Ferriday must play better to avoid second round loss

Published 12:23 am Friday, November 16, 2007

FERRIDAY — The 11-0 Ferriday Trojans look to continue their remarkable season tonight when they host the 9-2 St. John Eagles.

“St. John is a very fundamentally sound team,” Ferriday head coach said. “They have been through some wars and been tested. They know how to win.”

The Trojans are coming off a less than perfect 20-6 win against Red River last week.

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Trojan quarterback Kendrick Harris had problems passing, completing just two passes and throwing three interceptions.

Harrison said they have put last week behind them and they had done a lot of work this week on correcting the miscues.

“We found a way to win last week,” Harrison said. “We’ve done some work on offense this week but the main thing I want them to do is go out and have fun. When they do that, they play much better.”

St. John head coach Bruce Hoffman said Ferriday’s offense would be a challenge for them and stopping Harris would be the key to stopping them.

“Ferriday’s stud is their quarterback,” Hoffman said. “If it’s throwing the ball or running the ball, we have to keep him under control.”

The Trojans’ speed may be a problem for the Eagles Hoffman said.

“They have a lot of speed on both sides of the ball,” Hoffman said. “Speed has been something that has given us problems. We’ll have to make adjustments depending on how the game goes.”

The Eagles offense is anchored by their running game. They use a number backs to carry the load.

Running back Roddarick Jones leads the team with 838 yards on 91 carries. Spenser and T.J. Williams combined for 562 yards on the ground this season.

“Their running backs are playmakers,” Harrison said. “Our defense has to play very well to contain their scheme. Our philosophy is the same this week as it has been all year long. If we are going to bleed, we’re going to bleed slow.”

St. John put up 379 yards rushing in their win 46-44 against Loyola. Jones had 156 yards and quarterback Galen Johnson rushed for a team leading 168 yards. Johnson also threw for 201 yards.

“The quarterback is a big kid at 6’2, 210 pounds,” Harrison said. “They are straight forward in what they do. We are going to have to execute our scheme, make plays and play hard to stop them.”

Hoffman said he didn’t want the scoring to get out of hand like it did against Loyola and the game depended more on his defense making stops than his offense scoring.

“The key to us winning the game is our defense stopping Ferriday’s offense,” he said. “They tend to put up points fast and we’re not built like that.”

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.