H.S. Football: Elkhart looking to build momentum after first win

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September 26, 2012

H.S. Football: Elkhart looking to build momentum after first win

By JUSTIN RAINS Palestine Herald-Press The Palestine Herald-Press Wed Sep 26, 2012, 08:27 PM CDT

Last Friday, the Elkhart football team got its first win out of the way in a big way, rolling over rival Grapeland, 49-2.

Now, the Elks are focused on building some momentum heading into the bye week and the upcoming slate of district games that come after it.

“It was just a big confidence booster, to get that first one out of the way and to play extremely well,” EHS coach Sam Wells said. “We just came out and played really well.”

Standing between Elkhart and its bye is Joaquin, the fifth-ranked team in Class 1A in the latest Associated Press football poll, which comes into Jerry Ives Memorial Stadium for homecoming Friday.

The Rams are 4-0, outscoring opponents 140-46 in those four games. Wells is familiar with the Rams, who shared a district with his Frankston teams the previous two seasons.

“It’s a huge challenge. They don’t make many mistakes, they can run the football really well,” Wells said. “A large group of their kids have been starting since they were sophomores. We’ve got to play error-free football and do what we did last week: Limit our turnovers, execute well and play sound defense.”

The Elks did that against rival Grapeland, holding the Sandies to 41 yards of total offense.

Wells said that if his team could get this win and head into the bye week at 2-3, it’d “be huge.”

But, that won’t be easy against Joaquin’s high-powered attack.

The Rams are averaging 35 points per game this season, and are led on the ground by Wyatt Hairgrove, who has run for 504 yards this year on 52 carries (9.7 yards per carry).

“They’re going to run the football. Lots of misdirection, and we’ve got to play well up front and on the back end we’ve got to be ready for the play action pass,” Wells said. “Our perimeter players have to do a good job stopping the sweep.

“They execute their offense really well. They’ve been running this since 2002.”

While the Elkhart defense will be tasked with stopping Joaquin’s rushing attack, the Rams’ defense will be gearing up to stop Jeffrey Wilson and the Elkhart ground game.

Wilson ran for 345 yards in the Elks’ win over Grapeland, while playing only 2 1/2 quarters.

The performance gives him 840 yards rushing on the year on less than 100 carries. He also has eight touchdowns on the ground.

“He’s playing well. He didn’t play as well against Centerville even though he had good numbers, so he really turned it on (against Grapeland),” Wells said. “The offense line just paved the way for him, which was huge. Hopefully, if we just play well in all phases...hopefully that will just keep on keeping on.”

Wells added that the confidence of the offense line grew with leaps and bounds after the Elks dominated Grapeland up front.

“We kept it pretty simple and they executed, physically, up front,” he said. “They believe in what we’re doing.”

Kick-off is set for 7:30 p.m. Friday at Jerry Ives Memorial Stadium (Sheridan St., Elkhart, Texas 75839).

Leon at GRAPELAND

After falling to rival Elkhart, 49-2, and failing to gain more than 50 yards offensively, the Grapeland football team will be looking to bounce-back Friday when they host Leon.

The Cougars (2-2) come into the game off of a 52-0 defeat of Somerville last Friday, snapping a two-game losing streak.

Leon is 0-2 on the road this season, while Grapeland is 0-2 at Sandies Stadium (N. Olive St. at FM 1272, Grapeland, Texas 75844).

Kick-off is set for 7:30 p.m.

———

Sports editor Justin Rains can be reached via email at jrains@palestineherald.com

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