Sports - October 2003

East Lincoln looks to rebound vs. Huss

Published October17, 2003

After disheartening loss to North Gaston, Rikard and team looks to gain confidence with win

By JOHN MARK BROOKS, Staff Writer

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The East Lincoln Mustangs enter hostile territory as they visit the Hunter Huss Huskies tonight. The Mustangs are off the heels of a tough loss in a game where they racked up close to 280 rushing yards as they unveiled their new wishbone set against North Gaston.

OFFENSIVELY

Head coach Matt Rikard has a similar game plan to last week’s against the Huskies.

“We want to establish the run utilizing Betts, Hamlin and Smith. We want to throw when we want to, and not be forced doing something we are not comfortable with. We also have to eliminate mistakes,” he said.

Rikard would also like to see his receiving corps step up and his quarterback Dennis Hickman to make better decisions.

“I would like to get Roseboro, Huntley, Furr and Covington to raise their level of play and reestablish the passing game. Early this season our passing game was the big threat, but now if we can run the ball it will open back up our passing attack,” he said.

The coach believes his team will see a multitude of Huskies in the box if his team goes out in, their new wrinkle, the wishbone.

“They’re going to pack us in so we are going to need to be able to be patient,” he said.

DEFENSIVELY

The Mustangs will face a tall order of business as they try to harness the Huskies athleticism all over the field led by all-purpose factor back Johntae Woods.

“Overall, their threat is just team speed all over the field. They run a lot of misdirections and we’re going to have to be well disciplined on the defensive side of the ball as far as taking care of our responsibilities and assignments,” Rikard said.

Rikard says his defensive secondary have to perform solidly against an explosive team.

“Defensively we have to contain their speed and they have deep threats as far as their passing attack so we need to make sure our young secondary doesn’t make any big mistakes mentally by giving up the big play,” he said.

The senior defensive players will need also need to step up according to their coach.

“We need our senior leaders: Trey Hamlin, Doug Orndoff and Stan Miller to step up and control the interior of the defense,” he said.

X-FACTOR

Rikard believes that due to the abundance of team speed the Huskies possess the biggest factor in the game will be special teams’ play.

“They are very dangerous as far as punt returns and kickoff returns. We need to make sure we don’t give up the big play,” he said.

The coach believes one thing the Huskies have that his team needs to regain is confidence.

“Huss is a physical team and they’re in a chase for the playoffs. They’re playing with a lot of confidence due to their great season. The biggest thing for us is to regain some of our confidence that we had early on in the season,” he said.

Hunter Huss enters the contest 5-3 and the Mustangs are at 3-5 on the season.

© 2001 Lincoln Times-News  

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