By JOHN JAMES MARSHALL, Journal Sports
A week ago, he was about to play a team that hadn’t won a game. This week, he’s going against a team that hasn’t lost a game.
But for Captain Shreve coach Adam Kirby, the pre-game message is always the same.
“It doesn’t matter who we play,” he says (almost every week), “it’s how we play.”
The “who” this week is 4-0 Parkway. The “how” will be determined tonight at 7 o’clock when the Gators (3-1) take on the Panthers in a big District 1-5A game at Independence Stadium.
“We have got to stay in front of the chains because their defense is really good,” Kirby said of the Panthers, who have given up only six points – none on defense — in the last three games. “They really attack the ball carrier, even if it’s after a catch. They fly to the football but are very disciplined on that side of the ball.”
And that should be a good matchup against Shreve’s offense, which features a huge line and the city’s leading rusher in Jamarlon Otis, who had 745 yards rushing (almost 200 more than the next highest total) and nine touchdowns.
But with the quarterback change the Gators have made to junior Brodie Savage, it would seem to offer a little more balance in their offense. Savage had thrown for 680 yards after going from part-time to full time a week ago.
Balance, however, is in the eyes of the beholder.
“Balance is relative to what you want to accomplish on that side of the ball,” Kirby says. “People look at that a lot of different ways. Balance, to me, is this: Are your best players touching the football evenly? Are we making teams defend the entire field? I’ve certainly been very pleased with how our coaches have been getting our guys the ball so that the other team has to defend all 11 all over the field.”
Shreve is coming off a win over Byrd while Parkway defeated neighboring Haughton, so both coaches have to guard against a rivalry hangover.
“We’ll know more after Friday night,” Parkway coach Coy Brotherton says. “It’s a big game with both of us winning last week against our rivals, starting district play 1-0. Looking at the last two years, the battles we’ve had with them, I expect a good one on Friday night.”
Even this early in the district season, this game will allow the winner to take a giant step forward in the 1-5A race.
“Whoever comes out on top will probably be sitting close to the top of the standings at the end of the year,” Brotherton says, “and whoever doesn’t will have to battle back.”
Shreve has battled back after a 61-27 loss to Calvary in Week 2, but Kirby says there is still improvement to be made.
“I’d like to see us stop making dumb mistakes on defense,” he says. “Lining up in the wrong gap on the line, busted coverages, things like that. And I’d like our offensive line to take over the game a little more. We did that in the fourth quarter last week, but why aren’t we doing that all the time?”
Contact JJ at johnjamesmarshall@yahoo.com
PARKWAY (4-0, 1-0) vs. CAPTAIN SHREVE (3-1, 1-0), Independence Stadium
Series: Captain Shreve 30-17
Last year: Parkway 25-13
Last week: Captain Shreve beat Byrd 35-28; Parkway beat Haughton 24-6
Rankings: Captain Shreve is No. 5 in SBJ; Parkway is No. 3 in SBJ poll
Power rankings: Parkway Non-Select Div. I No. 18; Captain Shreve Select Div. I No. 9
Radio: Captain Shreve on (KLKL.fm, 95.7 FM)
Notable: Parkway’s defense has not allowed a point the last three games … Ashtin Jackson had two interceptions, one a 45-yard pick six in last week’s win over Haughton … sophomore RB Antonio Gladney leads the Panthers in rushing with 396 yards and six touchdowns … Kaleb Williams has passed for 467 yards on 46-of-65 passes and five touchdowns … Shreve RB Jamarlon Otis leads the area in rushing with 754 yards and nine touchdowns … Brodie Savage has passed for 680 yards after starting the last two games and playing the second half against Calvary.