Sharks ready to bite the competition

By Kyle Dierking, for News9.com

TULSA, Okla. -- Their nickname is Cardinals, but the East Central defense prefers a more carnivorous connotation.

"Yes, that's us - the sharks," said senior defensive back David Gordon. "The one's, two's and three's are sharks and everybody else are just minnows to us."

These sharks are stacked. With Division-I prospect Pearlie Graves anchoring the defensive line and Arkansas commit David Gordon being the speedster in the secondary, this team, like sharks, will be swarming to the ball this season.

"You have to be vicious to be on the defense," Pearlie Graves said. "You have to be a shark on the water to get out there and get it."

East Central can boast about their Gold Ball in 05 and their back-to-back undefeated regular seasons in 06 and 07, but these sharks are still taking a sink or swim approach to the upcoming campaign.

"What it's going to come down to is how much discipline we have from this year to last year," Gordon said. "Are we going to give up the big plays? Are we going to give up when we're down?"

"You have to stay hungry and have to stay motivated too," Graves said. "If you don't stay hungry you'll never get what you want to get."

Just like a shark.