Coach J.R. Compton and his coaches look on as the Whirlwinds scrimmage against the Quanah Indians on August 18, 2022 at Charles Tyer Stadium. (Ryan Crowe/FCR)
FLOYDADA – To second year head coach J.R. Compton, it doesn’t matter if a road game is 20 miles away or 50 miles away. “A road game is a road game,” he said in his office adjacent Charles Tyer Stadium following Tuesday afternoon’s practice.
What Compton means is that it doesn’t matter how far you have to travel, procedures to hit the road are the same. The Whirlwinds will take that into account as they drive those 20 miles down Highway 62 Friday afternoon to square off against the Ralls Jackrabbits.
“It’s always going to be tough when you go on the road for that first game,” Compton said of facing the Jackrabbits. “Ralls is a good team, and they’re going to be fired up. It’s their first home game, we’ve got to match that initial outburst.”
Part of the way Compton hopes the Winds will be able to match that outburst is through experience. “One of our strengths is that we have our core coming back,” he said, noting that the team lost very few players to graduation.
Compton is looking for his players to play hard on Friday night. “We tell the kids whatever you do, go 100 miles per hour. Effort can make up for a lot of things.” He’s also looking for this game to tell him where the team needs to work as they head for a tough district schedule. “Ralls will let us know where we’re at.”
The Whirlwinds kick off at 7 o’clock Friday night at Jackrabbit Field, located at 1106 10th Street in Ralls. Randell Sims will have the game live on 106.1 FLiP FM. You can also listen live right here by going to FloydCountyRecord.com/LIVE and choosing the Floydada Sports stream.
