Ashdown is 2-0 to start this season as they defeated Hamburg 18-15 in their opening game and beat DeQueen 41-7 last week.
Coach Phillip Turner feels good about the game plan they have for this upcoming week and is excited for Friday to get here. Turner also spoke on Ashdown’s athletic and well coached defense, “Defensively, Ashdown has a great safety in Darnell Williams and they will play an umbrella style defense in the secondary, and will also try and throw some blitz packages at us.”
Tyler Patterson and the Bobcats offense and have no shortage of weapons and will look to find a rhythm offensively and do a better job this week at finishing off drives with points. Wednesday after practice Turner said, “We can’t continue to beat ourselves. And I told the kids this week we have got to start expecting to win instead of hoping to win.”
Last week in Nashville, the offense had around 350 yards of offense, but kept shooting themselves in the foot with pre-snap penalties and a few mental mistakes that kept them off the scoreboard.
Bobcat QB Tyler Patterson spoke about the offense, “We’re going to bounce back from week one. We only had 48 rushing yards, and we have to get off to a better start with our running game.” He added, “We need to improve in the passing game, and we definitely have to get a rhythm going offensively and stay out of bad situations.”
Look for a big game from the backfield of Lindsey, Gulley, and Ford. Isaac Love and Zyun Brown on the outside paired with a very athletic Jay Monk in the slot should present a challenge for Ashdown Friday night.
Last week, the Bobcat defense played spectacularly and will look to carry the same intensity into week two. Linebacker KD Gulley has high expectations for this week and spoke on the defense Wednesday, “Expect a lot from the defense, we’re coming back for revenge after the loss last week.” Senior KD Gulley and SWARK.Today Player of the Week Jalen Staggers combined for 26 tackles last week.
Those two, combined with LB Juan Ortiz, look to cause havoc Friday night as the Bobcats feel good about their game plan against the Panther offense. The secondary will look to keep playing at a high level and the D-line looks to dictate the line of scrimmage. The confidence continues to grow within the Bobcat’s defense, and I look for that unit to come out with a lot of intensity.
Kickoff is set for 7:30 in Ashdown. A big crowd should be in attendance to help cheer the Bobcats to victory. The game will be streamed by SWARK.Today.
