Main Street Maury
COLUMBIA WEATHER

Winless McGavock seeks playoff berth




 

 

McGavock not only has a chance to make the playoffs this season, the Raiders have a good chance to make the playoffs, despite a current winless record. 

The Raiders (0-7, 0-3) are currently tied for fifth place in Class 6A, Region 5 with Overton. If McGavock were to win out the remainder of the regular season, it could move the Raiders into fourth place and a road trip in the first round of the state playoffs. 

Coming off a bye week, McGavock will face LaVergne (4-3, 2-1) on the road Friday night. After that, the Raiders will take on Antioch (0-7, 0-4) on the road and close out the season against Overton (0-7, 0-3) at home. 

Despite the lackluster start, McGavock head coach Jay Gore is optimistic about his team’s chances as the Raiders head into the final third of the season. 

“We are kind of hoping this week away will kind of rejuvenate us a little bit. Maybe we will come back with a new vigor and have a good week,” Gore said. “We feel like these last three games are games that we can contend with…Maybe we will win all three of them and get in the playoffs.”

Gore said it was a bit of a luck of the draw in scheduling that put his team in the position it’s in this season. 

“We kind of had a reverse of last year,” Gore said. “Last year, we had all these games early to secure a spot in the playoffs and then had a rough road ahead of us to finish the season. This year, with the draw of the district, it’s kind of flipped…We think we’ve done some pretty good things. It has been tough. We play 6A football, which is the highest classification in the state, and don’t necessarily have those kind of athletes walking our hallways.”

The Raiders’ season so far was difficult. McGavock opened the season with a 24-6 loss to Pearl Cohn, fell 48-21 to Battle Ground Academy in Week 2, lost 42-7 to Lebanon and fell 37-0 to Cane Ridge. The Raiders narrowly lost 13-12 to give Dickson County its first win of the season in Week 5 before a 31-20 loss to Smyrna and a 38-20 loss to Franklin. 

“We’ve got a starting tailback who has never played before. We have a left tackle who has never played before. We’ve had some struggles at center…We’ve got a couple of [defensive backs] who have never been on the field before,” Gore said. “When you are a team like ours and you don’t have that consistency from year to year, you kind of have to go out there and figure out who you are.”

McGavock’s last game was a 50-3 loss to Stewarts Creek on Oct. 3. 

Gore was not pleased with his team’s performance against Stewarts Creek.

“There’s a lot of things that go into mental errors, how tough kids are, when it’s tough can they still do the things that they are supposed to do or do they fold up,” Gore said after the game.

It’s been a struggle for McGavock, but the same message is preached by Gore each week.

“I’ve been 15-0, and now I’m 0-7, so I’ve seen both sides of it,” Gore said. “You tell the kids the same thing. It’s all about fighting adversity. Whether it’s a loss or a fumble, you have to overcome that adversity.”

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