The Hargrave Falcons are primed for their district showdown on October 11 at Lumberton. With district leaders in rushing, passing, and receiving, Mike McEachern's squad looks at the District 11-4A matchup as a mid-season measuring stick.
"Right now we feel good," said McEachern, "we wanted to be five and 0 at the break where we can reload and get ready for our district game."
The Falcons will be tested on both sides of the line by a strong Lumberton team who leads the district in both offense (395 yds/gm) and defense (167 yds/gm). The Raiders have the #2 rusher in senior running back David Barthol as their run-heavy offense has generated 1,465 yards on the ground.
"What a heck of a way to start district," said McEachern.
"We had a shootout last year where we had a lead on them at halftime, they came back and beat us in overtime. This game is going to set the tone for both of us. At the end of the game we'll see who's 1-0 and who's 0-1."
Whereas Lumberton's offensive game is one-sided with the run game (1465 yds), Hargrave brings a balanced attack with 900 yards rushing and 1037 yards passing.
The Falcons are led on the ground by district leading rusher AJ San Miguel (681 yds, 14 TD's). Through the air they bring top quarterback Justin Shively (1023 yds passing, 13 TD's) and the top two receivers in Luke Thomas (329 yds, 5 TD's) and Brendon Pollack (158 yds, 1 TD).
"We try to keep our offense balanced," said McEachern.
"We spread our offense out for both (running and passing), the more balanced we are the more potent our offense is. The thing that has helped us the most is our defense has given us great field position. When you have a short field you better roll."
Listen to the podcast interview between Coach McEachern and Todd James of VYPE SeTX Magazine click on the play button below.