Scoop27
11-07-2014, 10:52 AM
By JOEL LUNA joel.luna@thefacts.com | 0 comments
FREEPORT — Having one district win doesn’t assure anyone of making the playoffs. Except for the Brazosport Exporters, who, with a win against Stafford by 13 points or more today, can get into the Class 4A Division I playoffs.
The Exporters (1-3, 2-7) play host to the Spartans (2-2, 6-3) at Hopper Field with a 7:30 p.m. kickoff.
Brazosport and Stafford have never met on the gridiron, and after getting their only district win against Bay City (41-28) three weeks ago, the Ships have dropped back-to-back games to El Campo (45-20) last week and Needville (35-28) the week before.
There is still a possibility that the Ships could get in with a loss, but only if Bay City travels to Needville and beats the Bluejays. Such a result would throw fourth place up for grabs with Brazosport, Bay City and Needville vying for that spot with all three tied with identical 1-4 marks.
Handing the Spartans a loss will not be an easy task for Brazosport. Though they’ve played well at times, the Ships have also hurt themselves with a lot of turnovers.
“This week we’ve been talking to them about playing to the best of their ability,” Brazosport coach Ben Rudolph said. “One thing that this team has yet to do this season is put together four good quarters of football.”
The Exporters lead the district with 18 fumbles out of 44 dropped balls.
“A lot of those are between the quarterback and center exchange,” Rudolph said. “We count those because technically it is a fumble.”
Stafford comes into the regular season finale by giving both front-runners in the district — Columbia (23-16) and El Campo (36-30) — everything they could handle before falling just one score short.
“If there is something that we must do defensively is not give them a cheap one,” Rudolph said. “We have to make them work on offense, have them go on long drives instead of giving them a quick one like we’ve been doing.”
Stafford’s defense (234.6 yards per game) is also pretty stingy, ranking second in district behind Columbia. The high-powered offenses of Columbia and El Campo only managed to score 59 combined points on the Spartan defense.
Brazosport will counter with an offense that is gaining 255 yards of offense a game while the defense is giving up 355.6 yards.
Junior quarterback Navontae Darthard (126-576 rushing yards, 4.57 per carry, seven TDs; 12-32-2, 166 passing yards, one TD), who took over the position a couple of games into the season, has solidified himself as the top offensive threat.
But the Ships also have junior Jeremiah Credit (73-454 rushing yards, 6.22 per carry, three TDs), who when given can slip through the smallest of cracks and take it to the house. Credit has returned three kickoffs for scores.
Freshman Ameer King (45-420 yards, 9.33 per carry, three TDs) has also stepped in and done some things with the ball on the ground for the Ships.
“Getting into the playoffs would be an awesome thing for these kids and the first time since 2008,” Rudolph said. “But just getting a win against this team would also be huge for this program.”
Pregame is scheduled to start at 7:15 p.m. on www.brazosportisd.net
FREEPORT — Having one district win doesn’t assure anyone of making the playoffs. Except for the Brazosport Exporters, who, with a win against Stafford by 13 points or more today, can get into the Class 4A Division I playoffs.
The Exporters (1-3, 2-7) play host to the Spartans (2-2, 6-3) at Hopper Field with a 7:30 p.m. kickoff.
Brazosport and Stafford have never met on the gridiron, and after getting their only district win against Bay City (41-28) three weeks ago, the Ships have dropped back-to-back games to El Campo (45-20) last week and Needville (35-28) the week before.
There is still a possibility that the Ships could get in with a loss, but only if Bay City travels to Needville and beats the Bluejays. Such a result would throw fourth place up for grabs with Brazosport, Bay City and Needville vying for that spot with all three tied with identical 1-4 marks.
Handing the Spartans a loss will not be an easy task for Brazosport. Though they’ve played well at times, the Ships have also hurt themselves with a lot of turnovers.
“This week we’ve been talking to them about playing to the best of their ability,” Brazosport coach Ben Rudolph said. “One thing that this team has yet to do this season is put together four good quarters of football.”
The Exporters lead the district with 18 fumbles out of 44 dropped balls.
“A lot of those are between the quarterback and center exchange,” Rudolph said. “We count those because technically it is a fumble.”
Stafford comes into the regular season finale by giving both front-runners in the district — Columbia (23-16) and El Campo (36-30) — everything they could handle before falling just one score short.
“If there is something that we must do defensively is not give them a cheap one,” Rudolph said. “We have to make them work on offense, have them go on long drives instead of giving them a quick one like we’ve been doing.”
Stafford’s defense (234.6 yards per game) is also pretty stingy, ranking second in district behind Columbia. The high-powered offenses of Columbia and El Campo only managed to score 59 combined points on the Spartan defense.
Brazosport will counter with an offense that is gaining 255 yards of offense a game while the defense is giving up 355.6 yards.
Junior quarterback Navontae Darthard (126-576 rushing yards, 4.57 per carry, seven TDs; 12-32-2, 166 passing yards, one TD), who took over the position a couple of games into the season, has solidified himself as the top offensive threat.
But the Ships also have junior Jeremiah Credit (73-454 rushing yards, 6.22 per carry, three TDs), who when given can slip through the smallest of cracks and take it to the house. Credit has returned three kickoffs for scores.
Freshman Ameer King (45-420 yards, 9.33 per carry, three TDs) has also stepped in and done some things with the ball on the ground for the Ships.
“Getting into the playoffs would be an awesome thing for these kids and the first time since 2008,” Rudolph said. “But just getting a win against this team would also be huge for this program.”
Pregame is scheduled to start at 7:15 p.m. on www.brazosportisd.net