Wildcats will not underestimate Texarkana

By Tony Burns

Sports Editor

El Dorado’s strategy this week is to ignore Texarkana’s 0-5 record. The Wildcats believe it to be quite deceptive due to the Razorbacks’ schedule and talent.

“They have played four really good teams,” noted El Dorado coach Scott Reed. “Texas High, according to (Texarkana’s) coach might lose one game, possibly to Longview. Liberty Eylau is very talented. They’re the most talented team in that area. They can fly. I watched them on film. Marshall? They had some kids injured against Marshall. Pine Bluff is Pine Bluff. Last week, they felt they had a chance and got beat at the end against Lake Hamilton. So, they haven’t had much luck but they’ve played a really good schedule.”

El Dorado (4-1, 2-0) hosts Texarkana tonight at Memorial Stadium. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.

The Razorbacks might lead the league in quality losses - Texas High 28-14, Liberty Eylau 66-21, Marshall (Texas) 56-28, Pine Bluff 40-0 and Lake Hamilton 17-13.

But, year-in and year-out, Texarkana boasts speed at the skill positions. Plus, El Dorado knows first hand how worthless records are in this series. The last time the Razorbacks came to Memorial Stadium, they delivered a 23-20 loss in El Dorado’s state championship 2013 season.

“They’re very athletic. They can run. And, they’re not small. They’re good enough to play with anybody in our league except, probably, Pine Bluff,” said Reed.. “Our issue is us. Two years ago, we don’t want what happened then to happen again. They came over here and got in two tights, kept the ball all night and ended up beating us. They’re talented enough that if they play well one night, they can get you.”

As usual, Texarkana has speed to burn on both sides of the football. El Dorado enjoyed a speed advantage last week at Sheridan. That won’t be the case tonight.

“Talent-wise, this will be the fastest team we have played,” said Reed. “I just hope they don’t get their season turned around (tonight). That’s our responsibility to make sure we keep playing well.”

Offensively, Texarkana operates out of the spread formation, triggered by senior quarterback Keaundra Banks.

“Their quarterback does a heck of a job running the offense,” said El Dorado defensive coordinator Jake Monden. “He has tremendous speed, probably the fastest quarterback we’ve seen this year. He does a great job of throwing the short, intermediate routes. We’ve got to make him uncomfortable. But, we have to be mindful about his ability to run the football.”

Monden said Texarkana has shown balance offensively with the run and the pass. Through the air or on the ground, it has big-play ability all over the field.

“All six of their skill positions have the ability, in one play, to change the scoreboard. So, we’ve got to respect their speed big-time and do a good job of containing and get guys on the ground this week,” he said.

“They do a good job distributing the ball to their skill kids. They do a lot of read-scheme stuff. It’s going to cause some fits for us if we’re not disciplined in what we’re doing - if we don’t get to the football and get there in a hurry.”

El Dorado’s defense played well at Sheridan but did give up some big plays. The Wildcats forced a turnover on a 66-yard run by the Yellowjackets. Monden said they can’t count on catching a Razorback from behind.

“It’s like watching a track team, as fast as they are at all four receiver spots. If we take a bad angle this week, it could be bad for us,” he said.

“Our kids have to do a good job of keeping things in front of them this week. If we’re running behind people this week, it’s not going to be good for us.”

Defensively, Texarkana uses a 4-3 and has a tendency to blitz, especially to slow down El Dorado’s ground game.

“They’re going to play a lot more eight-man front against us. They bring some pressures and they’ll play coverage from different angles than other people. They’ll play a lot of man-principle coverages,” said Reed.

“Last week, Sheridan never got out of two-high (safeties). That won’t be the case this week. We’ll get a lot of man coverage and zero coverage. In the past, we’ve been able to exploit it some. Last year in the first half, we just missed a lot of things. Second half, we got going and hit a few.”

The Razorbacks’ best overall player might be senior defensive tackle Nicholas McCann (6-3, 301), who has committed to Texas Tech. McCann also plays left tackle on offense.

“He’s the best (defensive) lineman we will have seen this year. If he doesn’t play, they’re a different group. They’re much better when he’s in because he’s disruptive,” said Reed.

Another area where speed could be an issue is on special teams. El Dorado surrendered a big kickoff return last week. The Razorbacks are known for being explosive in the kicking game.

“We worked hard on punt coverage and kickoff coverage (Tuesday). We worked on punt protection. In fact, we’re going to put some new faces on two of those units,” said Reed. “We’ve had a couple guys who kind of stepped up and we’re going to try them. We have not be as good in kickoff coverage all year as I think we should be. We’re going to do some things thing a little differently on kickoff, too, as far as where we kick the ball, some of the insert points and all of that. Those are things that are key playing a team that can run. We need to do a better job of coverage.”

El Dorado’s confidence is high after three weeks of solid football. But, all it takes is one lackluster Friday night to set the program back. Reed hopes his troops take care of business tonight against a speedy, dangerous rival.

“We need to be good with our shock plays we put in,” Reed said. “We need to be good at eliminating them from getting cheap scores. We can miss a tackle or take a bad angle or insert the wrong gap and they could make you pay for it.”

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