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Following a tough loss to West in his first game as head coach of Morristown East, Dallas Kuykendall is going back to the basics.

“This week we had to simplify everything. Truly, the root of football is blocking and tackling, and we didn’t do very well in either of those categories,” Kuykendall said. “And at the end of the day, that falls on me.”

This week, they face a stout Hardin Valley team that runs a lot of pre-snap motion out of a Wing-T offense.

Against West, the ‘Canes lacked gap-discipline in the run game, and as a result, the Trojan offense was able to produce big chunk plays from counters, reversals of field and the like.

That’s not going to fly against the Hawks.

“Hardin Valley uses old-school Wing-T principles in a double-wing type set, so you’ve got to be gap-sound, you’ve got to be able to tackle well and you’ve got to be able to use your eyes,” Kuykendall said. “I think that’s a hidden art in the game of football. You’ve got to be able to find the football, and you’ve got to use your eyes to do so.

“When you’re playing an offense like this, they feast on people trying to be superheroes. You’ve got to be good on first down, and you’ve got to be good on third down, because they will chew and chew and chew away, and before you know it there’s a quarter gone and your defense is still on the field.”

Offensively, the ‘Canes couldn’t get their backfield going in week one. As a result, their play sheet had to get smaller, and West was able to drop more defenders into coverage to stifle East’s passing game.

Because of that, the ‘Canes had trouble getting ahead of the sticks on first and second down, and were faced with many third-and-long situations.

This week, they’ll need more from the running game.

“A lot of it is that we weren’t able to establish a running game, which kind of forces your hand,” Kuykendall said. “We kind of became one-dimensional which is never the goal or the objective. So if we can find a good balance with the running game this week, I think that only helps us. We were really not great on first down, and on offense that hurts you a lot… If we can establish that running game, it’s only going to help Caleb (Billings).”

In the second half of Friday’s game, the ‘Canes started to find a bit more success on the ground. Rather than trying to get the edge, the backs started cutting up field inside the tackles and finding lanes.

While they never got the ground game completely clicking, Kuykendall saw things to build from in that phase.

“I think we were starting to adjust, starting to figure out what we were doing wrong. Not to say that we were doing it completely right, but we were finding some success,” Kuykendall said. “I think some of that comes from the aggression of the front they were facing, kind of getting up the field and allowing us to find lanes. I have confidence in our running backs, (Elijah) Woody and Jason (West) ran hard, they’re just going to need some help from the guys up front.”

The matchup with West was Caleb Billings’ first start behind center for the ‘Canes. He threw for 116 yards and two touchdowns on 11-23 passing, and made a lot of things happen with his legs in the game too.

“I thought he showed his competitive nature. When things aren’t going his way, he’s still out there competing, throwing good balls,” Kuykendall said. “With our inability to establish the running game, it made things tough on him. His first start, that crowd, that environment, that team, I think he played about as well as you could have asked for him to play.

“We’re talking about a kid that just started in the spring, Caleb is only going to get better. The more offense, and more experience he gets, he’s going to get better. I never thought the moment got to him. He played with such poise, which is unexpected for a guy in his first game.”

Perhaps the biggest factor for East this week will be the play of junior wideout and safety Austin Brannan. Brannan picked up an interception, and scored each of East’s two touchdowns in the game against West.

“He’s the key cog in the wheel. He continues to show up and shine, he played a ton of reps both defensively and offensively, battling through some cramps; just absolutely a warrior type of situation that he was able to play through,” Kuykendall said of Brannan. “We put a lot on him, and he never complains. He had a great game last week, I hope he continues it this week.”

The matchup with Hardin Valley falls on Thursday of this week. Thursday games come with a whole new set of challenges to prepare for and around.

“It definitely speeds things up. Particularly when you’re playing an offense like the one we face this week, you wish you had two weeks to prepare,” Kuykendall said. “So it goes back to being very attentive to detail on what we’re sharing; not trying to overload our kids, but making sure they understand what our plan is and what they’re going to see. It’s really a balance of making sure our legs stay fresh, but making sure we get good practice in.”

Hardin Valley enters the week fresh off a victory over Karns. The Hawks went a modest 1-9 last season, but they took down a team that beat them a season ago, and finished 7-4 in Karns.

This week is about the little things. Blocking, tackling and doing your job. If they can do all of that and stay disciplined, Kuykendall says he’s optimistic about the matchup.

Kickoff is slated for 7:00 p.m. on Thursday at Burke-Toney.

“They’re a very well coached team. They tackle well, they’re physical, you can tell coach Miner is doing a good job with his ball club,” Kuykendall said. “So we have to match that physicality, we have to be attentive to detail on defense and we have to be physical in the run game on offense. Up to this point I like where we’re at, but we have to continue to learn and grow and get better at those fundamental details. It’s a short week, but I think we’re trending in the right direction.”