15 - The Unger Memorial Library - MyPlainview.com

Kangaroos look to derail Amherst
K ress
got its offense
rolling last week. The
’Roos racked up 78
points and a whopping 574
yards of total offense. Consequently,
they wound up with
their fi rst win of the season.
But there was a gaping hole
in that win — the 378 yards
of offense that the Kangaroos
allowed New Home to pick
up. Kress head coach Jarrod
Sowder said part of the defensive
problem was his team
getting ahead of itself. After
going ahead quickly, he felt
like the ’Roos let up, which
gave New Home new life.
This week against the undefeated
No. 19-ranked Amherst
Bulldogs, the Kangaroos
probably won’t be able to win
a shootout.
“The big question for us
Kangaroos at Bulldogs
1-1 Record 3-0
Def. New Last week Def.
Home 78-58 Silverton 51-6
this week is, ‘Can we play
defense?’ ” Sowder said.
“We got the ball rolling
last week offensively, but
when you start talking about
defense, we missed a lot of
assignments and did things
wrong.”
Sowder attributed the
defensive struggles to still being
a bit behind from having
Week 0 open. However, with
another week’s worth of expe-
rience, he expects his defense
to give the ’Roos a chance to
hang with Amherst for four
quarters, something no team
has done this season.
“I don’t think Amherst has
been four quarters this year,”
the coach said. “I think that
may be their weakness.”
Amherst has 45-point ruled
its opponent in all three wins
and only gave up six points to
Silverton last week.
The Bulldogs’ key threat is
running back Tommy Pendergrass,
a regional qualifi er in
the 100 meters last spring.
“He’s their key guy,”
Sowder said. “He’s their
speed, defi nitely.”
Of course, that isn’t discounting
the other fi ve players
on the fi eld. Sowder said one
of the biggest threats Amherst
poses is its team speed.
Owls match up well with Groom
With a bunch of injuries already, the Owls
could use a break. Could it come in the form of
an upset win?
Silverton has experienced
a string of bad luck
the fi rst three weeks of the
season.
The Owls have seen
some of their best players
go down with injuries and
they’ve turned the ball
over more than they’ve
scored. Consequently,
they are 0-2.
Still, heading into this
week’s match-up with the
Groom Tigers, Silverton
head coach Joe Navarro
is confi dent his team is on
the precipice of its fi rst
victory.
“We should win if we
take care of the football
and swarm on defense,”
Navarro said.
The Owls will have to
do both of
those things
without
some key
players on
both sides of
the ball.
Offensively,
the Owls
are against
without
running back
Jeremy Hall,
who Navarro
said is still week-to-week.
Also missing on the offense
is receiver Forrest
Ottis.
Defensively, the Owls
are missing the center of
their defense in nose guard
Timmy Ramirez.
Even without those
Tigers at Owls
2-1 Record 0-2
Def. Last week Lost to
Darrouzett 52-6 Amherst 51-6
three starters, Navarro said
his team should be faster
than Groom.
To keep the Tigers from
running away from them
like Amherst did, the
Owls will need to contain
Groom running back Taylor
Fields.
area roundup
Longhorns return from off week
looking to get back to winning
Traditionally,
it has been
the cowboy’s
job to wrangle
cattle.
Friday night,
the Hart Longhorns
hope to
create a stampede
the Happy
Cowboys can’t
contain.
Coming off their open week,
the Longhorns are looking to
keep Happy from notching
its fi rst win, but that might be
easier said than done.
“They’re better than their
record shows,” Hart head coach
Kevin Roberts said. “They’ve
been playing some pretty good
XXX - 15
folks.”
Happy
has lost to
Petersburg,
Amherst
and Meadow,
all
undefeated
teams.
The key
for Hart to
keep Happy
out of the win column will be
to stop the run.
“They line up tight and try
to run over you,” Roberts said.
“Overall, they are going to be
bigger than us, but most people
are. The biggest thing is keeping
containment and not jumping
on the misdirection.”
Elks still searching for second win
The Cotton Center Elks are, unfortunately,
still searching for their second
win.
It’s the uncomfortable situation they’ve
been saddled with for the last few seasons.
The bright side is that they were in the
same position last season and ended up
one win short of a district championship
and earned their fi rst playoff berth since
2006.
The Elks’ next attempt is the Southland
Eagles, who are coming off a 49-0
shutout at the hands of Aspermont.
Cowboys at Longhorns
0-3 Record 1-1
Lost to Last week Open in
Meadow 56-8 Week 2
Eagles at Elks
1-2 Record 1-2
Lost to Last week Lost to
Aspermont 49-0 Westbrook 63-18
PCHS pumped up for only home game
The Plainview Christian Eagles’ fi rst foray into
football in two years has gone well so far. The
Eagles are 2-0 with two 45-point mercy rule
wins under their belt.
This week the Eagles will play their only
home game of the year . . . which almost didn’t
happen.
The Owls had Silverton JV scheduled for
today’s 5:30 p.m. game, but a rash of injuries
saw the Owls dismantle their JV to fi ll in the
holes on their varsity. PCHS head coach Brent
Patton frantically searched for a new opponent,
and by Tuesday found one.
“The kids were distraught Monday and Tuesday
until I sent out a mass text message telling
them we have a game,” Patton said.
The Eagles will now host Southland JV in
their homecoming game, which Patton said will
proceed regardless of the wet weather.
Patton said the fi eld was a little sloppy this
morning during practice.
“The art department painted an Eagle in the
middle of the fi eld,” he said, “and it looks like
Milk of Magnesia right now.”
11//gameday//09.15.11