Durant's junior quarterback has the offense rolling.
The Durant Cougars have won their last five football games, and Carlton Potter has done well. The junior has thrown for 12 touchdowns and one interception in those five games.
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Did you expect to have a 5-1 record at this point in the season?
I definitely think we expected to be this good. It wasn’t as much of a surprise for us because we put in more work in the offseason … we came out focused.
A win this week would put you guys in really good standing in the district, especially with the schedule getting tougher. You’ve got Plant City and then Tampa Bay Tech coming up soon. How do you feel about those teams?
We’re just going to take it one game at a time. They look good this year, but we can’t focus on them. We’ve got to take Crest this week, beat them and put ourselves in a good situation going into Plant City.
How do you sell this Cougars team to someone who doesn’t see it ranked in many top 10 lists and doesn’t think it’s a threat in this district?
That’s been a common theme a lot. Durant’s always been slept on a little bit. We come out and look good, and we play well in the first half of the season. This year, I think it’s different. We have more depth. We’re not as young. We’re mature this year. I think we’re a better team this year.
And now we’re getting into the second half of the season, when things haven’t always gone as well for the team. This schedule’s going to be tougher than in the first half. What are you guys doing to make sure that whatever happened last year doesn’t happen again?
We’re doing a lot of recovery days on Saturdays, where we’ll come in after the games and get ice baths, do movement flows and stretches … We’re doing more in-season lifts to maintain strength so that our bodies don’t give up on us.
A lot of the guys who played on last year’s offense are back, and they’re playing better. What’s the difference between last year’s offense and this one, from the quarterback’s point of view?
I think the biggest thing is, we’re a lot older and more mature. We have better team chemistry this year because we’ve played with each other for another year. I think all of that helps.
What are you doing this year that comes easier to you now than it did in 2015?
I’m not getting happy feet. Last year, when I was smaller, when I would get hit, it would hurt a lot more. But now, I’m standing in the pocket, making the throws, and it just feels more comfortable in there. I have a lot of faith in everyone around me.
What’s the funniest thing you’ve seen while with this team, besides (Adrien) Kirkland thinking he was going to drown in the shallows at Rainbow River?
I was going to say that one. I don’t know. Probably when we went to team camp, not this year, but last year. We had a lot of players in the room, and we were playing a Madden tournament. There was a really close game and, in the fourth quarter, a kid was rocking in his chair and he accidentally turned the Xbox off. Everybody just went crazy. It was so funny.
