Indians, Eagles to duke it out for 14-4A crown

By Jay Neal

sports@jacksonvilleprogress.com

One of the biggest Jacksonville football games of the decade will take place in the Tomato Bowl at 7:30 p.m. Friday night as the FIghtin’ Indians (7-2, 3-1 in District 14-4A) will try to secure their first district championship in six years as Lindale (5-4, 3-1) comes to town for the regular-season finale.

Ironically enough, it was the Tribe that trekked into Eagle Stadium a year ago and derailed the Eagles’ bid at nailing down a district crown by notching a 22-19 upset over Lindale.

Both Jacksonville and Lindale have advanced to the point of being one win away from a title in somewhat similar fashion, using a modified blueprint to guide them through a successful district campaign up until this juncture.

The Eagles, unlike the Indians, started the season off slow, going 1-4 with their only victory coming over lowly Pine Tree, 28-26. Lindale’s slow start can be attributed to the Eagles losing quarterback Matt Broussard early in the season to a rib injury.

His absence forced head coach Mike Meader and company to make some personnel adjustments to compensate for not having the services of their No. 1 playmaker.

Meader moved John Ryzman into the quarterback spot and although he didn’t have immediate success, there were good things and different things that he brought to the Eagles’ offensive table that really began to pay handsome dividends once Broussard returned to the lineup in the Eagles’ final non-district affair at Pittsburg.

In that game the Eagles served the Panthers a stunning 43-33 loss in Pittsburg — the Panthers’ only defeat of the season, as a matter of fact.

That game became the pivotal point for Lindale, who was picked to finish fifth in the league in the pre-season coaches poll.

Meader’s blue shirts blitzed through district, stumbling only once — a 55-44 setback at the hands of Kilgore. Key wins during loop action for Lindale came in the form of wins over Whitehouse (24-20) and Henderson last week, 42-28.

If there are any doubters as to Lindale being legit — capable of waltzing into The Bowl and sauntering out with a victory Friday — the Eagles’ decisions over the Wildcats and Lions should provide sufficient proof that the boys from the north can play.

“Lindale has a fine football team,” Jacksonville head coach Steve Wells said. “Broussard is very talented, the (Keandre) Ross kid at running back is very talented, and Ryzman can come in at quarterback and give a different look. Since Broussard has been back, their only loss has been to Kilgore.

“They (Lindale) are 3-1 in district for a reason: because they are a good football team.”

The Tribe, who are 3-0 all-time against Lindale, also had to deal with making significant offensive adjustments in mid stream, due to personnel adjustments made after the Whitehouse game that forced the Indians to tweak things a bit, with Tevin Garland sliding into the feature back spot and the Indians depending on Ryan Black’s arm (and feet, too) a little bit more.

Garland has answered the call nicely and has rushed for 314 yards in 59 carries (5.3 yards per rush average). His stop-and-start style, cutting on a dime ability, has proven to give opposing defenses much difficulty in stopping him.

Black has displayed maturity and savvy way beyond his years — he is just a junior — not only by the way he uses his cannon-like throwing arm, but with his never-say-it’s-over scrambling ability.

The southpaw is 118-of-223 for 1,687 yards and has thrown 14 touchdowns while serving up a mere five interceptions. He has also rushed for 181 yards (66 scampers) and has a rushing touchdown.

Wells says the key to stopping Lindale, a run-oriented team, is being able to contain Broussard, Ross and Ryzman.

“They (Lindale) like to use the old single wing (formation),” Wells said. “Broussard and Ross, and sometimes Ryzman, are all in there and they are usually running the football, but in the last two to three weeks we have seen them throw the football more and more.

“They generally try to get you unbalanced (on defense), in my opinion, and then come at you with the sweep or the trap. We must do a good job at getting a hat (helmet) on them and making good tackles.”

Wells also said the Tribe has a lot of respect for the Lindale defense and that middle linebacker Jacob Merriman and defensive end Keith Moore are both excellent players.

“Lindale has a good, solid defense, so we will have to do a good job of blocking them to be successful in moving the football,” Wells said.

Friday’s game should give fans their money’s worth, according to Wells, who says a 12th-man effect may be needed to push the Tribe into the winner’s circle in the end.

“It should be a good ball game,” he said. “I would like to encourage all the Jacksonville people to come out and support these kids.

“They (the players) have come out here and worked hard this year to get in this position, and hopefully we can cap it off by bringing a gold ball (district championship) back to Jacksonville for the first time in six years Friday night. We are counting on a big crowd being there Friday night.”

NOTE: Broussard was the consummate all-around offensive playmaker against Henderson, throwing for a 1-yard touchdown, rushing for a 63-yard score and receiving a 26-yard pass from Ryzman and motoring into the end zone for six points. Ross tallied three touchdowns against the Lions, covering 46, 18 and 2 yards, respectively. Lindale scored five touchdowns in the second half of last week’s game. The Tribes last district title came in 2004, a year that the Indians went 10-3. Both teams locked up post-season berths with their respective victories last week. A Jacksonville win will not only earn the Tribe the league crown, but will also assure them avoiding Longview (9-1, the No. 3 -ranked team in Class 4A) in bi-district play next week.

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