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Friday, Nov. 06, 2009

Hornets face unfamiliar foe

If familiarity breeds contempt, unfamiliarity leads to concern.

Second-ranked Westfield (9-1) opens the GISA Class AAA playoffs at home tonight against Holy Sprit Prep of Atlanta. It’s a program the Hornets have never faced. In fact, the two teams didn’t even share any common opponents during the regular season.

“We haven’t seen them live,” Westfield head coach Ronnie Jones said. “We have film, but the only film we have is (Holy Spirit) against unfamliar opponents.”

The teams exchanged film from the past three games. Jones said his coaching staff must be prepared to make adjustments if the need arises, but he expects Holy Spirit (7-2) to stick to its game plan.

“This late into the season, nobody’s going to change a whole lot,” he said. “Nobody can.”

It’s hardly surprising the two teams never met. Beginning with a lower school in 1996, Holy Spirit added its high school in 2004. School enrollment has grown in size to the point that Holy Spirit was placed in GISA’s largest classification prior to the 2008 season. The size of the football program hasn’t grown with the school. There are just 27 Cougars on the varsity, according to head coach Dan Pepitone.

“Football is getting there,” he said. “We have kids joining the team that have never played football before. ... Six years is not a long time; especially when you’re starting from scratch.”

This is Holy Spirit’s second year in AAA and it qualified for the playoffs both times out of Region 1. In 2008, Holy Spirit hit the road in the first round and hammered John Milledge 27-7.

The Cougars run what Pepitone calls a “power spread.” The offense is producing 33.3 points per game, although in two region losses, Holy Spirit scored just seven points total.

The passing combination of senior quarterback Charles Johnson to senior receiver Tre Blanchard has produced several big plays. But Holy Spirit has a balanced attack with the return of running back Alex Galvez, who missed all of 2008 with a back injury. Johnson, in his third year as the starting quarterback, is also a threat to run from the shotgun formation.

“Whatever Westfield will give us, we’ll try to take advantage,” Pepitone said.

The Hornets’ Gang Green defense hasn’t given much all season. Westfield is yielding less than 10 points per game.

Pepitone said the Cougars are at their best when they’re forcing turnovers and turning those opportunities into points. The Westfield offense has had turnover issues throughout the season. Many of those have come without contact, according to Jones.

“All you can do at this point is tell (the players) to concentrate,” he said.