Friday night at 7:30pm the varsity football team takes on the Southwest Dragons at Gus stadium. Before attending the game, here’s some words from coaches and players:
Despite their efforts on last weeks game against Highlands, head coach Juan Morales feels satisfied with how his players did.
“We did a good job of holding them run-wise, which was exactly what our goal was going in, to stop their running back, who was a very good running back. They had a very good quarterback and they were able to take advantage of that. The main lesson was for us to be able to play a total game, where we’re able to cover both the run and the pass, and really, offensively for us to just be a little more versatile. In the end, we want to go back to the basics and the fundamentals, and see what kind of ball players we are,” Morales said.
Morales interprets what Southwest’s offense will look like tonight.
“Offensively, they’re a smash em’, mash em’ kind of offense. They really like pushing the ball and pushing their weight around. They’ve got some really big linemen and some really big full backs, so fans should expect a lot of running. You’re probably not going to see a lot of spread offense, so we’re going to find out really fast whether we can match up or not, but I think we can,” Morales said.
Co-Offensive Coordinator Sean Salinas predicts the kind of defense their opponents are going to potentially run during the game.
“Defensively, there’s going to be a lot of tough kids out there. Their defense, sometimes it looks like they run a 3-2, sometimes a 3-3 or 3-4, but there’s a lot of movement, and their guys are going to play hard. They have a good defensive front inside the box, so we’re hoping we can eliminate some of the things they do up front with our offensive line,” Salinas said.
In efforts of changing the outcome for tonights game, Salinas describes what their goal is.
“We just have to help each other out. Offensively we have to stay on the field as long as possible, create touchdowns, not just three points, and take control of some of the opportunities we missed last week, not leaving points out on the board so we can help our defense out,” Salinas said.
“Offensively, we’re going to go back to the basics. We’re going to try and go back to our bread and butter plays; our pitch, our power, and our belly plays. At the same time, we would like to run a lot more play-action stuff. We’re going to try and utilize some people in different spots, here and there. We’re going to do the same thing defensively, only move things around a little bit because it’s a different offense, so we have to change our defense,” Morales said.
Senior running back Marquis Jones shares what his hopes are as a player to help his team be successful during the game.
“I want to be explosive every play, so we can have a better chance of winning. We need to work together, come out with a lot of fire, and work on finishing faster and better,” senior running back Marquis Jones said.
The team is known as a whole, but not many are known individually. Coach Salinas gives a message to students and those who support the team.
“Get to know our players. There’s a lot of these kids that some fans may or may not know when they take off their helmet and they’re walking around school. Come out to the pep rallies, support them, get to know our kids, and encourage them all the way around,” Salinas said.
In agreement with Salinas, Morales tells fans what kind of encouragement they can provide for the huskies.
“I think as fans it’s important for our players to know and hear them say, ‘Hey we’re going to support you no matter what. We understand how hard you work, and we’ll be cheering you on,'” Morales said.
The game kicks off at 7:30 at Gustafson stadium. Be loud, be proud, and support your Huskies.