Presbyterian Christian is now riding a three-game winning streak after defeating Sumrall in an overtime thriller last week.
“We played hard and did some good things,” PCS coach Derek White said. “It was a weird night and a lot of adversity. We got beat up a little but found a way. I’m proud of our kids for not backing down.”
Offensively, running back Marquis Crosby rushed for over 200 yards for a third consecutive week and is 118 yards short of reaching 1,000 yards. While the Bobcat run game has been successful, White would like for his team’s passing game to have more success. In last week’s game, PCS was 2-of-8 and passed for 51 yards.
“We obviously run the ball a whole lot right now,” White said. “We have to try and expand our offense a little bit more in the next couple of weeks. We need to get better in the passing game.”
The Bobcats will finally get to have their home opener in which they will host Wayne Academy, which is also on a three-game win streak.
“They are a good football team,” White said. “Coach Todd Mangum is a legend in this state. He was at Wayne County for a long time.
They pride themselves on being a physical and tough football team. We’ll have our work cut out for us this week.”
Wayne Academy’s offense has averaged 35 points per game this season, but in the last three weeks has averaged 43 points. The key player in the Jaguar offense is wide receiver, Will Hodo. Hodo, who is 6-foot-4 and 220-pounds, is a three-year starter and is committed to Alabama in baseball.
“They do a little bit of everything,” White said. “They run the football, run play-action and do a little option. They have a kid that is an Alabama baseball commit. He’s a really good player that makes them go at wide receiver. He plays a little bit every of everything. He’ll play running back, linebacker and almost anywhere on defense.
“They are pretty good up front. Coach Magnum prides his offensive line on being tough. He’s an old school football coach. I like him and respect him. He really gets after it with his guys.”
According to White, the key in preparing for an offense that is diverse in its play-calling is by focusing on his defense.
“It goes back to doing what we do,” White said. “Defensively, we need to stop the run and create some turnovers. We need to worry about us every week. We need to do what we need to do better.
On defense, Wayne Academy has been just as dominant in the last three weeks as the Jaguars has held teams to 10 points per game.
“Every week we get something different,” White said. “I’m thinking they will be an odd front and will play Cover 3 and make us throw the football. They create havoc up front. They blitz and move around a whole lot. They do a good job of taking things away. They do a very good job of taking away things that we do and are very well-coached in that aspect.
“Any time you get a home opener, an opportunity to play against a well-coached and tough football team, it’s always exciting. I tell our kids every week that I don’t know how many Friday nights we will get with what’s going on in our world. Every Friday night needs to be the Super Bowl.”
