Phantom Stang
10-15-2009, 05:45 PM
Mustangs face 6-0 Steers
Written by Ron Howell
Thursday, 15 October 2009
It’s doubtful the two have talked to each other about it, but Sweetwater coach Craig Slaughter faces the same dilemma this week as Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops.
Their dilemma? How to contain the McCoy kid who plays quarterback for the other team.
Of course, Stoops will be dealing with Colt McCoy on Saturday in the annual Texas-OU shootout, while Slaughter’s thoughts are on younger brother Case, who has helped propel Graham to a 6-0 start this season and No. 6 state ranking.
Sweetwater, of course, must find a way to slow down the Steers’ talented senior QB who has thrown for 1,591 yards this season and has already committed to the University of Texas to join his older brother.
Despite a disparity in their overall records, the 1-5 Mustangs are identical to Graham — 1-0 in district play — where it counts and are pumped after beating Breckenridge 41-14 last Fri-day in their 2-3A opener to give Slaughter his first win at Sweetwater.
And Slaughter has had success in facing McCoy, who played against his Clyde teams the past three years and came away with a single win back in 2007. Clyde defeated Graham 33-14 in 2008 en route to an 11-2 record.
“We’ve had some good battles with them and I’ve seen Case develop as a quarterback,” said Slaughter. “They’re loaded with seniors this year and they are a very solid football team with only one two-way starter.
“They paid their dues last year (Graham was just 3-7) with all those underclassmen and now they’ve grown up. They think this can be their year. We have to take care of the ball and play well to have a chance to win the game, and we need to limit their possessions.”
Slaughter said his team would also have to contain the Steers’ explosiveness, as Graham is averaging just over 35 points a game and has exceeded 40 twice this season.
“It needs to be a dogfight type of game,” he said.
Graham rallied to beat Snyder, 28-14, in its 2-3A opener even though McCoy was held to 10-of-20 pas-sing for 142 yards and was picked off three times. The Steers found locked in a 14-14 tie for 3 1/2 quarters as Snyder was able to apply effective pressure with its blitz package that helped limit Graham to 279 total yards. But the Steers went ahead to stay when McCoy threw a scoring pass of 51 yards to Dylan Fulford with 6:48 remaining and added a late score on a 7-yard run by Cameron Bailey.
Sweetwater racked up a season-high 410 yards in beating Breckenridge last week. The Mustangs got a season-best 140 yards rush-ing from B.J. Walker to go with a 176-yard passing effort by sophomore quar-terback Taylor Jones. The Mustangs also had a number of defensive standouts who limited Breckenridge to 181 total yards. A.J. McCoy and Zach Wetsel had pass interceptions while McCoy, Cole Rhoades and Cameron Fox either forced or recovered fumbles.
Written by Ron Howell
Thursday, 15 October 2009
It’s doubtful the two have talked to each other about it, but Sweetwater coach Craig Slaughter faces the same dilemma this week as Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops.
Their dilemma? How to contain the McCoy kid who plays quarterback for the other team.
Of course, Stoops will be dealing with Colt McCoy on Saturday in the annual Texas-OU shootout, while Slaughter’s thoughts are on younger brother Case, who has helped propel Graham to a 6-0 start this season and No. 6 state ranking.
Sweetwater, of course, must find a way to slow down the Steers’ talented senior QB who has thrown for 1,591 yards this season and has already committed to the University of Texas to join his older brother.
Despite a disparity in their overall records, the 1-5 Mustangs are identical to Graham — 1-0 in district play — where it counts and are pumped after beating Breckenridge 41-14 last Fri-day in their 2-3A opener to give Slaughter his first win at Sweetwater.
And Slaughter has had success in facing McCoy, who played against his Clyde teams the past three years and came away with a single win back in 2007. Clyde defeated Graham 33-14 in 2008 en route to an 11-2 record.
“We’ve had some good battles with them and I’ve seen Case develop as a quarterback,” said Slaughter. “They’re loaded with seniors this year and they are a very solid football team with only one two-way starter.
“They paid their dues last year (Graham was just 3-7) with all those underclassmen and now they’ve grown up. They think this can be their year. We have to take care of the ball and play well to have a chance to win the game, and we need to limit their possessions.”
Slaughter said his team would also have to contain the Steers’ explosiveness, as Graham is averaging just over 35 points a game and has exceeded 40 twice this season.
“It needs to be a dogfight type of game,” he said.
Graham rallied to beat Snyder, 28-14, in its 2-3A opener even though McCoy was held to 10-of-20 pas-sing for 142 yards and was picked off three times. The Steers found locked in a 14-14 tie for 3 1/2 quarters as Snyder was able to apply effective pressure with its blitz package that helped limit Graham to 279 total yards. But the Steers went ahead to stay when McCoy threw a scoring pass of 51 yards to Dylan Fulford with 6:48 remaining and added a late score on a 7-yard run by Cameron Bailey.
Sweetwater racked up a season-high 410 yards in beating Breckenridge last week. The Mustangs got a season-best 140 yards rush-ing from B.J. Walker to go with a 176-yard passing effort by sophomore quar-terback Taylor Jones. The Mustangs also had a number of defensive standouts who limited Breckenridge to 181 total yards. A.J. McCoy and Zach Wetsel had pass interceptions while McCoy, Cole Rhoades and Cameron Fox either forced or recovered fumbles.