This Friday at 7pm in Deer Park's Abshire Stadium the La Porte Bulldogs will take on the Pasadena Memorial Mavericks in a first round playoff game. La Porte fans will be on the visitor side.
Pasadena Memorial comes into the game with a 3-7 overall record and received the fourth playoff spot out of district 22-5A.
La Porte is the district 21-5A champions and 9-1 overall on the season. The Bulldogs have won seven games in a row.
Both teams have played similar opponents on the schedule:
LP PM
Fort Bend Clements 31-0 14-7
Channelview 35-21 14-48
North Shore 38-30 6-17
Deer Park 34-31 23-48
La Porte is 4-0 vs these opponents while Pasadena Memorial is 1-3.
The Mavericks are lead on offense by Seniors Quarterback Greg Gallardo (1148 yards passing and 11 touchdowns) and Running Back Chris Cargile (1030 yards, 8 tds). Their top ball carrier, explosive Senior Thadeus Stewart, was injured during the pre-season and the team has done a good job filling in for their offensive focal point. The offense has improved greatly over the season and mixes the run and pass. Sophomore Running Back Reggie Turner has put up some big numbers in limited time at the position (429 yards on just 52 carries).
The Pasadena Memorial defense is lead by Senior Linebackers Brandon Ramirez and Korey Malone. Junior Defensive Lineman Anthony Garza is a force up front that will have to be accounted for.
The Bulldogs have gotten their offense on track the last three weeks against tough competition. Junior Running Back Keith Whitely leads the way with 1132 yards and 11 scores this season. Sophomore Running Backs Jonathan Lewis and Taejon Wearen have picked up the pace the last few weeks and the Bulldogs are rolling. The offensive line lead by all underclassmen have formed into a very strong unit and one to watch out for all over the state. Seniors Quarterback Josh Vidales and Wide Receiver Aaron Nance-Garrett lead the team at their prospective positions and must be team leaders in the playoffs for the Bulldogs to make some noise.
The La Porte "Darkside" defense is causing massive amounts of disruption to other team's offenses. Lead by Senior Linebackers Chad Sutherland and Cameron Whilley the Bulldogs have caused 21 turnovers over 10 games including 14 interceptions. Sophomore Linebacker Hoza Scott has four defensive touchdowns on the season.
Keys to La Porte Victory:
-La Porte must set the tone early with the defense stopping the run and force the Mavericks into passing situations.
-Keep the chains moving with the ground and pound offense
-Carry over the intensity from last week's game in Beaumont and dominate.
Everyone come out and support the Bulldogs! It's just down the street in Deer Park and they need everyone's spirit and crowd energy!
The winner of this game will face Clear Creek or Fort Bend Bush in the second round.
This one should be over by early 3rd quarter, the power run game of La Porte won't be contained by Memorial's weak D, and the Dark Side should dominate. Let's see how much Whitely can gain in one game
ReplyDeleteThey must come out focused! Memorial has some weapons on offense. If somehow some turnovers happen early LP could get in a hole. You never know come playoff time. See Clear Creek last season.
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