FOUNTAIN LAKE -- The Cobras and the Pirates are both looking to pick up their first win of the season under new coaches as Fountain Lake makes the trip to Dover in Pope County Friday night.
The Class 4A Cobras (0-2) should be better prepared for the game, having faced off against a pair of Class 5A opponents in Hot Springs and Lakeside. The Pirates (0-2), also a Class 4A school, lost both of their games by over 20 points to Danville and Atkins, both Class 3A teams.
Fountain Lake first year head coach Kenny Shelton said that while the Cobras took a 35-0 win over the Pirates a year ago, Dover also has a new coach in Reed Mendoza, who is in his first head coaching job.
"They've made a lot of changes offensively," he said. "I think their offense is much improved over last year, and you can see the impact that he's had on the staff and on the players.
"And they're kind of in the same boat we are; their numbers are down a little bit. I think they're right around 30. They're trying to kickstart their program, and they've been down for last couple of years. So, you know, of a lot of similarities between us and Dover going into this week."
Last week, the Cobras held Lakeside to just one touchdown and 110 yards with a tough defense in the first half before losing 35-14 at Chick Austin Field, but they could not get their offense going.
"Lakeside did a good job of giving us some fits early on, and it took us a while to make some bigger adjustments," Shelton said. "It's really hard when you've got a lot of guys going both ways to make a lot of in-game adjustments until halftime. We were able to go in and make some bigger adjustments at halftime and came out and our offense kind of performed a little bit better in the second half, and were able to kind of get the ball moving a little bit."
Led by sophomore quarterback Brandon Housley, the Pirates have multiple weapons that the Cobras will have to look to shut down.
"They don't just have one kid that we're looking at stopping," Shelton explained. "They do a good job of a balanced attack. Their quarterback does a good job of getting the ball out quickly, so we're looking at, unlike the last couple weeks when we really had to key on a couple of guys that tended to get more touches, this week it's going to be more of a team effort instead of concentrating on one or two particular guys."
One of Dover's biggest weapons is its line with players weighing in between 200-320 pounds and three standing at 6 feet or higher.
"They definitely have the size advantage over us," Shelton said. "They do a good job of giving their quarterback enough time to throw the ball a little bit. They like to spread you out a little bit and soften you up then try to run on you a little bit as well."
The Cobras have struggled with injuries in the first part of the season, losing three players before the first game and three more in their season opener.
"We're still down a couple," Shelton said. "We did get Caleb Lacy back this week, which is going to be a big boost for us offensively. He's going to come in, and I'm looking at having him start at fullback for us this week.
"Gavin [Nguyen] is back, full-fledged. He'll kind of concentrate on defense. He's going to be the backup fullback in case Caleb needs a break here and there."
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Jack Berry Field.
Sports on 09/19/2019