After a heartbreaking loss against the Powhatan Indians in overtime, Varsity Football will search for a statement victory against a 2-5 James River team in the Coal Bowl on Oct. 20.
The Rapids come off a 35-16 win against the Cosby Titans in which they controlled the line of scrimmage and ran the ball effectively. The Rapids will have a tough time replicating that offensive performance against a quality defensive unit.
This season, the Trojans have proven that they are an elite defensive team that can apply pressure to the quarterback, contain the run on short yardage downs, and force turnovers. Jamar Leeper Jr. and Phoenix Andes have combined for approximately eight sacks the season, Senior Linebacker Noah House causing four forced fumbles. and Johnny Sowers adding five interceptions from the secondary. This is an important factor because of the fact that the Rapids are 0-2 against teams that have more sacks than the national average like L.C. Bird and Powhatan. According to the Trojans’ defensive mind, this will be the recipe for success as they attempt to capture momentum following their loss to Powhatan.
“Our identity all season has been the following: making the opposing quarterback uncomfortable, forcing turnovers through interceptions and fumbles, and giving our offense the best field position possible,” defensive coordinator Brayden Delans said. “In our loss to Powhatan, we made the necessary adjustments at halftime, we just couldn’t respond well enough at the end of the game because of penalties.”
With the playoffs being a month away, the rest of the Trojan offense is still adjusting to having senior quarterback Chase Chambers out of the lineup. For the foreseeable future, freshman quarterback Gibson Gross will be the game manager for this offense until Chambers comes back from his injury this season. According to Trojan players and the coaching staff, they have faith in Gibson Gross improving each week with the playoffs being on the horizon.
“We believe that me and the rest of our running backs can alleviate pressure off Gibson Gross after his first start against George Wythe. However, Gibson is ahead of schedule and has made great progress with the first string players.” Head Coach Phil Gross said.
“In order to maximize Gibson’s potential, I will continue to put myself in position to get open in the middle of the field, and get yards after the catch on first and second down.” Jack Lipsteuer said.
The last time these two teams battled was at F.W Poates Stadium on Nov. 4, 2022, when the Trojans had over 200 rushing yards and nine tackles for loss in a 30-16 win in the Coal Bowl. In spite of that, the Trojans had a difficult time slowing down Junior Will Managbanag. In this conference game, Managbanag finished the game with 19 carries for 156 yards and a touchdown while averaging 8.2 yards per carry.
In comparison to last year, the Trojans have done a better job of containing the run; especially in a short yardage situation on 3rd down. According to Coach Gross, the gameplan will be centered around slowing down the James River playmaker.
“In football your team always has to play to your opponent’s strengths. For example, the way we played against Manchester early in the year is going to be different from how we play against our last three opponents because each team we play has different tendencies.” Coach Gross said. “In this game specifically, their offense goes where Will Managbanag goes. Because of that, if we can slow down their yards after contact and after the catch, it will give us a much better chance to bounce back from our loss last week.”
