Wildcats Football Coach Greg Owens talked about the Wildcats, the North Forney Falcons, the playoff possibilities and more at his weekly media gathering Wednesday morning (November 7).
Coach Owens said he has changed the practice routine for the Wildcats. They are now working at The Prim on Mondays without pads on. He said they install the game plan, review things and do special teams work. On Tuesday he said the Wildcats have a regular workout in pads. Coach Owens said Wednesdays now feature reduced work in pads. He said coaches are working to fix issues that have cropped up during the season. Coach Owens said at this point of the season, he and his coaches are more concerned with the Wildcats than their opposition. He said they are working to figure out what the Wildcats can do and they are working to get players to do it better.
Coach Owens said some recent offensive struggles have been frustrating. He said despite frustration last Friday (November 2), he saw no one panic. Coach Owens said turnovers can kill you. He stressed that the Wildcats have continued to play with great effort. Looking at the big picture, Coach Owens said the Wildcats will be either a #2 or #3 seed in the playoffs. They are currently third. They are tied with Kaufman in second place but the Lions have the tiebreaker with their head to head win last week. A Wildcat win and a Kaufman loss at home to Forney on Friday (November 9) would move the Wildcats back into the second seed. Seeds #1 and #2 host bi-district games while seeds #3 and #4 travel. Likely bi-district foes for the Wildcats are Lovejoy or Frisco.
Coach Owens said a win Friday is important for the Wildcats to build confidence. He said confidence is everything in sports adding it allows ability to take over. Concerning Friday opponent North Forney, Coach Owens said defensively they are good and physical up front. He said they would junk it up giving different looks. Coach Owens said he is very impressed with defensive end Galen Brown, a senior. He said Brown can also shift into a linebacker role. Coach Owens said the Wildcats would always need to know where Brown is on every play. He said the Falcons run around and make plays. Coach Owens said the Falcons have struggled on offense due to injuries. Their starting quarterback, Jaylin Smith, started six games before suffering a shoulder injury. He is still contributing as a wide receiver. Their current quarterback is sophomore Akanimo Asuquo. Coach Owens said the sophomore is not a DI athlete but is doing a great job of managing the game. He said Asuquo runs enough to keep the defense honest and he throws well. Coach Owens said the Falcons have a huge offensive line that likes to tie up defensive linemen. He said the Falcons like an up tempo approach to offense. The best Falcon running back is Jacob Soto, a junior. For Coach Owens keys to the game are for the offense to protect the football and get into a rhythm. He said the defensive line must not get tied up by the Falcons offensive line and he added the defense needs to tackle well.
The Falcons Head Coach is Randy Jackson, in his second year at North Forney.
