Week 5 - El Campo (2-1) at Columbia (2-0) (District Opener)

[Scoop27]

Ricebirds should win but close
Webcast
www.kulpradio.com

[Bosqueville]

The Birds by 14

[Saggy Aggie]

Might make the drive down for this one

[speedbump]

Will West Columbia with it's 17 returning starters challenge for the D12 title? They can take a big step in that direction by beating the Ricebirds in the opener. These Birds aren't big, fast or athletic but they have just enough of that stuff, along with excellent coaching, to make them hard to beat. I'll take the Birds defense and a win by 10.

[Necked]

Columbia will need to cut down on the mistakes they made in the last game. Too many penalties & turnovers. They should have walked away with an easy win, but got the job done in the end. If they clean up the execution then I think they can win...

[Saggy Aggie]

El Campo seems to come away with a close win year after year against WC. They're usually pretty closely matched teams. Hoping WC gets over the hump this year

[speedbump]

Columbia will need to cut down on the mistakes they made in the last game. Too many penalties & turnovers. They should have walked away with an easy win, but got the job done in the end. If they clean up the execution then I think they can win...

Yea, penalties and fumbles could decide this one. The birds had 12 penalties and two fumbles last week. They won't get away with that against the Necks.

[Scoop27]

They beat a weak Wharton team which was trying to overcome a lot of adversity. They may not win a game this year

[Roughneck93]

Roughnecks prepare for a bird invasion

By JOEL LUNA (https://thefacts.com/users/profile/Joel%20Luna)joel.luna@thefacts.com 9 hrs ago

WEST COLUMBIA — In order for Columbia to accomplish one of its main goals this season, the Roughnecks have to go through El Campo.

Columbia and El Campo will kick it off at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Griggs Field as the ’Necks open District 12-4A Division I play in search of a championship.

“We felt like we let one slip away last year at their place, but we know they are the defending district champs and in order for us to be district champs we have to go through them,” Columbia second-year coach Brent Mascheck said.

There will be quite a few tests with the Ricebirds in town, especially for the Columbia defense that so far is giving up just 193.5 yards a game.

“They are the typical El Campo team who will come after you with their run game,” Mascheck said. “They return the offensive MVP (Nery Enriquez) who rushed for about 1,600 yards last year. So there is no secret as to what they want to do and they want to play good defense. They haven’t changed in 30 years, and what we have to worry about is what we do.

“Last week we showed a lot of mental toughness, beating La Marque because we had four turnovers and had some penalties. But we kept finding a way to bounce back and win the game. We are going to have to play a clean game to win on Friday night.”

Enriquez currently is the second-leading rusher in the district with 464 yards on 56 carries and an 8.29 per-carry average. He’s scored six touchdowns so far, and last year ran for 157 yards along with two scores against the Roughnecks in a big win for El Campo.

“He has deceptive speed and we’ve talked about gang tackling him,” Mascheck said. “When they played Angleton, he broke a lot of tackles against them and is quicker and faster then what you think. He is what makes them go and they do a lot of window dressing, but the thing is they want to get No. 30 the ball. Defensively, first down is going to be a key for our defense because we need to get them off schedule. We want to make it second and eight or nine and not second and five or four, which will be no good for us. That plays right into their play book.”

As a team, El Campo has rushed for 822 yards and passed for only 171.

“What we have going for us is our speed and athletic ability on defense,” Mascheck said. “We are not too big up front, but we run to the football and do have some speed up front. But if we continue to do that, we can get 11 hats to the football and create some turnovers. We are not changing what we do. We just need to fly to the football defensively.”

Offensively, the Roughnecks will have to get some big-game performances from senior tailback Keithan Taylor who has run for 265 yards on 17 carries and three touchdowns. Taylor is also a receiving threat out of the backfield.

Senior quarterback Jarrett Brown has thrown for 187 yards on 10 completions and one score.

“I thought he threw the ball a lot better last Friday and had some big throws for us,” Mascheck said. “But at the same time, we are doing a lot of run-pass option and many times Jarrett is just taking off and running. That puts the defense in a bind because Jarrett is able to put a lot of pressure on them because of that threat.”

Brown is averaging 5.82 yards per carry and it could help against the Ricebirds.

In order for the offense to click, the young line has to keep improving.

“It is a week-by-week evaluation with our offense, but the offensive line is getting better every week,” Mascheck said. “As the games have gone on, our line has gotten better and we’ve had some younger kids step up and added some depth to that line. So we have to do a good job of blocking up front, because El Campo is going to do anything and everything to get back there.”

To add to the flavor of the 49th meeting between these two programs is that it will also be homecoming for Columbia.

“We are going to have to eliminate turnovers, and going back to last year’s game, we were in the game in the third quarter and had some turnovers that turned that around in their favor,” Mascheck said.

“On defense, we have to play great on first down and get them out of their game plan. We also have to stop the running game and can’t let No. 30 get going. Our kicking game and return game will also play a part in this game.”

El Campo leads the series 35-13. The game will be on www.kulpradio.co (http://www.kulpradio.com/)m

http://thefacts.com/sports/article_a54d4562-d294-542d-af45-fd7b2b5b9914.html

[regaleagle]

I picked West Columbia in the pick em contest......I think this is their big game to win this year......it's at home and it's homecoming all in one. Good Luck Necks.

[Roughneck93]

Necks turn the ball over on downs at the EC 34 on their opening drive...

[Roughneck93]

EC goes three and out....

1st down Necks at their own 46.

[Roughneck93]

Necks go backwards...way backwards.

Time to punt.

[Roughneck93]

EC driving... 1st down at the Columbia 28.

[Roughneck93]

End 1st

No score....

[Roughneck93]

TD EC....

7-0 Birds

10:52 2nd

[Roughneck93]

EC with a pick....

1st down at their own 24

[Roughneck93]

TD EC....

14-0

5:44 2nd

[Roughneck93]

Birds defense whipping us now....

[Roughneck93]

Necks with a pick....

[Roughneck93]

2nd and 9 at the EC 31

[Roughneck93]

4th and long at the EC 39....

Necks punting.

1:41 2nd

[Roughneck93]

Half

EC leads 14-0

[Roughneck93]

EC goes three and out.

Punts the ball, Necks touch it, Birds recover at the Columbia 44....

[Roughneck93]

TD Birds....

21-0

8:17 3rd

[Roughneck93]

Final

El Campo 21-7....

Good effort by the Roughneck D.

Necks are just too undisciplined....turnovers, penalties. Can’t beat a team like EC with so many mistakes, good luck the rest of the way Ricebirds.

[Saggy Aggie]

Not an impressive showing for either team.

They'll both have their hands full in district