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Reynolds to take on blitzing Mount Tabor
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Published: October 16, 2009
Teams have treated Reynolds' offense as if it's a poisonous snake. Keep a safe distance from the slippery receivers, don't get too close, don't let them get behind you.
Mount Tabor's aggressive defense isn't so cautious. The Spartans' blitzing scheme is like the crazy Australian guys on The Discovery Channel who are more apt to grab the snake barehanded than be wary.
And Coach Mike Propst of Reynolds, whose Demons are 7-0 overall, 1-0 in the Central Piedmont 4-A and ranked No. 9 in Class 4-A by the Associated Press, has his doubts that the Spartans will change their tactics when the rivals play tonight at Deaton-Thompson Stadium.
"They did it against (Matthews) Butler and fared OK," Propst said. "That's what we were seeing. They played it against the number-one team in the state. They may mix it up some, but we think they will come after us."
Mount Tabor should give confident Reynolds its toughest assignment so far, and it's one of several key games across Northwest North Carolina tonight. West Forsyth, also 7-0 and ranked No. 6, will play at home against Davie County in a Central Piedmont 4-A rivalry game, and North Forsyth has a tough Mid-Piedmont 3-A game at home against Asheboro.
Also, three ranked Class 1-A teams will play Northwest 2-A/1-A games.
No. 1 Mount Airy (7-0) will play at rival North Surry, No. 5 East Surry (7-0) will be at home against South Stokes, and No. 9 Bishop McGuinness (6-1) will be at home against Surry Central.
Passively covering speedy receivers Jake Gainey and De'Vyne Julius of Reynolds doesn't appear to work because the Demons are averaging 34 points a game. And Coach Laymarr Marshall of Mount Tabor said that, aside from a few adjustments, his philosophy won't change much.
"We feel like at this point in the year you are who you are," Marshall said. "Reynolds presents a number of matchup problems for any team. We have a couple of wrinkles like we do every week, but we have to come out and be ourselves, be aggressive, come out and run the football."
Propst said that Mount Tabor has several defenders close to the line -- singling out junior Chris Manns -- who are hard to block.
"Their defense is unbelievable," Propst said. "We don't know exactly what it is. They call it a 4-4, but it looks more like an 8-2-1. If we can handle their blitz we think we will be OK. But no one has handled it real well. They get to everybody. Their inside guys are scary monsters. We knew Manns was a stud, but we have to get those other guys blocked too."
Reynolds' defense is often overlooked, but it's allowing only 10.1 points a game. The notion that Mount Tabor (5-2, 1-0) is an underdog is hard to grasp, given that the Spartans have won or shared seven straight conference titles.
"We don't consider ourselves to be dark horses," Propst said. "Our kids really take pride at being conference champions, and that's what we are playing for right now. We don't have to play it up for them."
There is hope around North Forsyth (3-4, 1-0) that moving into the Mid-Piedmont 3-A will offer an easier road to a conference championship after competing for years in Class 4-A. The Vikings can take a big step toward a title if they can stop Asheboro and running back Dmitri Faglier. North is passing more these days, but Pete Gilchrist, the North coach, doesn't expect to see much passing from Asheboro. Faglier gained 2,000-plus yards last season.
"They are in the I (formation), and they aren't tricky," Gilchrist said. "They let you know. They come right at you, give it to their best player and ask if you can stop them. We don't see a lot of that now because everyone is spread.
"The next three games are playoffs games. The next three teams we play we'd like to think we have a chance to beat them, but they have a chance to beat us so it ain't no cakewalk by any means."
mlinker@wsjournal.com | 727-7324
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