GONZALES APACHES

Apaches face rival Yoakum in homecoming night

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Gonzales heads into homecoming night 1-1 to take on a very fast and very athletic Yoakum Bulldogs (1-1) team.

The Yoakum Bulldogs are a 70 percent run team, Gonzales head coach Kodi Crane noted. The team isn’t too complicated with their formations, running out of a “pro set,” which is typically two running backs aligned side-by-side in the backfield.

“They want to run the lead, they want to run the toss, they want to run the trap, they want to run the counter,” Crane said, “and they are going to do it extremely efficiently.”

The Bulldogs’ offensive line is a strength, with three running backs who can start on any team.

Montreal Jones (28) has the most carries, Deandre Johnson (7) has the most yards and Mayson Arkadie (5) gets plenty of carries as well.

“They rotate all three of those guys, all three of those guys have a big role on defense, so those guys rotate in and out and touch the ball a lot,” Crane said.

Ty Love (1) is a receiver Yoakum targets, especially in the end zone. Listed as 6-3, the Bulldogs utilize the big receiver by throwing fade routes. He was targeted 10 times last week.

“We got to be able to stop the run and stop the homerun pass to [Love],” Crane said. “I guess stop is a bad word, because playing against Yoakum offense, you’re not going to stop them. You got to be opportunistic and limit their opportunities.”

On defense, the Bulldogs tend to stack the box to stop the run, while putting their athletes out in the secondary to play man coverage.

There are many athletes on Yoakum’s defense that can cause trouble, including Holden Lauer (12), Bryce Byars (8) and as mentioned before, running backs Johnson and Arkadie.

The game boils down to turnovers and the run game.

“We want to run the ball, they want to run the ball,” Crane said. “Whoever runs the ball better will probably win the football game.”

Homecoming night was rescheduled for Thursday at Apache Field, with kickoff set at 7:30 p.m.

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