With three weeks left in the regular season, Junction City and Parkers Chapel are heading in opposite directions.
The Dragons have lost three straight while the Trojans picked up their first win of the year a week ago at Bearden.
Tonight, the Union County rivals meet for an 8-2A showdown at David Carpenter Stadium at 7 p.m. with the Dragons hosting the Trojans for homecoming.
The rivalry between the schools has been one-sided with the Dragons winning every meeting, but with conference play just starting and with so few league games, playoff positioning is already beginning to take shape.
The Dragons (2-4, 0-1) and Trojans (1-3, 1-0) could both be in position to be at home for the start of the playoffs, and a win would go a long ways toward solidifying that position.
“Big and physical. Just like you would expect a Junction City team to be,” Parkers Chapel coach Elliot Jacobs said of the Dragons. “Their backs run hard. The quarterback is a pretty good athlete. We’ve got to do a good job of stopping the run to have any chance.”
AJ Ivory rushed for 102 yards last week against Fordyce, and Jamal Johnson had a big game last year against the Trojans, racking up 149 yards and 2 touchdowns on 15 carries in the Dragons’ 53-14 win.
Johnson has played the bulk of the 2021 season at quarterback, and Jacobs said his defense must find a way to slow him down.
“He’s played well. A lot better than you would think a normal running back would do playing the quarterback position,” Jacobs said. “He can throw the deep ball and when he takes off, he’s a load to bring down.”
For the Trojans, Lancer Clark had a big night against Bearden last week, scoring touchdowns on defense and special teams along with catching one touchdown pass from Payton Willeford and rushing for another.
“It was good to see him trying to take over,” Jacobs said. “He is by far our best athlete, and when he plays well, we’re going to have success. He was able to get in space. We were able to match him up against different people.
“He was able to get behind on that deep pass that Payton Willeford threw to him, so we’ve got to do it again. If we’re going to have success, he has got to get his touches on offense, and we’ve got to get the ball to him in space. He can make people miss and get going. Once he gets into top speed, it’s hard to catch him, but we’ve got to do a good job of getting him out there and getting the ball to him.”
Junction City coach Brad Smith said Clark will be a big challenge for his defense.
“We’re going to do the best we can,” Smith said. “We’ll try to keep it away from him. Just try to get to him with a lot of people, gang tackle him and always know where he’s at.”
Jacobs said the Trojans must find a way to get the ball in Clark’s hands.
“They play a few fronts and we’ll work on those,” Jacobs said. “They’re just going to say they’re better athletes than us, man up to us and see if we can make plays. We have to do a good job of spreading the ball around, moving Lancer, trying to get him matched up against different people. If we can do that, we feel like we can have a little bit of success. If not, it’s going to be a long night for us.”
The Trojans headed into the season with Clark as their starting quarterback, but PC has shifted to more of a two-quarterback system with Willeford also seeing playing time.
So far, Jacobs has been pleased with what he has seen.
“Good,” Jacobs said of the play of his quarterbacks. “We went into the season thinking Lancer would be our No. 1, but for what we’ve needed, Payton has done a good job. There are certain packages where Payton will be the quarterback and certain packages where Lancer will be. They give each other a break. They both play defense all the time, and it gives the defense a different look.”
Smith also was impressed with the Trojans.
“They’re getting better each week,” Smith said. “They’re very difficult to find out. Coach Jacobs does an excellent job of getting you exactly where he wants you.”
Regardless of sport, the rivalry between the Dragons and Trojans has had its share of dramatic moments, and Smith said it was part of life in a small town.
“We all know each other,” Smith said. “The kids all play summer ball and see each other every weekend, so it’s one of those small town things that you get. You don’t get it much in the big towns like that. Small towns have so many folks that are close together, so that’s just the way it is.”
Turnovers have hurt the Dragons this year, and that proved to be the case last week in their loss at Fordyce.
“We’re going in to take the lead and we drop it,” Smith said. “Then we gave up one and come back and get it, then line up wrong and give up another one and then we give up a strip-sack for a touchdown. You don’t give them help like that. We just haven’t learned yet to put things away and let it go. Hopefully, we will.”
After tonight’s game, the Dragons will have only conference games against Hampton and Bearden on their schedule, and Smith said he is looking for his team to play a complete game.
“We’ve got to learn to play full ballgames,” Smith said. “We haven’t done that yet. We’ve played parts of them. We’ve got to learn to play a full ballgame offensively, defensively and special teams. Whenever we do, we’re going to be really good.”
While Jacobs was happy to see the Trojans pick up their first win, he said is focused on the team’s prep work during the week.
“We really don’t focus on winning and losing here,” Jacobs said. “We focus on the process. We tell our kids all the time, ‘The joy is in the process, not in the result.’ We had a good week of practice, and the results were we got to enjoy that. That’s what we’re going to try to do this week.
“We’ve got to prepare Monday through Thursday. Win or lose against Junction, that’s not what we’re concerned about, we’re concerned about how we prepare every day. We can prepare well and if they’re better than us, they’re better than us, but if they’re not, at least we’re putting ourselves in the best chance to be successful. We don’t worry about Friday nights, we worry about Monday through Thursday.”
For the Trojans to have success on the road, Jacobs said there were two things his team needed to accomplish.
“Make sure our playmakers are getting enough touches on offense,” Jacobs said. “Spread the ball around as much as we can just so they cannot focus on Lancer. Defensively, stop the run. It’s as simple as that.”
For Smith, the Dragons must keep possession of the football and can’t make mistakes.
“Control the football, no pre-snap penalties, don’t turn it over, line up correctly and read what we’re supposed to read,” Smith said.