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Mustangs have limited time to prepare for Eagles on Friday
Smoky Mountain’s football team will have a short week to prepare for one of Western North Carolina’s best running backs when the Mustangs meet East Henderson at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Carr Hooper Stadium/Babe Howell Field.
Both teams played Monday in games postponed from Friday due to Hurricane Ivan.
Michael Angram, who has already surpassed 1,000 rushing yards for the season, will lead the Eagles (3-2, 1-1) into action in the Mountain Athletic Conference game.
“Their tailback is a great player,” Coach Tim Hawkins said last week before East’s 41-6 rout of Erwin when Angram gained 205 yards. “He is tough to stop.”
The Mustangs were 28-10 winners a year ago giving them a 3-0 edge in the series. They limited Angram to 60 yards in that game.
“We’ve got to stop that zone offense they run,” Hawkins said.
Coach Michael Sexton’s team operates out of I and spread sets with quarterback Jacob Robinson under center.
The Eagles’ defense is led by tackle Ross Shaffer, according to Hawkins.
“They play a solid 4-3 defense,” he said. “I think they’re a program on the rise. We will have to play real well to compete with them.”
In addition to Erwin, the Eagles have defeated West Henderson (35-7) and North Henderson (37-12). They have lost to Brevard (21-14) and Tuscola (35-14).
The Mustangs fell to 0-5 overall and 0-2 in the MAC with Monday’s 13-12 loss at North Buncombe.
“It’s hard to lose that way,” Hawkins said. “That’s two games we’ve lost this year that have gone down to the last play.”
SM did not have kicker Bryan Mand, who was playing for the Mustang soccer team against Franklin in a game already scheduled for Monday. Therefore, they went for two points after both touchdowns but missed the conversions.
“I looked at how we had done in the pre-game, and I felt our best chance was to go for two rather than kick,” Hawkins said.
The bright spot for the Mustangs was the play of Randall Crowe, who carried 16 times for 154 yards and two TDs.
“Randall is running hard, and the line is blocking well,” the coach said. “Zack Watson gave us a shot in the arm with a couple of runs.’
The short week will change the regular practice routine.
“We’ve just got to get the soreness out today then we’ll have to quickly start to get ready for East Henderson,” Hawkins said Tuesday. “We won’t get as many repetitions as we normally do, but that shouldn’t be a problem at this point in the season.”
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