Having dominated the rivalry the last five years, Jessieville faces a new look from Mountain Pine.
First-year Red Devil coach David Jordan has installed a Spread offense, led by sophomore quarterback Matt Herron. An early look impressed longtime Jessieville leader Don Phillips, who scouted the Red Devils' scrimmage against Johnson County Westside in advance of tonight's season opener at Stanley May Field.
Phillips saw Herron, one of the county's seven new starting quarterbacks, throw for 167 yards and two touchdowns in the 30-minute matchup, Mountain Pine winning 13-6. Jessieville's coach first observed how quickly Herron, the brother of former Red Devil quarterback Ryan Herron, releases the ball.
"They have him far enough back it's difficult to get to him," Phillips said. "He delivers the ball in a timely manner."
Both of Herron's scrimmage TD tosses and four of his six total completions went to speedy junior Tyson Stewart, who took a mid-range throw 82 yards for a score. Senior Trevor Bowden and sophomore Chad Graves had the other catches.
"It's not only covering the short stuff, it's covering the intermediate (routes)," Phillips said. "I think the kids they have fit what they are doing. It really stretches you."
Mountain Pine's defense mostly faces business as usual against Phillips' Wing-T. The exception is quarterback Steven Benson, who moved from tight end.
"It looks like they're trying to have more of a passing game because their quarterback is a really good athlete," Jordan said. "They're going to be fundamentally sound and they're going to play hard.
"They're going to be bigger and faster than us. We've just got to outexecute them. We've got to do what we do better than they do what they do."
Phillips noted the 6-3 Benson's progress since moving behind center to replace 2014 starter Kaleb Moody.
"He's an outstanding student of the game. He's a better student of the game than I was in my first several years as a coach," Phillips said. "He's very conscious of his surroundings and wants to compete the best he can. As a coach it's great to have a guy like that. It's really fun to work with him on a daily basis."
The passing game understandably remains a work in progress.
"We want to make sure he's not pressing and throwing the ball where he shouldn't throw it," Phillips said. "If we can just get him to relax, that's all we want him to do at this point."
In the first game with a new quarterback, limiting mistakes is an offensive key for both teams.
"You know you're going have some errors. You just want to minimize them," Phillips said.
Jordan, who missed all of this week's practices after minor surgery Monday, said his team's offensive key is "not turning the ball over. They're a zone-coverage team. There will be some openings. We should be able to complete some passes, but we can't turn the ball over."
Or mishandle passes.
"For us, a dropped pass is almost a turnover. You've got second-and-nine or second-and-10 and you drop a pass, now it's a third-and-long situation. We can't afford any drops." Jordan said.
The Red Devils seek to end a string of 30 losses. They have lost six in a row to Jessieville, the last five by between 27 and 50 points.
"When you play an established program like Jessieville, it's hard to turn that competitiveness into win," Jordan said. "I think we'll compete with them, and I think we have a chance to win. That's a big stretch, but we're not going to back down from the challenge. ... If we have some success on offense and get some turnovers who knows what might happen."
Like every coach, Phillips is eager to start the season.
"You're always ready to play the first game," he said, "whether you're ready or not."
Sports on 09/04/2015