The 1-5 Aubrey Chaparral football team will hit the road again Friday, still looking for their first district win of the season in a matchup with the 4-2 Paris Wildcats.
The Wildcats come into the contest with a .500 record in district play, beating the Lake Dallas Eagles 20-16 on Sept. 26 and losing to the Frisco Panther Creek Panthers 51-12 on Oct. 3.
“They have a lot of athleticism and speed, and they’re also big up front, on both sides of the ball, so they’re a very good football team,” said Keith Ivy, Aubrey athletic director and head football coach. “They’ve been ranked in the Top 20 most of the season, so we’re certainly going to have our work cut out for us. We’re going to have to play extremely consistently to give ourselves a chance to get a first district win.”
The Wildcats’ offense, led by quarterback Tyler Heath and his top two receivers, Keshawn Roberts and Markeljric Finch, averaged almost 40 points per game in their four wins but was held to 12 points by Frisco Panther Creek.
“[Heath] was a sophomore last year, so we’re familiar with him, and he appears to be a little bigger and faster this season,” Ivy said. “… He loves to scramble and get outside the pocket, so he makes a lot of big plays with his feet, and then getting the ball down the field to his receivers on broken routes, so the key for us up front is that we have to get pressure and keep him boxed in and not allow him to get outside the pocket to run or complete passes.”
On the other side of the ball, Aubrey’s offense will look to improve its effectiveness as the Chaps try to find their first win in almost three weeks.
“Our goal this week is to be extremely physical up front, control the clock, move the chains and put points up on the board,” Ivy said. “We need to be more physical than they are, and that all starts up with our offensive line getting off the ball, sustaining blocks and letting our running backs do their thing. If we can establish the run game, we’ll be able to take a few shots here and there with some play action stuff and hopefully get in behind them.”
He added that despite Aubrey’s slow start, there is still a lot of football left for the Chaps.
“I just reminded them that we were 0-2 in district this time last year, and we reeled off three consecutive wins,” he said. “Those wins are there for us, and it all starts with Paris. We have to get this first one and get ourselves back in the playoff race one at a time, but that reminder of where we were a year ago certainly gave us some hope and a more positive outlook on our game this week.”
Aubrey and Paris will get things started at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Wildcat Stadium.
