’Cats, Eagles ready to tun over new leaf

The Palestine Herald

October 09, 2008 12:24 am

— By SCOTT TYLER
H-P Sports Editor

For the Palestine Wildcats and Fairfield Eagles, Friday marks a new start.
Both teams had their ups and downs the first five weeks of the season, but when the Eagles travel to Palestine Friday night, all that will be erased with the start of District 20-3A play.
“We are excited about getting into district and everyone being zero and zero,” Palestine head coach Booker Bowie said. “We have goals set for district and we look forward to getting it kicked off in the right direction.”
Palestine (1-4) started the season with a win against Rusk but since then the Wildcats have lost four straight games. But Bowie knows none of that matters come Friday and he wants his team to focus on what matters — district.
“In the back of our minds we are thinking district championship but in order to do that, we have smaller goals we have to accomplish,” Bowie said. “One of those goals is we need to play with a lot more intensity.”
Bowie hopes that Palestine’s non-district schedule, which included Class 4A Jacksonville and Kilgore, will help in district play.
“The big thing is that we have showed potential to play against quality teams,” Bowie said. “We just need to be consistent and we have a chance to be a good football team.”
Fairfield head coach Darrell Piske knows Palestine has played a tough non-district schedule.
“Palestine is a good football team and their record is no indication of what kind of team they have,” the Fairfield head coach said.
Fairfield (2-3) has had an up and down start to the season. The Eagles have exchanged a win and a loss each week and are coming off a 21-12 loss to Rusk last week.
“This is kind of like the first game of the year,” Piske said of starting district. “We are excited that we will have the same record as everyone else.”
Piske said that his Eagles will have to find a way to slow down Palestine quarterback Olin Terry. The junior signal caller has rushed for 457 yards and eight touchdowns and has thrown for 537 yards and four scores.
“We know he is going to get some big runs but we have to slow him down,” Piske said of Terry. “We have to break down and tackle and get 11 guys heading to the football.”
In Palestine’s last two games, the Wildcats have tried to find ways of getting the ball into E.J. Spurlock’s hands. After having only three catches in two games, Spurlock has responded with 205 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns in the last two games.
Palestine had a bye last week which helped the Wildcats work on their new defensive look.
“The kids are feeling more comfortable and excited about what we are doing,” Bowie said.
Palestine will try to slow down a Fairfield offense that seems to progress as the season went on under Piske.
“They are a much improved team from the last couple of years,” Bowie said of Fairfield.
Fairfield quarterback Dalton Piske leads the Eagles in both passing and rushing. He has thrown for over 500 yards and rushed for more than 300 yards.
“He is a talented quarterback that can throw and run,” Bowie said. “He has a lot of athletic ability and it will be a challenge for our defense.”
Bowie said the key for his defense is not to give the Fairfield offense the same look each time.
“We have to mix it up,” the Palestine head coach said. “We can’t stay in one front or one coverage all night.”
For Fairfield, Darrell Piske said the key for his offense is limiting turnovers. The Eagles had five turnovers — including fumbling the opening kickoff — against Rusk last week.
“If we limit turnovers and execute, then we will have a chance,” Piske said. “We have to limit Palestine’s opportunities to score.”
Notes: Palestine will celebrate its homecoming Friday night. ...Palestine and Fairfield are meeting for the third straight year. Palestine has won the last two games, 40-0 in 2006 and 35-14 last season. ...Palestine has been outscored in every quarter. The closest quarter has been the fourth, in which Palestine has been outscored 44-42.

WILDCAT STATISTICS
Team
Offense
First Downs: 64
Rushes-Yards-Avg: 176-988-5.6
Passing Yards: 537
Total Yards: 1,525
Comp-Att-Int: 36-86-8
Fumbles-Lost: 10-8
Penalties-Yards: 32-294

Opponents
First Downs: 71
Rushing-Yards-Avg: 196-1,064-5.4
Passing Yards: 889
Total Yards: 1,953
Comp-Att-Int: 39-63-3
Fumbles-Lost: 15-9
Penalties-Yards: 25-194

Individual Stats
Offense
Rushing
Att-Yards-Avg-TD
Olin Terry, 79-457-5.78-8; Jamie Jones, 70-360-5.14-4; E.J. Spurlock, 5-76-15.2-1; Xavier Davis, 9-41-4.56-1; Devin Venoy, 5-35-7.00-0; Terrance Simon, 7-19-2.71-0; Jermaine McMorris, 1-0-0-0.

Passing
Comp-Att-Yards-Yards/Att-TD
Olin Terry, 36-86-8-537-6.24-4.

Receiving
Catches-Yards-Avg.-TD
E.J. Spurlock, 17-298-17.5-4; Devin Venoy, 10-146-14.6-0; Darrius Simmons, 4-29-7.25-0; Darion Turner, Eric Robertson, 3-27-9.0-0; 1-24-24.0-0; Coby Anderson, 1-13-13.0-0.

Scoring
Olin Terry, 48 (8 rushing TDs); E.J. Spurlock, 30 (4 receiving TDs, 1 rushing TD); Jamie Jones, 24 (4 rushing TDs); Terrance Simon, 18 (2 kickoff return for TD, 1 punt return for TD); Logan Atkinson, 14 (14 PAT); Xavier Davis, 6 (1 rushing TD); Devin Venoy, 2 (1 conversion).

Defense
Tackles (Solo-Assist)
Daniel Hinson, 31 (16-15); Kyle Cargill, 29 (23-6); Sam Wren, 26 (17-9); Asa Davidson, 26 (20-6); Terrance Simon, 25 (20-5); E.J. Spurlock, 21 (19-2); Michael Butler, 15 (15-3); Jermaine McMorris, 14 (9-5); Michael Smith, 12 (8-4); Darion Turner, 12 (7-5); Darrius Simmons, 12 (9-3); Mikal Garcia, 6 (5-1); Aaron Asberry, 6 (6-0); Quincy Howard, 6 (6-0); Eric Roberston, 4 (2-2); Xavier Davis, 3 (3-0); Jermaine Black, 3 (0-3); Dave Simpson, 3 (3-1); Zach McEwen, 3 (2-1); Casey Henry, 3 (2-1); Carlos Bryant, 3 (3-0); Lance Cook, 2 (1-1); Logan Luce, 2 (1-1); Rajhad White, 1 (1-0); Devin Venoy, 2 (2-0).

Interceptions
E.J. Spurlock, 1; Michael Smith, 1; Darrius Simmons, 1.

Sacks
Kyle Cargill, 3; Terrance Simon, 2; Sam Wren, 1; Asa Davidson, 1.

Fumble Recoveries
Asa Davidson, 2; Kyle Cargill, 1; Aaron Asberry, 1; Daniel Hinson, 1.

Forced Fumbles
Sam Wren, 2; Michael Smith, 2; Kyle Cargill, 2; E.J. Spurlock, 1.

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