Friday, Oct. 17, 2008

Panthers nab win, won’t take Mustangs for granted

Fossil Ridge Football

By JOHN ENGLISH

With a backup quarterback in and playing a crosstown rival, Fossil Ridge came through in a big way last Friday and will look to continue on its recent success tonight against Grapevine.

The Panthers defeated Central 24-19 last Friday in a game in which Jordan Shea took all the snaps at quarterback.

"He played every down at quarterback," Baccarini said. "We needed some more athleticism in there, and Jordan can run and pass, although we ran a whole lot more than we passed. Our offensive line has been doing real good, and we had been turning the ball over and kind of beating ourselves a little bit.

"We wanted to protect the ball, and Jordan did exactly what we wanted him to do."

Baccarini said picking up a win with Jordan Shea instead of injured starting quarterback Jacob Bermejo gives the team that much more confidence.

"We had a lot of meetings this week and did a bit of soul searching," Baccarini said. "We came together and got some things out in the open, and our guys believe in anybody that goes out there right now, and I was just happy for them that they were able to have some success."

Baccarini said the win against Central was something the team really needed at this point in the season.

"That was huge," Baccarini said. "The kids really needed something good to happen to them, and they worked hard for it, so it was good for them. We knew it would be a close contest ... all week we expected a one-point game, and we knew it would be close, but our kids just stuck to the game plan and got the job done."

Fossil Ridge rushed for 270 yards in the Central game, and Baccarini said he was happy with how effectively his team executed the ground game.

"It was very good," Baccarini said. "Tra Lynch, Kabasele Mbambi and Bryant Troxler all did a good job for us. At crunch time, they got the quick touchdown ... we were very proud of them, and our defense stepped up and played very well."

Baccarini said he and his team are disregarding Grapevine’s record heading into tonight’s game, and instead are reminding themselves of past encounters to get motivated.

"We try not to look at scores or numbers or anything like that," Baccarini said. "Grapevine has had our number for a long time. When we were in the district with them before, we lost a couple of heartbreakers to them. We’re more concerned about us, and playing each down as hard as we can and being as physical as we can."