Monday, October 17, 2011

Week 8 La Porte At North Shore Preview

This Friday Night at 7pm the La Porte Bulldogs will face the North Shore Mustangs at Galena Park Stadium.

North Shore has dominated the series for as far back as I can remember and are having a "off" year by the Mustang's standards with a 5-2 record on the season.  North Shore has suffered losses to Katy and Port Arthur Memorial, who the Bulldogs will face next week at home.  The Mustangs took care of business against Beaumont West Brook last week in Beaumont 17-3.

La Porte comes into this week with a 6-1 record after squeaking by Baytown Sterling last week. The Bulldogs have had some struggles on offense and will face one of Houston's top defenses this week.

On offense the Mustangs have gone through a transition when Senior Quarterback Tyrone Newsome was injured in the first game of the season against Katy.  Junior Quarterback Micah Thomas took over the reins and mixed the pass and run, but he was also injured.  Newsome returned to the lineup last week against West Brook and struggled through the first half, but got things turned around after halftime.  For the game he threw for 154 yards and a score against a good Beaumont defense.  North Shore's ground game is lead by Senior Running Back Davonte Milton (750 yards, 7 touchdowns).  Senior Receiver Larry McDuffey gives the Mustangs a great deep threat has he has burned opposing defenses for 400 yards on 14 catches with 6 of them for touchdowns.

North Shore's defense is as dominant as usual this season with size and speed all over the field.  Seniors Kevin Alexander, Jarius Moore and Caleb Young lead the way for the Mustangs.  The Bulldogs will have to step it up on offense to knock off the North Shore Mustangs.

La Porte's offense has been the weakness this season as they try to rebuild after major losses to graduation this season.  The new offense has taken a while to get it's rhythm and will need to improve quickly over the next three weeks to get the Bulldogs where they want to go come playoff time.  Junior Running Back Keith Whitely has lead the way on offense with 700 yards and 6 touchdowns on the season.  Whitely will need to lead the way again this week.

La Porte's defense will by trying to stop the North Shore zone read offense.  The Mustangs take the snap and the quarterback will read whether he should give it to the running back Milton or keep it for himself, usually at the last possible second. This works against most teams, but the Bulldogs match up well with that style of offense with their great linebacker play from Seniors Chad Sutherland, Cameron Whilley and Chris Hickey.

Keys To The Game:
-La Porte will need a great effort on defense and will need to win the turnover battle to create short fields for the offense.
-The offense must find what will work early and stick to that game plan.
-Playing mistake free football is a key to getting to the Mustangs

The game will be broadcast online at legacysportsnetwork.com

A win this week would set up a possible district championship game with Port Arthur in La Porte next week, but it has been a long time since La Porte has taken down North Shore.  The Bulldogs hope to have their usual great traveling support this week!

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