Scoop27
11-21-2014, 11:58 AM
By JOEL LUNA joel.luna@thefacts.com
WEST COLUMBIA — Columbia’s road in the Class 4A Region III Division I playoffs is shaping up to be a tough march.
It starts at 2 p.m. Saturday afternoon against Henderson (9-2) at New Caney’s Texan Drive Stadium in Porter.
With possible upcoming matchups against Jasper, Navasota, Chapel Hill, El Campo or Carthage, the competition is just going to get tougher and tougher.
The Roughnecks (10-1) are coming off a 63-0 shutout of Houston Wheatley, but the Lions from Henderson are no Wheatley.
“They are coming off a tough district just like we are,” Columbia coach Randy Lynch said. “So we have to go out and play well against them.”
Henderson is coming off a 48-22 win against Silsbee in the first round of the playoffs behind 6-foot-5 quarterback Zane Boles. The senior signal-caller ran for 92 yards and two touchdowns, and he also threw for 159 yards on seven completions with two more scores.
“He is just a good quarterback who can both run and throw the ball,” Lynch said. “He has total command of that offense, but they also have some good running backs and receivers so they are very balanced. During the season we faced some quarterbacks who could throw the ball well and some who could run well, but we haven’t faced one who could do both well like Boles does. He’s probably one of the best ones we are going to face.”
One of Boles’ favorite targets is Trestan Ebner (4-113 yards, two TDs), who had a big game in the bidistrict win last week.
“We have to make sure we are lined up right on defense and go through our keys,” Lynch said. “Our defenders are going to have to break on the ball, but their offensive line is a good size. We struggled against the El Campo offensive line, but their back is a load as well. I would have to compare Henderson’s line to El Campo’s, so they are a complete package. They are a good ball club and they won state back in 2010.”
Henderson averaged 39.8 points a game this season while the Lion defense held the opposition to 17.6 points a contest.
Henderson will be facing a Roughneck defense that is giving up 226.3 yards a game through the first 11 games of the season. The Columbia defense rustled up four fumbles during last week’s win against Wheatley, which gave the Roughnecks 25 for the season.
Offensively, junior Dakarius Bell (12-107 yards, TD) continued to pile onto his season numbers (243-1733, 17 scores) with another big day on the ground last week. Senior Malik Goins, who had a couple of scores last week, will also be utilized in the backfield as well as a target for quarterback Jarius Kesee. The versatile Goins also plays defense for Columbia.
Kesee (4-6-0, 109 passing yards, two TDs) was also a big part of the 491 total yards the Roughnecks picked up against Wheatley.
“We pushed everything back this week which gave us some time to heal up and get some things in to work on this week,” Lynch said. “We played a lot of kids last week and even got some JV kids in there to give them a taste of varsity football.”
There is a big chance there could be some rain by the time the afternoon is done in New Caney.
“I am sure we could get some but I don’t think it will have some effect on the game,” Lynch said.
This will be the first meeting between these two squads.
The winner moves onto the regional round to take on either Jasper or Stafford.
Columbia and Henderson will be broadcast on legacysportsnetwork.com.
WEST COLUMBIA — Columbia’s road in the Class 4A Region III Division I playoffs is shaping up to be a tough march.
It starts at 2 p.m. Saturday afternoon against Henderson (9-2) at New Caney’s Texan Drive Stadium in Porter.
With possible upcoming matchups against Jasper, Navasota, Chapel Hill, El Campo or Carthage, the competition is just going to get tougher and tougher.
The Roughnecks (10-1) are coming off a 63-0 shutout of Houston Wheatley, but the Lions from Henderson are no Wheatley.
“They are coming off a tough district just like we are,” Columbia coach Randy Lynch said. “So we have to go out and play well against them.”
Henderson is coming off a 48-22 win against Silsbee in the first round of the playoffs behind 6-foot-5 quarterback Zane Boles. The senior signal-caller ran for 92 yards and two touchdowns, and he also threw for 159 yards on seven completions with two more scores.
“He is just a good quarterback who can both run and throw the ball,” Lynch said. “He has total command of that offense, but they also have some good running backs and receivers so they are very balanced. During the season we faced some quarterbacks who could throw the ball well and some who could run well, but we haven’t faced one who could do both well like Boles does. He’s probably one of the best ones we are going to face.”
One of Boles’ favorite targets is Trestan Ebner (4-113 yards, two TDs), who had a big game in the bidistrict win last week.
“We have to make sure we are lined up right on defense and go through our keys,” Lynch said. “Our defenders are going to have to break on the ball, but their offensive line is a good size. We struggled against the El Campo offensive line, but their back is a load as well. I would have to compare Henderson’s line to El Campo’s, so they are a complete package. They are a good ball club and they won state back in 2010.”
Henderson averaged 39.8 points a game this season while the Lion defense held the opposition to 17.6 points a contest.
Henderson will be facing a Roughneck defense that is giving up 226.3 yards a game through the first 11 games of the season. The Columbia defense rustled up four fumbles during last week’s win against Wheatley, which gave the Roughnecks 25 for the season.
Offensively, junior Dakarius Bell (12-107 yards, TD) continued to pile onto his season numbers (243-1733, 17 scores) with another big day on the ground last week. Senior Malik Goins, who had a couple of scores last week, will also be utilized in the backfield as well as a target for quarterback Jarius Kesee. The versatile Goins also plays defense for Columbia.
Kesee (4-6-0, 109 passing yards, two TDs) was also a big part of the 491 total yards the Roughnecks picked up against Wheatley.
“We pushed everything back this week which gave us some time to heal up and get some things in to work on this week,” Lynch said. “We played a lot of kids last week and even got some JV kids in there to give them a taste of varsity football.”
There is a big chance there could be some rain by the time the afternoon is done in New Caney.
“I am sure we could get some but I don’t think it will have some effect on the game,” Lynch said.
This will be the first meeting between these two squads.
The winner moves onto the regional round to take on either Jasper or Stafford.
Columbia and Henderson will be broadcast on legacysportsnetwork.com.