing game needs to be more consistent, while the turnover issue won't just be addressed this week, but hammered home to the Lions.

"We take pride in protecting the football, and we're going to have some drills in practice this week to help make sure we secure the football, number one," Robinson said.

With all that in mind, going on the road to face a team with nothing to lose, Robinson doesn't feel a letdown game is in the making.

"Our guys know it's a week-to-week process, and we've sold them on that and I don't think there'll be a letdown this week, particularly after the way we performed last week," Robinson said.

And his players echoed those sentiments, as they have no interest in having their 26-game regular season winning streak broken.

"We don't want to get ahead of ourselves by any means because that's what gets you knocked off if you keep looking ahead and don't focus on what's in front of you," senior linebacker Brandon Bryant said. "We want to finish off the regular season with a good performance and go out on top, that way we'll go into the playoffs with a good taste in our mouths."