THE EAST Jackson football team will get a re-do of sorts against the triple option offense.
After going up against Commerce’s option-oriented, double slot attack this past Friday, the Eagles face a very similar scheme with the East Hall Vikings (1-1) this week.
Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m. at East Hall Stadium.
“They’re going to run the football at us,” East Jackson coach Brian Smith said. “I’m sure that’s what they want to do because that’s what they’ve tried to do in the two ball games they’ve played.”
While the opposing offense this week has many similarities to Commerce’s, the Eagles are hoping for different results.
Commerce (2-0) ran its triple option scheme quite effectively against East Jackson, racking up 256 yards and hogging the ball for long stretches of time in the second half.
To avoid a repeat of the Commerce game, East Jackson must play disciplined defense and take care of individual assignments. Smith uses a yard-work analogy to explain the concept.
“As I told our kids the other night, ‘you’ve got to mow your own grass,’” Smith said. “You can’t worry about what somebody else does. You’ve got to cut your yard and do what you’re supposed to do.”
That’s easier said than done though.
“It’s hard because every other week you’re taught to go tackle the football,” Smith said. “You’re taught to pursue and go to the football. Then you play an option team and you’ve got to play assignment football.”
Having just seen the triple option should play to East Jackson’s advantage somewhat, Smith said.
“It kind of gets you in that groove and it gives you a chance to tweak this — hey this really worked well, this didn’t work — and change a few things,” he said.
East Jackson’s own offense is still a work in progress.
The Eagles were limited to 179 yards in the loss to Commerce, though quarterback Austin Beauchamp notched his second-straight 100-yard rushing game with 107 on the ground and one touchdown. Beauchamp, by far East Jackson’s leading ground-gainer with 227 yards this season, was used in the shotgun with no backs frequently through out the game.
“We probably should have played more of the game offensively in the empty set to be honest with you because he had a chance to do some things to give us a chance to move the football,” Smith said.
Beauchamp threw for 62 yards on 10-of-19 passing. East Jackson attempted only three passes in the second half.
“He’s going to have to be able to play each week,” Smith said. “We need to be able to improve the pass numbers.”
East Jackson looks to break into the win column in its final non-region matchup before entering 8-AAA play next week against rival Jackson County.
With his team still in search of a victory, Smith borrowed a quote from a college coach — New Mexico’s Bob Davie — and applied it to the Eagles’ situation.
“He said, ‘we’ve got to play perfect and we’re not doing it right now,’ and that’s kind of how we are,” Smith said. “We haven’t played perfect. We’ve played pretty good and did a lot of good things but we didn’t play perfect.”
