Monday, September 12, 2011

Week 3 La Porte at Atascocita Preview

The La Porte Bulldogs travel north again this Friday at 7pm to face the Atascocita Eagles at Turner Stadium 1700 Wilson Rd, Humble, TX 77338.

Both teams enter the game with 2-1 records and both teams had their first loss last week.  La Porte fell to Klein Forest 19-10 while Atascocita fell to Hightower 31-14.  Both teams stepped up in competition last week compared to the first two weeks.

Last season the Bulldogs blew out the Eagles 35-0 in a game that was over by halftime. Atascocita only managed 23 total yards and 4 first downs for the entire game.  The Eagles will be looking to avenge that loss with home field advatage this season. Highlights: http://lpbulldogs.blogspot.com/2010/09/la-porte-vs-atascocita-highlight-video.html

On offense Atascocita is lead by Junior running back Elijah Merchant (30 carries 264 yards).  He is a small back that is very quick.  At quarterback the Eagles have used a couple with Sophomore Greg Campbell more of a running threat and Junior Grant Ashcroft more of a passing threat.  Against Hightower last week they could not get anything going on the ground.  I expect they will need to pass to get anywhere against the Bulldogs D.

The Atascocita defense has been better against the run than against the pass.  They are led by Senior Safety Brandon Gamble (6-2, 205).  La Porte will be trying to get their ground game back on track.

La Porte's offense has featured many ball carriers.  Sophomore Jonathan Lewis (174 yards on 21 carries) leads the Bulldogs in rushing with Junior Keith Whitely (167 yards on 42 carries) right behind him.  Senior Aaron Nance-Garrett (8 catches 118 yards) leads all receivers. Senior Quarterback Josh Vidales (225 passing yards, 2 TD's) features a mix of passing and running while Sophomore QB Vic Holmes (117 yards on 20 carries) is more of a running QB.

La Porte on defense has been very impressive and they are gaining notoriety around the area and state after their performance last week albeit a losing effort.  This week they wont have a dynamic player to stop, but they will have to worry about 2-3 dangerous players. I believe they will come out with a chip on their shoulder to shut down the Eagles.

Keys to The Game
- Get the offense going.  Deer Park is next week and they will have a tough defense.  Exchanges between QB/RB need to be on the same page this week.
- Complete some passes downfield to open up the running game.
- Really this is the last pre-season game and a time to work on different things.  Deer Park week is just as important as a district game.  We could see experiments on the offensive side of the ball to see what works.

Once again the game will be broadcast online at  http://www.legacysportsnetwork.com/

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