Scoop27
08-30-2013, 06:49 AM
By JOEL LUNA joel.luna@thefacts.com | 0 comments
FREEPORT — Going into Hopper Field tonight, both Brazosport and Columbia have more questions than answers with their football teams. Some of those unknowns could be resolved when the teams meet for the 62nd time tonight at Hopper Field.
The Ships are in Ben Rudolph’s second season, as are the Roughnecks with Randy Lynch, but Columbia is bringing in a slew of new players with only four returning starters.
“A lot of our locals, they like playing West Columbia,” Rudolph said. “I think it is because of the closeness of both communities. I mean, our high school covers Jones Creek which is almost to Brazoria. So there is a shared interest, and hopefully we will get a big crowd on Friday night.”
The game starts at 7:30 p.m. at Hopper Field.
Brazosport wants to continue the excitement Rudolph has brought to the program. His positive attitude and actions are changing the culture of things around Freeport, but he wants to see more results on the field.
“I want to see some improvement from last Friday night’s scrimmage with Brazoswood,” he said. “We had good energy and good effort which carried through the fourth quarter. But we have to remember last year when we played Columbia that we made so many mental mistakes. We have to know our assignments and produce.”
For the first time in about six or seven seasons, Columbia lost a lot of starters to graduation, so much so that 10 sophomores made the varsity team.
“We also have some juniors besides those sophomores that have never experienced their first game on Friday night,” Lynch said. “So we are expecting the unknown, but the kids know it is here and the first game of the season has arrived. They are excited.”
Brazosport’s offense is seasoned with second-year starter Emond Hobbs (6-foot, 180) starting under center. Running back Claude Lowe (5-foot-5, 170) also returns and will be used quite a bit as both a receiver and rusher by the Exporters.
“We want Emond to continue to advance his skills as a field general in and out of the pocket,” Rudolph said. “He threw the ball well in the scrimmage against Brazoswood. As for Claude, we are looking for him to have a good game. He will be running and catching a lot.”
The Ships have some stout young bodies up front, which could be a big advantage in the contest. Juniors Bryce Wilds (6-foot-5, 305 pounds), Cameron Duhon (6-foot-3, 310) and Austin Closs (6-foot-2, 305), along with sophomore Mark Contreras (6-foot-2, 230), could give Columbia some fits.
“We’ve been running a few reps at pretty good speed this week to make them uncomfortable,” Rudolph said. “We are trying to make practices uncomfortable because we are trying to simulate game like conditions.”
Columbia now has junior Jarius Kesee (6-foot-3, 170) running the offense, but playing wide receiver last season could be an advantage for him.
“Jarius looked good in the scrimmages and we continue to work with him,” Lynch said. “Because he played wide receiver last year, he knows the routes and what to expect from that end. This will be a progression during the season for him.
“There have been some growing pains from the new kids we have around now, and we’ve been spoiled coaches because we were used to returning a bunch.”
Both coaches agree this one could come down to special teams.
“They are important to me and I know we are more aggressive and a sounder team than last year,” Rudolph said. “I can’t wait to see this portion of the game.”
Lynch sees inexperience as an issue there, too.
“First of all I want to see execution both on offense and defense because of all the young guys that we have,” he said. “The execution of the special teams is a concern for us because we haven’t had much practice with it, but it could come down to that.”
Columbia is looking to make it’s fourth consecutive trip to the playoffs, while Brazosport’s last appearance was in 2008
FREEPORT — Going into Hopper Field tonight, both Brazosport and Columbia have more questions than answers with their football teams. Some of those unknowns could be resolved when the teams meet for the 62nd time tonight at Hopper Field.
The Ships are in Ben Rudolph’s second season, as are the Roughnecks with Randy Lynch, but Columbia is bringing in a slew of new players with only four returning starters.
“A lot of our locals, they like playing West Columbia,” Rudolph said. “I think it is because of the closeness of both communities. I mean, our high school covers Jones Creek which is almost to Brazoria. So there is a shared interest, and hopefully we will get a big crowd on Friday night.”
The game starts at 7:30 p.m. at Hopper Field.
Brazosport wants to continue the excitement Rudolph has brought to the program. His positive attitude and actions are changing the culture of things around Freeport, but he wants to see more results on the field.
“I want to see some improvement from last Friday night’s scrimmage with Brazoswood,” he said. “We had good energy and good effort which carried through the fourth quarter. But we have to remember last year when we played Columbia that we made so many mental mistakes. We have to know our assignments and produce.”
For the first time in about six or seven seasons, Columbia lost a lot of starters to graduation, so much so that 10 sophomores made the varsity team.
“We also have some juniors besides those sophomores that have never experienced their first game on Friday night,” Lynch said. “So we are expecting the unknown, but the kids know it is here and the first game of the season has arrived. They are excited.”
Brazosport’s offense is seasoned with second-year starter Emond Hobbs (6-foot, 180) starting under center. Running back Claude Lowe (5-foot-5, 170) also returns and will be used quite a bit as both a receiver and rusher by the Exporters.
“We want Emond to continue to advance his skills as a field general in and out of the pocket,” Rudolph said. “He threw the ball well in the scrimmage against Brazoswood. As for Claude, we are looking for him to have a good game. He will be running and catching a lot.”
The Ships have some stout young bodies up front, which could be a big advantage in the contest. Juniors Bryce Wilds (6-foot-5, 305 pounds), Cameron Duhon (6-foot-3, 310) and Austin Closs (6-foot-2, 305), along with sophomore Mark Contreras (6-foot-2, 230), could give Columbia some fits.
“We’ve been running a few reps at pretty good speed this week to make them uncomfortable,” Rudolph said. “We are trying to make practices uncomfortable because we are trying to simulate game like conditions.”
Columbia now has junior Jarius Kesee (6-foot-3, 170) running the offense, but playing wide receiver last season could be an advantage for him.
“Jarius looked good in the scrimmages and we continue to work with him,” Lynch said. “Because he played wide receiver last year, he knows the routes and what to expect from that end. This will be a progression during the season for him.
“There have been some growing pains from the new kids we have around now, and we’ve been spoiled coaches because we were used to returning a bunch.”
Both coaches agree this one could come down to special teams.
“They are important to me and I know we are more aggressive and a sounder team than last year,” Rudolph said. “I can’t wait to see this portion of the game.”
Lynch sees inexperience as an issue there, too.
“First of all I want to see execution both on offense and defense because of all the young guys that we have,” he said. “The execution of the special teams is a concern for us because we haven’t had much practice with it, but it could come down to that.”
Columbia is looking to make it’s fourth consecutive trip to the playoffs, while Brazosport’s last appearance was in 2008