Southern Durham @ SpartanFest Jamboree - Aug. 14, 2008
Aug 28, 2008
Last year the Spartans made the 150-mile road trip to the tiny hamlet of Ahoskie, located 60 miles southwest of Norfolk, Va., and dropped a 13-6 decision to the Hertford County Bears. This year the Bears will come to the Triangle, and might be walking into the lion’s den.
Southern turned the ball over five times last week in a 37-26 loss at Mount Tabor. Even though it was a non-conference game, the PAC-6 favorite Spartans were none to happy with that outcome and will be looking to get their offense revved up against the Bears. Last Friday the offense and special teams put the defense in bad situations all game long, as three giveaways inside their own 25-yard line set up three easy scores for the opposition.
According to coach Adrian Jones, the defense was on the field for nearly 80 plays, easily more than double the plays his offense ran. Yet the Spartans made a game of it with a late touchdown and didn’t give up any points in the fourth quarter. Jones said he feels like he has a powerful offense and making last week’s game close at the end, “showed we can put points on the board. If you take away three of those turnovers, we win the football game.”
Hertford County is returning eight starters this year, seven of which are expected to see time on both sides of the ball. They have two offensive linemen the Southern staff characterizes as Division I prospects. If there is an advantage for the Bears, it may be up front as Southern is somewhat undersized on the defensive line. For the Southern defense it will be about keeping things simple. They’ll likely play a lot of zone, with perhaps some zone blitzes thrown in, relying upon their defenders’ raw athletic ability to make plays.
This game appears to have the makings of a high-scoring affair and had last week’s contest not unfolded the way it did, this game could have been viewed as a trap game for the Spartans who face Wake Forest – Rolesville next week. But after the loss to Mount Tabor, a lack of focus for this week’s contest doesn’t seem likely. Jones won’t allow it, and stressed the benefit of a tough stretch of early games. “We put this schedule together for a reason. We wanted to have some tough non conference games so when we get to conference, we’ll be ready to play some football.”
Looking at Friday’s match-up, Jones said, “They’ve got some guys that match up real well with our guys. We’ve just got to do a good job coaching and protect the ball this week.”
We’ll have full coverage of this game Friday night at HighSchoolOT.com, so be sure to check in after the game for stats, photos and a full recap of the action.
After a big win against Middle Creek where the game was closer than the score, Northern treks over to Greensboro on Thursday for a match up with Grimsley High. Grimsley has one of the best team nicknames I’ve heard in a while - the Whirlies. It’s another way of saying tornadoes, but you probably already knew that, right?
Last year at Durham County Stadium, the Knights lost 24-21 in overtime. This year’s team looks to have more firepower, so if they can produce another solid game offensively they should have a happy bus ride home.
Last Friday, Hillside avenged 2007’s loss to Southern Vance with a 35-0 blowout of the Raiders. This week the Hornets make the 60-mile trip north on I-85 to Warrenton to square off against the Warren County Eagles. Victorious last season by the score of 54-8, Hillside looks to make it two straight wins in the series.
After a road win at North Davidson, Jordan travels to Cary to take on Green Hope, a team they beat last season 44-19. Be sure to check out Nick Stevens’ preview of this game here at HighSchoolOT.com.
It’s early, but this is a big game for the Wildcats. After a 48-14 home loss to start the year, East needs to have a competitive showing, or it could be a long season.
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