Forrest County AHS has had a fair share of bumps in the road.
Injuries combined with close losses in some ways have made the season somewhat frustrating. Despite that, the Aggies have won three of their last four games of the season and clinched a No. 2 seed in the playoffs.
“I wish we could have won some of the close ones, but I think it made us better,” Dolan said. “Even though we lost games, we were still in them. We didn’t just get blown out. When we are good on offense, we can keep the ball away. We haven’t been that great this year, but the defense has come through and given us some chances.”
However, the injury bug did bite the Aggies again, with two-way starting lineman Jeremiah Daniels likely missing the playoffs.
“He’s a huge loss for us,” Dolan said. “We have to make up for it and move some things around. It is what it is, but the kids are resilient.”
The key for FCAHS (5-4) has been its defense, which, according to Dolan, has held teams to a historic low.
“We have gotten better defensively from last year to this year, but offensively, not so much,” Dolan said. “Defensively, as far as points allowed, we are averaging 16.5 points given up a game. I think that’s the lowest in about 14 years since our defense has been this good, and we played some pretty dang good teams.”
However, Raymond’s run game will put FCAHS’ defense to the test in the opening round of the playoffs. The Bulldogs (3-5) are led by Amondra Moffett, who has run for 914 yards and nine touchdowns.
“This Raymond bunch is mighty quick,” Dolan said. “Their record is not great, but they have played some pretty good teams too. They are super athletic and can take one to the house at any minute.
“The running back is their quarterback. They have two guys they put back there, but they just directly snap it to him. They give you some different power formations and all that, but they will throw it. They are 70% run and 30% pass, roughly. Both of the quarterbacks/running backs will throw it a little bit. They’ll throw the short-stop route or hit you with the fade. It’s one or the other. It’s kind of scary when they throw the ball up to an athlete. But what they do best is run the football. We have to tackle well.”
Although the Aggie offense has struggled, Dolan believes that the type of offense his team runs will be an advantage.
“Everybody they play has been in a spread offense,” Dolan said. “Nobody has run the ball at them. Nobody has been under center and ran anything resembling what we run.
“We always think that if we hold somebody to less than three touchdowns, then we have a chance to win. That’s still the goal. Offensively, with this kind of team, if we can sustain some of the drives, I think that will take some of their energy away. If we go three and out and punt the ball back and forth, then they have more big play potential than we do. We want to grind it out and make it a short game.”
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