Payette faces Kimberly to open state tournament play
By Scott Ford
Argus Observer
ScottF@argusobserver.com
Thursday, October 29, 2009 2:23 PM PDT
Kimberly-The Payette Pirates enter the 2009 3A state football playoffs with a road trip to Kimberly, and head coach Troy Gleave said his Pirates will go to battle against a very solid football team.
“Kimberly has a good rushing attack, and they will set up for a big pass by running the ball at you,” Gleave said.
Kimberly runs a double wing offense and will show a shotgun look as well. Gleave said the Bulldogs goto guy is the fullback.
“He runs the ball well, and they have a play where they do a direct snap to him,” Gleave said. “We have to keep our eyes open for that play on every down.”
Blitzing the Bulldogs may not be an easy task. Gleave said Kimberly has a solid line and the battle in the trenches between his front four on defense and the Bulldogs linemen should be very physical.
“We have to take away their favorite play, and that is the toss,” Gleave said. “It picks up big yards for them. We need Kyle Blackwell and Joey Barbion to blow that play up.”
The coach added his inside linebackers will have to read the guard quickly so they can make the plays on Kimberly’s toss play.
When the Pirates have the football, Gleave believes his offense can attack the edges of the Bulldog defense, and he also saw from film that the passing game could work, as long as they are hitting the seams of the defense coverage.
Kimberly head coach Kirby Bright said he doesn’t know of any team that can match up with Payette’s front four on defense, but relishes the fact that his team has the home field advantage.
“Containing Payette’s front four will be key for us,” Bright said in an email to the Argus Observer. “Can we get the job done up front will be the question we have to answer on Friday.”
Bright said the key to victory for the Bulldogs is to keep the ball out of Payette’s hands.
“They have a lot of weapons,” he said.
For Payette, Gleave said the key to victory is to stop the toss play.
The game is slated to kick off at 7 p.m. in Kimberly.
secretive wrote on Nov 4, 2009 9:21 PM: