|
Mustangs will return home to battle East Henderson Friday
Smoky Mountain’s football team will play at home for the first time in a month Friday when East Henderson visits Carr Hooper Stadium/Babe Howell Field for a 7:30 p.m. Western Athletic Conference game.
“We’ll be glad to be back home,” Coach Dale Galloway said. “It’s been a while since we played at home. We’re just 1-3 on the road.”
While Galloway and the players will be happy to be in familiar surroundings, he knows the Eagles (4-3) will be a formidable foe.
“They’re like herding cats,” Galloway said. “They’re everywhere. They are so quick they are hard to defend. They spread it out quite a bit on offense.”
Running back Michael Robinson and quarterback Chase Hill are the offensive leaders for Coach Brett Chappell’s team.
East uses a 40 defense and has two interior players with good size, according to Galloway.
“Here we go again in a situation where we have a size advantage,” the coach said. “We need to use it well.”
Limiting turnovers will be a key to Friday’s game, Galloway said. He noted the Mustangs have lost 10 fumbles this season, but half of those have been in the past two weeks.
“We haven’t done as good a job protecting the ball the last two weeks as we did earlier in the season,” he said.
The series is tied 3-3, but East has won three straight. Robinson rushed for 102 yards and caught four passes for 64 yards helping his team to a 26-0 win last season.
The Eagles opened WAC play Friday with a 42-24 win over North Henderson.
The teams have had Tuscola and Hendersonville as common opponents. SM lost to the Mountaineers 23-13 while the Eagles fell 29-26. They both defeated the Bearcats with the Mustangs winning 30-6 and East taking a 21-20 victory
The Eagles also own wins over Rosman (45-21) and Enka (19-3). They have lost to Owen (27-3) and Chase (23-14).
The Mustangs fell to 4-3 Friday with a 13-3 loss to Brevard as the teams combined for 11 turnovers.
“The defense played well,” Galloway said. “(Brevard) did a great job with that little draw play on the first drive. We adjusted and defended the draw well the rest of the game.”
One of the defensive stars was Ethan Crowe, who intercepted three passes.
“That’s very rare to have three interceptions in a game,” the coach said. “He had a heck of a performance. He also forced a fumble and had a tackle near the goal line.”
Galloway noted the Mustangs had drives of nine, 12 and 15 plays on which they failed to score any points.
“That will pretty much beat you every time,” he said.
“The frustrating thing is I feel like we’re a better football team, but we have the same record we did last year,” Galloway said.
|
