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Hungry for first win, Plano looks to tame high-powered Jaguars
BY Matt Welch, mwelch@acnpapers.com
As the physical and psychological toll of District 8-5A begins to mount, the margin for error is shrinking.
It's a burden that weighs heavily on the shoulders of the district's four 0-2 teams; two of which will collide at 7:30 p.m. Friday from Clark Stadium as Plano Senior hosts Flower Mound.
"From here on out, these are playoff games," said Jaydon McCullough, Plano head coach. "In some cases it's not a must-win, but for us, this game kind of is ... Our kids know what's at stake."
"It won't be easy, but if we can come out of Clark Stadium with a win," McCullough said, "then we're 1-2 and in the same spot we were in at this time last year."
It'll mean avenging one of Plano's three district losses from last season against a Jaguar squad equally hungry for its first notch in the 8-5A win column.
In arriving at a 1-4 record, the Jaguars have displayed the usual brand of high-octane football that carried them into the postseason last year. Only Hebron cracked the code on how to buckle down the Flower Mound offense in eking out a 21-15 victory.
But while the team's personnel has changed, the explosive system remains intact.
"Playing Flower Mound is unlike playing any other team," McCullough said. "It's so different. People said we had one of the better defenses in the area last year and we're just looking at Flower Mound and wondering how we're going to stop these guys."
In the wake of graduating last season's respective district MVP and Offensive Player of the Year in Hunter Lee and Paul Millard, the Jaguars have tried to fill those voids with the tandem of quarterback Marshall Williams and rusher Connor Ashley. Like his predecessor, Williams leads the area in passing with 2,092 yards. Williams' ledger also includes 19 touchdowns on a 54-percent completion clip.
"[Williams] is your typical Flower Mound quarterback," McCullough said. "He's going to be very well-trained and will be able to get pre-snap and post-snap reads. He can fit the ball into tight places and is very accurate."
Like last season, the Jaguars are heavy on ball distribution; never keying in on one receiver with six targets having already accrued double-digit reception totals. Chas Taylor leads that bunch with six touchdowns on 637 yards while Beau LaFave averages just a tick shy of 30 yards per catch.
It's taking that unit out of its comfort zone that stands paramount for McCullough, who felt his Wildcats played into Flower Mound's hand last season by obliging them in a shootout; a proposition that dealt Plano a 61-52 loss.
But despite the potency of the Flower Mound offense, it's the defense that has made the most strides since last season, chiefly due to having six returners back from 2010.
"They've got a lot of returners and I think that added experience helps," McCullough said. "I think they're more fundamentally sound this year and that they're tackling better. Last year, it looked like people were running through them."
Jake Jaffe helms the defense at linebacker, while Donnelle Lyles and Chase Adams anchor the secondary. A unit familiar with high-scoring matchups, the Jaguars have surrendered at least 35 points all but once this season. Plano looks to continue that trend, seeking an even keel between pass and run with intentions on building off a late push in last week's loss to Hebron. That fight gave McCullough hope going forward. And with margin for error running thin these days, the Wildcats don't have a choice but to capitalize.
"Some questions are going to be answered this week," McCullough said. "That's what makes 5A football so interesting, but we're fighting for our lives with this one."
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