Archives > Sports Update
Print
E-mail
Comment
Rate
RSS
Share
Defense Rules: Horn steamrolls Garland to improve to 2-0
By DEVIN HASSON, dhasson@starlocalnews.com
Horn and Garland have been perennial playoff teams in recent years.
And with the most recent realignment pitting 11-5A against 12-5A in the opening round of the postseason, a clash between the Jaguars and Owls might have been labeled as a playoff preview.
On Thursday, however, only one of those teams fit the billing.
The Jaguars improve to 2-0 on the young season, while the Owls slip to 0-2.
"I'm not surprised we were able to play well because we believe in our kids," Horn head coach Rodney Webb said. "But, no, I was not expecting the final score to be like that."
One need look no further than the effort of the Horn defense to explain the blowout score.
Garland picked up a first down on its first play from scrimmage and did not move the chains again until the final drive of the game. The only other first down the Owls recorded came midway through the third quarter and the Jaguars forced a fumble that they recovered on that play.
In all, Garland managed only 93 yards of total offense and its 28 rushing attempts netted only 32 yards.
"The first thing is that we knew they had a potent running game, we saw them run the ball well against Plano East, they have some big, powerful backs, so we wanted to stop the run first," Webb said. "The kids played well and did a good job to put them in a position where they needed to throw more and that is not a position they want to be in."
The Horn offense was sharp at times, particularly in the first quarter. The Jaguars started the game with an eight-play, 62-yard drive that Treyvon Marsh capped with a 3-yard run for the first of his four touchdowns to make it 7-0.
Later in the quarter, Horn marched 83 yards in 10 plays, with Marsh bulling in from four yards out to make it 14-0.
While the Jaguars continued to tack on points, much of it was set up by the defense, as Horn's average starting field position for its final four scoring drives was the Garland 38-yard line.
"We were not as efficient as we should be; we made a lot of mistakes and we did not play close to as good as we can play on offense," Webb said. "But our offense compliments our defense right now. We are going to have a pretty good defense and we want to have a ball-control offense that takes advantage of that."
Garland had its share of opportunities in the first half with four possessions in Horn territory but could not break the Jaguar 30. After a failed fourth-down attempt late in the second quarter, the Jaguars quickly moved down the field, getting an 11-yard touchdown pass from Destri White to Justyn Oliphant that made it 21-0 with just 16 seconds left before halftime.
The second half was more of the same, as the Horn defense consistently put the team up in good position. Following a Garland fumble, Marsh carried the ball six straight plays, the last of which was a 2-yard run into the end zone to make it 28-0 midway through the third quarter.
Marsh added his fourth score on a 1-yard plunge to cap a 16-yard drive after a botched punt attempt by Garland just a couple of minutes later, and White hit Derrell Bullocks with a 5-yard scoring strike in the fourth quarter to provide the final margin.
The first two weeks have gone according to plan for the Jaguars, who have defeated McKinney Boyd and Garland-both playoff teams last season-by a combined score of 80-20. But Horn knows that as well as things are going right now, there is still a long way to go.
"We've talked about the fact that you are not playing for a state championship the first three weeks of the season," Webb said. "We don't want to be playing our best football right now. We are going to find things to improve on every week because there are a lot of things we need to improve on. We still feel like our best football is ahead of us."
The following are comments from the readers.
In no way do they represent the view of Starlocalnews.com
In no way do they represent the view of Starlocalnews.com
You must register with a valid email to post comments.
Only your Member ID will be posted with the comments.
Only your Member ID will be posted with the comments.
Registered users sign in here:
Become a Registered User
- Return to: Sports Update «
- Home «
- Top of Page ^
