Lumberjacks look to rebound in home opener against Rimrock
By Ray Rodriguez
Argus Observer
Thursday, September 4, 2008 11:59 AM PDT
Council — Council head coach Dan Shumway watched film of his team’s 40-28 loss to Salmon River and was happy with the foundation his group built for the rest of the season.
Receivers Randy Nichols and Marcus Lucas emerged as major threats on offense, Bo Green and Tyler Farrar opened eyes as running backs, and the offensive line took one step closer toward being a cohesive unit.
“Our offensive line did a great job. We’re a pretty young team, and this group is still trying to find its own identity,” Shumway said. “After Friday, I think we can be a diverse offense, with our ability to throw and run. The run game is there, but we want the ability to pass if we need to.”
If he could do it all over again, Shumway said he would use his vertical game more. With Nichols and Lucas, he knows he has two weapons.
“The main thing is we probably want to throw a little more here and there. Not necessarily a lot more, but we need to be able to keep the defense off-balanced,” Shumway said. “Nichols stepped out and showed he can be a threat. He has speed and makes the big plays when he has the ball in his hands. We were probably a little too conservative in our passing game, so we will look to open it up.”
The one area of concern was the turnover bug that jumped up and bit Shumway’s group.
Council gave Salmon River six extra possessions with three turnovers, and allowed the Savages to convert three onside kicks.
“Coming off of that loss, we had to work on our turnovers. We need to do a better job in terms of ball control and ball security. We don’t want to give away those extra possessions. We want to create extra opportunities for our offense,” Shumway said. “We will keep addressing this issue throughout the year.”
While the Lumberjacks have been in recovery mode, the Rimrock Raiders enters action in the same boat after a 32-18 loss to Garden Valley.
A season ago, the Raiders finished with a 6-3 overall record and finished one game shy of a state playoff berth.
Rimrock boasts a crew of six returning starters, including all-league running back Ricardo Araujo. Araujo racked up more than 1,600 yards of offense for a Raider team that averaged 38 points game last year.
“Araujo’s a solid running back. They have an obvious weapon and big threat with him back there. In 8-man football that is where you want to have your best player. The question is how well their quarterback plays,” Shumway said.
Shumway is unsure how he will defend the Raiders’ potent offense, and said he may institute multiple defensive sets to create confusion for a relatively new offensive line and inexperienced signal caller.
“We will try a couple of different defenses,” he said. “Personnel-wise, we’re trying to see what works best. Ideally, we want to take away the run and make them throw.”
