Friday, November 14, 2008
Averaging nearly 50 points without its first-string quarterback during the past two weeks, the Hopkins County football team’s offense has little reason to expect a downfall with the return of senior Jake Powell from injury.
After a full week of practice, Powell will direct the Storm offense when Central (7-3) visits Franklin-Simpson (7-3) at 7:30 p.m. today in the first round of the Class 4A playoffs.
While Powell has been away, the Central offensive playmakers have been amassing the points and the quarterback’s return should make the team’s outlook even brighter.
“I think it’s a big, big boost for them, just the confidence,” coach Rick Snodgrass said. “Luke (Crawley) and Jesse (Almon) both filled in and did a great job while Jake was absent, but we’re a better football team with Jake out there.
“He’s a senior, he’s the strongest kid on our team. It’s his last opportunity in the playoffs, so it’s a big plus for us.”
Powell, who missed his own Senior Night, will play with an air cast on his ankle, but knows he will have to be careful not to aggravate his injury.
“I have to make sure I don’t do anything stupid,” he said. “I can’t try and juke people. I’ll just have to lower my shoulder and get what I can get. I can’t slip and twist an ankle out here on this.”
Facing a Wildcat defense that typically drops eight men into coverage, Powell also knows the speed of Franklin-Simpson’s lineman will still be a factor.
“The defensive line, even though they rush three, they still get a lot of pressure on the teams that they’ve played, so I think that’s the strength of their team,” he said.
Defensively, the Storm will look to make a repeat of last week’s success, shutting out the opposition and creating turnovers.
As a veteran coach, Snodgrass said capitalizing on mistakes is key in the postseason.
“Those are momentum swingers and are usually difference makers in the playoffs when you have teams that are fairly equal,” he said. “It usually comes down to the turnovers and special teams play.”
Wildcat quarterback Courtney Dalcourt poses the biggest threat to the Central defensive game plan.
“The quarterback, he’s real shifty,” senior defender Denzel Arrington said. “That’s why we have to wrap up and make sure we get him down because he’ll break some tackles. If he breaks a tackle, he could be gone.”
During the regular season, Dalcourt rushed for 964 yards and 13 touchdowns.
Through the air, Dalcourt showed great efficiency, completing 116-of-171 passes for 20 touchdowns.
“It’s not so much what he does in the passing game that causes a problem, it’s what he can do with his feet, that’s our concern,” Snodgrass said. “The main thing is to keep him in the pocket and not bust some big plays by scrambling or designed runs.”
Helping to contain the elusive back will be senior linebacker Travis Watts, who described a wrinkle the defense designed this week.
“We came up with 33 monster, leave a man free to blitz,” he said. “The key is hopefully (Nathan) Crick will kill the quarterback with the ball or whoever’s got it because he’s free.”
Snodgrass said the package is merely a modification of what the team has been doing all season long.
No matter the defensive alignment, Arrington said the keys remain the same.
“We just have to focus and wrap-up technique wise,” he said.
Notes
The All-Western Kentucky Conference tabbed 11 Storm players to its 2008 honors list with Nathan Crick, Troydale Rorer and Cody Summers each making the first team.
Kelsey Bowman, Jake Powell, Travis Watts, Keith Couch, Kevin Couch, Denzel Arrington, Anthony Qualls and Dustin Grant also made the All-Western Kentucky Conference.
The banquet will be held at 1 p.m. Dec. 14 at Murray State University.
Luckily, for members of the Central football team, no player is old enough to remember playing Franklin-Simpson in the school’s last meeting and the heartbreak that accompanied for the Storm.
That also occurred in the first round of the playoffs. On Nov. 2, 2001, Central visited the Wildcats and lost 27-26 with the difference maker being a blocked point-after attempt.
Tonight’s game marks the eighth time in Central’s history the Storm have made the playoffs.
No comments:
Post a Comment