STORY BY: KEITH KANE
Bryan Head Coach Ross Rogers called last week’s 54 to 7 Crosstown Showdown loss to A&M Consolidated “A tough night as a football team. And, a tough night for an old coach.”
Even so, Rogers says “The defense flew around and I thought for the most part they played pretty well.” But Rogers was disappointed that the Vikings did not get the ball into the end zone on three deep drives in the first half. “We had not done what we were supposed to do,” says the coach. “We just needed to put some passes at the right time into the end zone and we just didn’t do that.”
Rogers says Bobby Johnson had a good night as he expected. And, he could have had an even bigger night had the Vikings not had to have changed their play calling following the pick-six the Tigers scored early in the third quarter to put Bryan in a deep hole. Roster addition Keyon Johnson also had a big night. “Maybe he’s a bigger target and we can hit him,” says Rogers. “Hopefully that will be the case this Friday night.”
About the Lufkin Panthers Rogers says “They bring long, tall guys with a lot of quickness and a lot of speed. They’ve got a lot of tradition over there. They enjoy their high school football.”
Even though the Panthers are having what they consider an off year with a 3-3 record,Rogers expectsLufkin to come to town with “the hair up on the back of their necks.” Lufkin will run a spread offense with quarterback Tyler Stubblefield able to throw a good deep ball, receivers Jabryce Taylor and Jamal Jeffery running jet streaks and bubble screens well, and running back Kendrick Mapp providing a good running game.
Defensively, Lufkin will run a split-6, which Rogers says they have run since the early 1990’s with big defensive tackles and active linebackers. The Panthers’ secondary is adequate, but could be a weak link in their defense.
“I do think there are things we can do,” says Rogers. “I’m optimistic we’ll be able to move the ball on these guys. It’s up to our offense to put some points on the board.”
Rogers invites theBryanfans to come out and support the Vikings. “Our kids are going to play hard,” says the coach. “We’ve just got to play smarter.”
The Vikings will have to play Friday night without linebacker KeeKee Johnson who suffered a concussion towards the end of last week’s game. Kevin Fonville is expected to step in to replace Johnson.
The game Friday night between the Vikings and Panthers kicks off at 7:30 pm at Merrill Green Stadium. The broadcast on 1150 The Zone begins at 7:00 pm withKeith Kaneand Ronnie Jackson.