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Indians' special teams shine
After non-district losses to Brownsboro and Corsicana, the Indians spent the off week trying to get a handle on what needed fixing. Right now, the list is a lot longer than the list of what's working. I'm resisting the temptation to talk about the fact that it's been two years since Jacksonville made the playoffs. It's much too early to be worried about making the playoffs. The Indians will have to walk and win a game before any serious discussion of the playoff picture can be undertaken. So far, the only consistency for Jacksonville has been on special teams. Kicker Brent Colvin hasn't missed this season, including kicking a field goal and three PATs. The field-goal block team has also been big, blocking two PATs, including one Colton McCown returned for 101 yards and a two-point conversion.
Finally, kickoff returner Jimmy Gray returned a kickoff 90 yards and a touchdown against Corsicana. Heck, the special teams have had a season already after two games, accounting for 14 of Jacksonville's 26 points. Unfortunately, that's symptomatic of a bigger issue - a team only punts 15 times in two games if the offense is struggling. But I covered that last week. Regardless of what happens on offense, the Indians' young defense will need to make some kind of statement. In the past, the Indians have been a heavy-hitting team on both sides of the ball, with the offense chewing up massive amounts of game clock by grinding out yards and first downs. This year, it's been the defense that's paid the heaviest price for the offense's struggles - namely in how long the defense has been on the field.
Keep in mind that high school quarters are 12 minutes. By the time the fourth quarter rolled around and the Indians started making headway against the Corsicana second team, Jacksonville had gained a total of 117 yards to Corsicana's 338. Granted, 129 of those yards came on two big plays from Corsicana's biggest playmaker - Omarius Hines, who scored on a 68-yard pass reception and a 61-yard end-around. That at least makes the numbers a little closer. But the hidden stat in all of this is average starting field position, or where your team is, on average, when it begins a possession. What difference does that make? Well, the farther you have to go to score on average, the better your offense has to be to score. And, the closer your opponent starts to your end zone, the better your defense has to be. Jacksonville's average starting field position is its own 27, meaning that on average, the Indians need to put together a 73-yard drive to score. In a word, that's been difficult. Corsicana and Brownsboro averaged starting at their own 40. To Jacksonville's credit, Corsicana scored only once when it started with the ball three times in Indians' territory. Jacksonville forced a fumble near the goal line on another, and forced a punt on the third. Unfortunately, the Tigers were able to score three touchdowns and a field goal when they started inside their own 40 - again, twice on Hines' big plays. Big plays are usually caused by one of two things - a missed assignment or a tired defense. Missed assignments are part of the cost of doing business with a young defense, especially when playing teams fielding veteran players with playoff credentials. Tired defenses are less a product of coaching and more of conditioning. Spending an extra 17 minutes on the field while the offense sputters doesn't help, either. Either way, the old axiom holds true - sometimes the best defense is a good offense. Right now, the Indians have one more chance to figure out what's wrong before the losses start marching them out of that picture I said I wasn't going to talk about. This week Palestine (1-2) at Jacksonville (0-2), 7:30 p.m. at the Tomato Bowl. Final non-district game for Jacksonville. Palestine lost 36-14 to Henderson last Friday, and also lost senior safety Raymond Welch with a leg injury. His return this week is questionable. Palestine trailed 33-0 before finding the end zone. Jacksonville Indians 2007 SEASON STATISTICS TO DATE Scoring by Quarters
Rushing
Passing Comp Att Int Yds TD Paxton Lindsey 27 60 4 241 1 Kyle Stacy 3 9 0 51 1 Total Passing 30 69 4 292 2 Opponents 35 57 1 459 3 Receivers
graphic: Cherokeean Herald |
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