Forget the cliche of this being just another game — at least to a certain point.
North Pike head coach Chris Smith knows what’s on the line for his team Friday night at Forrest County Agricultural High School, but refuses to see it as a chance for the Jaguars to return the favor to the team that knocked them from the 2009 playoffs.
“I don’t think it’s a revenge game,” Smith said. “It’s a playoff game.”
Whatever the thinking may be among the Jaguars, they will put their 12-game winning streak and their season on the line Friday night when North Pike faces the host Aggies in the Class 4A state quarterfinals. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m.
The winner will face the Saint Stanislaus-Mendenhall quarterfinal winner for South State next Friday.
“The good thing about going back down there,” Smith said of the impending trip to Brooklyn, “is that we know the atmosphere, we know what to expect.”
The Jaguars saw their 2009 season end in with a 30-27 loss to the Aggies in last year’s quarterfinals. North Pike nearly pulled out the win, but fell five yards short of the end zone on the game’s final play.
“We played a good game,” Smith said. “We came out big-eyed because our kids were new to that environment.”
This time, Smith said, the Jaguars know about the pressures of a playoff game and have prepared accordingly.
Nonetheless, North Pike appears to have its hands full with an Aggies’ team that has won seven in a row, including last week’s 22-17 squeaker over Northeast Lauderdale.
Forrest County overcame a poor outing from quarterback Lucas Dubose, who completed just 4 of 13 passes and threw four interceptions.
For the season, Dubose has completed just 41 percent (50-of-121) of his passes for 1,310 yards and 10 touchdowns. He also has thrown 10 interceptions.
The main threat in the Aggies’ double-wing offense has been speedy running back Markeyus Johnson. Against Northeast Lauderdale, Johnson ran for 203 yards and a touchdown on 30 carries. This season, he has accumulated 1,692 yards rushing and 20 touchdowns on 237 attempts.
“This is the same team with the same speed as we saw last year,” Smith said. “They’re elusive runners and they have a quality football program.”
Smith said he plans to stack the defensive line, concentrate on stopping Johnson and forcing Dubose to throw.
When Dubose does throw the ball, he usually looks to the trio of Chris Fiveash, Tucker Morgan and McKinley Howell.
While Howell has mainly been the underneath receiver (9 catches, 183 yards, 0 TDs) this season, Dubose will throw long to Fiveash (11-398, 3TDs) and Morgan (9-262, 2 TDs).
Forrest County usually operates from a 4-2 defensive set and looks to its linebackers to pressure the quarterback and running backs.
As for the Aggies’ secondary, Smith said he has been especially impressed with the work of defensive back Nikeyl Jones and his 54 total tackles this season.
“We’re going to have to execute our offense,” Smith said.
The North Pike coach added that junior linebacker A.J. Jefferson is questionable for Friday’s game.
Jefferson has seen very limited action since suffering a partial tear of his medial collateral ligament against South Pike on Oct. 29. Smith said Jefferson would be reevaluated by doctors today and his status for Friday’s game would be updated at that time.
