Jacksonville's season is already on the line
Tribe needs offensive momentum against Whitehouse
LARRY KRANTZ
As I noted in the first Jacksonville story this year, Indians head football coach Randy Copeland enthusiastically asked me to ask him when they played Whitehouse.

It's this Friday. And that enthusiasm has been replaced with a sense of urgency and a 1-3 record.

Last year, the wheels fell off the Indians' season in a humbling 39-0 loss at Whitehouse, to a team that had a lot to prove - and to a large extent, proved it by making the playoffs for the first time in a decade.

And as transformative as that win might have been for Whitehouse, which hadn't beaten Jacksonville in forever, I left the stadium that night thinking it was gut-check time.

Of course, it's already gutcheck time for this year's team.

A 55-14 loss to Marshall last week in the District 12- 4A opener last Friday posed more questions than answers for Jacksonville - a team that's still searching for its identity nearly halfway into the season.

The game with Whitehouse will mark the halfway point of the 2007 season.

Here's what that means:

*First, if the Indians can't decide who their quarterback is halfway through the season, they will miss the playoffs. Simple as that. Now, when the coaches say there isn't a controversy, that may well be the case.

But a "discussion," now that's different.

Call it whatever you want, but in three games, the Indians haven't moved the ball effectively with Paxton Lindsey under center.

Just haven't.

Kyle Stacy led Jacksonville on both of its scoring drives against Marshall, arguably the first real competition the 1-3 Indians have seen this season.

Stacy, in relief of Lindsey who dropped several snaps early on, completed 4 of 5 passes for 51 yards as part of an 11-play, 79-yard drive that, for the moment, brought Jacksonville to within seven points of Marshall midway through the second quarter.

Up to that point, Jacksonville had one yard of offense to show for three possessions.

*Second, the Indians need Lindsey and his size and experience on the field.

Just not at quarterback.

I've also suggested before that Lindsey would see action as an H-back (hybrid tight end, running back) before the season was over.

That happened against Marshall, but Lindsey hasn't worked out enough at the position to make him a big part.

Yet.

Clearly, splitting time between two quarterbacks that have two different sets of offensive plays they run when they're in the game is hurting the Indians' consistency.

Not so much with penalties as in previous games, but with precision timing.

Defenses can survive on aggression. Offenses must have precision timing to be effective.

*Third, the Indians have got to figure out a way to start the game with some offensive momentum.

Jacksonville has gained exactly 0 yards combined in the first quarters of its last two games (minus-2 vs. Palestine, 2 vs. Marshall), and has rushed for minus-7 yards combined in all four first quarters combined.

The Indians managed to beat Palestine anyway, but that won't work against district competition.

Jacksonville has been trying to establish itself by passing the ball early and often.

What that's often led to is a three-and-out on the first series or two before the offense really gets going.

The only thing the Indians haven't tried is loading up and pounding the ball for a few plays before trying to throw early in a game.

Jacksonville needs to announce its presence early on, keep the ball for a while, and start evening out its starting field position deficit, which now stands at close to 22 yards after Marshall started five drives in Jacksonville territory.

At an average of eight possessions a game, that's a difference of 176 yards.

In other words, in order for Jacksonville to win the average game, it would need to out gain its opponents by that amount.

Instead, the Indians are 1-3.

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not the coach and my observations are worth only what credence you lend them.

Playoff hopes are on the line

But one thing is clear - Jacksonville can't continue the way its gone these first four games and expect to beat Whitehouse.

If the Indians don't beat Whitehouse, then they'll have to just about run the table, including beating Kilgore, to stay in the playoff picture.

That would be two years in a row that Whitehouse ended Jacksonville's playoff hopes. Game Stats

SCORING BY QUARTER
Jacksonville	0	7	0	7	--	14
Marshall	7	21	14	13	--	55

SCORING SUMMARY
First Quarter
MARSHALL -- Andrew Clough 4 run (Alan
Guzman kick), 5:21
Second Quarter
MARSHALL -- K.D. Johnson 8 run (Guzman
kick), 8:47
JACKSONVILLE -- Kelvin Hall 10 run (Brent
Colvin kick), 4:58
MARSHALL -- Jermaine Woolen 30 fumble
recovery (Guzman kick), 3:41
MARSHALL -- Dustin Fitzgerald 23 pass
from Darius Jones (Guzman kick), :06
Third Quarter
MARSHALL -- Clough 2 run (Guzman
kick), 6:07
MARSHALL -- Dameion Smith 55 pass from
Jackson Hood (Guzman kick), 1:49
Fourth Quarter
JACKSONVILLE -- Jeremy Chappelle 1
run (Colvin kick), 8:53
MARSHALL -- Jones 81 kickoff return
(kick failed), 8:39
MARSHALL -- J.C. Haywood 11 run
(Guzman kick), 1:41

Jacksonville		Marshall
FIRST DOWNS	10	17
Rushes-Yds.	35-88	44-278
Passing Yds.	133	145
Comp.-Att.-Int	12-19-3	6-12-0
Punts-Yds.	4-34.3	3-34.7
Fumbles-Lost	2-0	3-0
Penalties-Yds.	2-15	8-75

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING -- Jacksonville: Chris Hall 9-48, Kyle Stacy 11-32, Kelvin Hall 1-10, Jeremy Chappelle 7-3, Zaver Jones 1-1, Paxton Lindsey 6-(minus-6); Marshall: Andrew Clough 14-80, Darius Jones 9-72, K.D. JOhnson 8-48, J.C. Haywood 9-43, Jermaine Woolen 0-30, Jeremiah Fisher 2-6. PASSING -- Jacksonville: Stacy 10-15-2 112, Lindsey 2-4-1 21; Marshall: Jackson Hood 2-2-0 77, Jones 4-10-0 68. RECEIVING -- Jacksonville: K. Hall 6-72, Dowindle Hamilton 2-31, Clint Copeland 2-13, Antwone Johnson 1-12, Terrance Canady 1-5; Marshall: Dameon Smith 2- 74, Woolen 2-50, Dustin Fitzgerald 1-23, Fisher 1-(minus-2).