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Region II Finals pairing, two tough defenses
By Cory J. Mageors, Staff Writer
When Plano Senior (12-1) looks at today’s Region II Final opponent, Skyline (12-1), they notice a surplus of athletes on the field.
But at this stage in the game, every team is loaded with athletes. And with an opportunity to move one round closer to the Division I Class 5A State Championship on the line, they will all be ready to play.
“You are going to see several athletes on the field all at once tomorrow,” said Gerald Brence, Plano head coach. “Skyline is going to line up and try to take advantage of their athletic ability; but you know, we have a few athletes on our team too.”
The Wildcats’ lone loss came to Allen, who was ousted in the first round of the playoffs.
Skyline, on the other hand, lost to Arlington Bowie in the third game of the season, 17-7.
Even in Skyline’s loss to Bowie, the Red Raiders held the Volunteers to their lowest scoring total of the season.
Bowie plays Euless Trinity today, with the winner of that game facing the winner of the Plano-Skyline game in the Class 5A State Semifinals.
Advancing that far would be an accomplishment for either team as Skyline has never made the Class 5A State Semifinals while Plano was last their in 1994, en route to their record-setting seventh state championship.
“They have one of the best defenses in the state as far as the stats go,” Brence said. “They don’t do a lot of stunting, which doesn’t mean they won’t stunt this weekend, but they just line up and take advantage of their athletic ability. In the secondary they match up very well and play a lot of man coverage.”
Skyline has outscored their opponents 496-95, or by an average of 38-7.
Let that settle in for just a second.
The Red Raiders held their opponents to seven points per game, and four times a goose-egg remained on the scoreboard for the opposition when the final buzzer sounded, and all four of those were posted in a row.
Skyline leads the Metroplex in defense as they are allowing 175.6 yards per game, or 118 ypg less than Plano, while giving up an average of less than 100 yards on the ground and through the air.
The Wildcats and Red Raiders have faced two common opponents, and both of those outcomes were similar.
Skyline more recently toasted Rowlett in the area round of the playoffs, 49-7, at Texas Stadium while earlier in the season Plano defeated the Eagles, 35-6.
The Red Raiders also defeated Carter, 35-0, a team which Plano defeated, 42-7, during non-district play.
Wildcats quarterbacks coach Tanner Craven and all of the coaching staff agrees that this is the type of situation they have been preparing for and they understand the moment they are in.
“We are motivated because we are putting the pads on right now and practicing and getting ready for another game,” Craven said. “There aren’t many teams left in Texas who can say that at this point.”
And with that being said, the mastermind behind District 9-5A’s No. 1 defense, Clint Stewart, has a pretty good philosophy about why he has put so much work into each week.
“We just want to win,” Stewart said.
And at 2 p.m. today at Memorial Stadium in Mesquite, one of these two teams will be on their way to doing just that.
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