Scoop27
09-29-2016, 01:53 PM
FREEPORT— Aside from a season-opening win, the Brazosport Exporters have found themselves on a three-game skid ever since.
Now, the Ships hope to stop the bleeding in their District 12-4A DI opener Friday night when they host the Sealy Tigers at Hopper Field at 7:30 p.m.
With an extra week of preparation under their belt following a bye week, Brazoswood has been able to reset and refocus a bit.
“The bye week was extremely good to us,” Exporter head coach Ben Rudolph said. “We were able to get back to some basics, fundamentals and let some injuries heal up. We had a good week of practice last week and this week — I’ve been really impressed with the morale of the team.”
Awaiting the Ships (1-3) is Tigers (1-0, 2-3) team who were in the midst of their own three-game skid before dismissing Needville 35-28 last week in their district opener.
After the Tigers put up more than 340 yards of total offense against Needville, Rudolph has little doubt their first district opponent has found their rhythm and is ready to play up to their expectations.
“Nobody questions their tradition or their history in Texas high school football,” Rudolph said. “Their kids understand and expect to play great. They had some early-season losses, but they found their identity against Needville of running the football.”
The Tigers have multiple weapons who can cause some problems and are all coming off solid outings.
Against Needville, the Tigers rushed for 167 yards, thanks to the running attack of Deshawn Davis, Kobe Aguado and Justin Eckhardt. Davis rushed for 79 yards to lead the Tigers, but it was Aguado’s three touchdown night and 93 total yards that made the difference.
Eckhardt will also present some matchup problems after proving he could be a dual threat rushing and receiving, going for 138 total yards last week.
For the season, the Sealy offense averages 287 yards per game, which isn’t much less than what the Brazosport defense gives up as they allow an average of 290 yards to opponents.
On defense, the Tigers do have some holes, giving up 373 yards per contest to opposing offenses.
That bodes well for the Ships, whose offense that has struggled as of late and averages just 260 yards per contest.
Most of their problems have been due to turnovers, of which the Ships had six in their loss to Sweeny.
That’s also been a hot topic in practice.
“We’ve done a fairly good job trying to get ready for Sealy, instituting ball security drills on offense and turnover circuits on defense,” Rudolph said. “We need to make sure that we stress the importance of turnovers that we have been coaching since these kids. Some of it has been the lack of fundamental awareness so we’re just trying to heighten the awareness of taking care of the football.”
In their loss to Sweeny, Brazosport had just 88 yards of total offense.
They will look for Ameer King to continue his strong play this season. He is second in the district in rushing with 528 yards and seven touchdowns through four games.
Receiver Jalen Johnson has also had a solid year, hauling in 16 catches for 123 yards and three touchdowns.
Both can have success against the Tiger defense this week, but Rudolph believes putting together a whole game is what will be most important.
“We need to do a great job of playing a complete and total game,” Rudolph said. “We’ve stressed to the kids that we haven’t played a complete four quarters of football yet and we’d really like to against Sealy.
“That’s what it’s going to take because they are a good football program and their record is not indicative of their team.”
Now, the Ships hope to stop the bleeding in their District 12-4A DI opener Friday night when they host the Sealy Tigers at Hopper Field at 7:30 p.m.
With an extra week of preparation under their belt following a bye week, Brazoswood has been able to reset and refocus a bit.
“The bye week was extremely good to us,” Exporter head coach Ben Rudolph said. “We were able to get back to some basics, fundamentals and let some injuries heal up. We had a good week of practice last week and this week — I’ve been really impressed with the morale of the team.”
Awaiting the Ships (1-3) is Tigers (1-0, 2-3) team who were in the midst of their own three-game skid before dismissing Needville 35-28 last week in their district opener.
After the Tigers put up more than 340 yards of total offense against Needville, Rudolph has little doubt their first district opponent has found their rhythm and is ready to play up to their expectations.
“Nobody questions their tradition or their history in Texas high school football,” Rudolph said. “Their kids understand and expect to play great. They had some early-season losses, but they found their identity against Needville of running the football.”
The Tigers have multiple weapons who can cause some problems and are all coming off solid outings.
Against Needville, the Tigers rushed for 167 yards, thanks to the running attack of Deshawn Davis, Kobe Aguado and Justin Eckhardt. Davis rushed for 79 yards to lead the Tigers, but it was Aguado’s three touchdown night and 93 total yards that made the difference.
Eckhardt will also present some matchup problems after proving he could be a dual threat rushing and receiving, going for 138 total yards last week.
For the season, the Sealy offense averages 287 yards per game, which isn’t much less than what the Brazosport defense gives up as they allow an average of 290 yards to opponents.
On defense, the Tigers do have some holes, giving up 373 yards per contest to opposing offenses.
That bodes well for the Ships, whose offense that has struggled as of late and averages just 260 yards per contest.
Most of their problems have been due to turnovers, of which the Ships had six in their loss to Sweeny.
That’s also been a hot topic in practice.
“We’ve done a fairly good job trying to get ready for Sealy, instituting ball security drills on offense and turnover circuits on defense,” Rudolph said. “We need to make sure that we stress the importance of turnovers that we have been coaching since these kids. Some of it has been the lack of fundamental awareness so we’re just trying to heighten the awareness of taking care of the football.”
In their loss to Sweeny, Brazosport had just 88 yards of total offense.
They will look for Ameer King to continue his strong play this season. He is second in the district in rushing with 528 yards and seven touchdowns through four games.
Receiver Jalen Johnson has also had a solid year, hauling in 16 catches for 123 yards and three touchdowns.
Both can have success against the Tiger defense this week, but Rudolph believes putting together a whole game is what will be most important.
“We need to do a great job of playing a complete and total game,” Rudolph said. “We’ve stressed to the kids that we haven’t played a complete four quarters of football yet and we’d really like to against Sealy.
“That’s what it’s going to take because they are a good football program and their record is not indicative of their team.”