Published: September 04, 2008 02:27 am            

Wildcats face big challenge in Navasota

By SCOTT TYLER

H-P Sports Editor



Palestine head coach Booker Bowie wants his Wildcats to be challenged before district play begins.

The Wildcats get a big test Friday night when Palestine travels to highly-ranked Navasota. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

“They are one of the top teams in the state at Class 3A and it is a good challenge for us,” Bowie said. “This is the kind of game we want to get ready for district.”

Navasota began the season ranked No. 2 in the state in Dave Campbell’s Texas Football Magazine after going three rounds deep in the playoffs. The Rattlers were ranked fourth in the Associated Press poll at the beginning of the season but moved down to sixth after a 35-34 win over Henderson last week.

“They have got a lot of Division I type athletes,” Bowie said. “Hopefully we are going to be motivated for them and ready to go.”

Palestine’s biggest test against Navasota may come on the defensive side of the ball. The Wildcats are going to have to find a way to slow down a Navasota offense that had over 400 yards against Henderson.

“They run a spread similar to what we do,” Bowie said of the Navasota offense. “They are 50-50 run and pass and have a big offensive line.”

Navasota quarterback Jacolby Stokes threw for 316 yards and three touchdowns against Henderson.

“We have to pressure the quarterback and get there before he has time to throw the ball,” Bowie said.

Palestine also will have to contain Stokes who rushed for 93 yards and two touchdowns last week.

“We have to stay in our running lanes and take care of our gaps,” Bowie said. “He will go inside the tackles and scramble outside so we have to stay in our lanes.”

Navasota wide receiver Brandal Jackson had a big night against Henderson, catching nine passes for 183 yards and three touchdowns. Bowie said the Wildcats will use different coverages to try and confuse the Navasota passing game.

“We are going to try and mix things up from playing off and using the bump and run,” Bowie said. “We want to throw their timing off.”

The Palestine defense looks to improve off a performance against Rusk in which the Wildcats allowed 301 rushing yards and five touchdowns.

“When we looked at the tape, we realized our mistakes and know they are correctable,” Bowie said. “Our kids need to be more disciplined and they need to get in their heads what their assignment is before the play starts.”

While the Palestine defense had its struggles against Rusk, the offense was running on all cylinders, gaining 530 yards and scoring 58 points.

“We want to continue to do what we did last week,” Palestine offensive coordinator Jamie Driskell said. “Navasota has a quality defense so we need to limit our mistakes.”

Quarterback Olin Terry led the way in the win with 163 rushing yards and 188 passing yards. He ran for three touchdowns and threw for two more. Junior running back Jamie Jones added 138 rushing yards and three touchdowns.



Palestine wide receiver E.J. Spurlock helped open up the field as he caught six passes for 162 yards including touchdown receptions of 33 and 46 yards.



“When you have a receiver like E.J. it makes defenses stretch the field,” Driskell said. “We have a triple threat with E.J., Olin and Jamie on the field.”

Palestine heads into Friday night looking to improve on its no-huddle offense, which was implemented before the Rusk game.

“We ran it one day in practice and decided to try it against Rusk,” Driskell said. “It went well in Rusk so we are going to keep using it.

“The kids like it and it gives them a sense of freedom and allows Olin to get a look at the defense before we go.”



Driskell said one of the changes in the no-huddle offense will be to line up first, get a look at the defense and then call the play.



“It makes the defense hurry up and puts them in a different situation,” Driskell said.

Notes: The two teams have meet twice before in 2000 and 2001 with Palestine winning both games. ...Navasota running back Dexter Pratt, who rushed for 2,054 yards and 20 touchdowns last season, was a non-factor against Henderson, rushing for 65 yards on 17 carries. ...Palestine will be playing on the sports turf in Navasota. The Wildcats got a chance to play on turf in their second scrimmage when it was changed to Kilgore.

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Scott Tyler may be contacted via e-mail at styler@palestineherald.com



PALESTINE TEAM STATS

Team

Offense

First Downs: 16

Rushes-Yards-Avg: 34-342-10.1

Passing Yards: 188

Total Yards: 530

Comp-Att-Int: 8-19-0

Fumbles-Lost: 2-1

Penalties-Yards: 11-90



Opponents

First Downs: 8

Rushing-Yards-Avg: 42-301-7.2

Passing Yards: 0

Total Yards: 301

Comp-Att-Int: 0-1-1

Fumbles-Lost: 4-2

Penalties-Yards: 12-94



Individual Stats

Offense

Rushing

Att-Yards-Avg-TD

Olin Terry, 15-163-10.87-3; Jamie Jones, 12-138-11.50-3; Xavier Davis, 6-41-6.83-1; Terrance Simmons, 1-0-0-0.



Passing

Comp-Att-Yards-Yards/Att-TD

Olin Terry, 8-19-0-188-9.89-2.





Receiving

Catches-Yards-Avg.-TD

E.J. Spurlock, 6-162-27.0-2; Devin Venoy, 1-21-21.0-0; Darrius Simmons, 1-5-5.0-0.



Scoring

Olin Terry, 18 (3 rushing TDs); Jamie Jones, 18 (3 rushing TDs); E.J. Spurlock, 12 (2 receiving TDs); Xavier Davis, 6 (1 rushing TD); Logan Atkinson, 2 (2 PAT); Devin Venoy, 2 (1 conversion).



Defense

Tackles (Solo-Assist)

Kyle Cargill, 12 (8-4); Sam Wren, 11 (6-5); Daniel Hinson, 8 (3-5) Asa Davidson, 6 (5-1); Jermaine McMorris, 5 (3-2); T. Simon, 5 (3-2); Michael Smith, 4 (2-2); Darrius Simmons, 4 (3-1); Aaron Asberry, 3 (3-0); Eric Roberston, 2 (1-1); Logan Luce, 2 (1-1); Quincy Howard, 2 (2-0); E.J. Spurlock, 1 (1-0); Devin Venoy, 1 (1-0).



Interceptions

E.J. Spurlock, 1.



Sacks

Sam Wren, 1; Kyle Cargill, 1.



Forced Fumbles

Michael Smith, 1.

        

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