The big game is upon us as Friday night at Bulldog Stadium the La Porte Bulldogs take on the Deer Park Deer in the yearly rivalry game. The Bulldogs are looking to avenge last season's 21-19 loss in Deer Park.
La Porte comes into this weeks game 3-1 after a big win over Atascocita last week 26-7. La Porte's defense held Atascocita to 80 total yards and 2 first downs over the whole game.
Deer Park comes to La Porte with a 4-0 record. Last week the Deer beat Westside 27-25 despite giving up 327 yards rushing to standout Westside running back Ben Catalon. Deer Park is ranked #10 in the Houston area by the Chronicle.
On offense Deer Park has been lighting up the scoreboards averaging over 29 points per game. Senior Quarterback and 3 year starter Austin Rainer leads the pro style Deer attack. Rainer has had some success through the air with 726 yards and 7 touchdowns. His favorite receiver is Junior Eric Luna (15 catches 342 yards 5 touchdowns). On the ground Senior Running Back Demetrius Banks has been a dominant force with 705 yards and 6 tds including a couple of 200 yard performances.
On defense Deer Park is lead by Linebackers Casey Westmoreland (Sr) and Vincent Vega (Jr). The Deer defense has been vulnerable and have given up almost 22 points a game. La Porte should be able to get some points on the board this week.
On offense La Porte features a lot of different backs and offensive sets. Junior Keith Whitely leads the Bulldogs in rushing with 258 yards and 4 touchdowns. He is followed closely by Sophomore Jonathan Lewis (202 yards, 6.3 yards per carry). Senior Quarterback Josh Vidales (311 pass yards, 119 rushing) provides a leader in the backfield of a very young Bulldog offense. At receiver Senior Aaron Nance-Garrett (9 catches, 128 yards) is looking for a breakout performance this week. Junior Kicker Eric Medina has been outstanding this season with some long field goals.
On defense the Bulldogs feature the great linebacker play La Porte is becoming famous for with Seniors Cameron Whilley, Chad Sutherland and Chris Hickey as well as electric Sophomore Hoza Scott. La Porte will be in the backfield all night forcing mistakes and negative plays for the offense. Nance-Garrett leads the secondary along with Whitely and Juniors Ellis Hutchinson and Malik Graves. On the defensive line the Bulldogs have featured the outstanding trio of Senior Blake Turlington and Juniors Corey Lee and Alex Jones. Corey Lee was out last week and we will see if he is back in the lineup Friday night.
Keys to a La Porte Victory:
- Make Rainer try to move the Deer through the air. Controlling the ground game will give the Bulldogs control of time of possession and will wear down the Deer defense in the 4th quarter.
-Win the battle of field position. La Porte's young offense has struggled with mistakes and a shorter field can help get the Bulldogs into field goal range. Medina and Vidales have been outstanding this season in kicking and punting.
-La Porte must find an identity on offense this week after struggling the last two weeks.
The game this week will be on 1560 the game AM radio locally this week as well as online at 1560thegame.com. I expect we will have a capacity crowd at Bulldog stadium and the stadium will be full early.
Lets get loud and support the La Porte Bulldogs!
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