Osceola Familiar To Huntsville’s Harriman
Posted: November 13, 2009 at 5:56 a.m.
Huntsville coach Ken Harriman recalls playing Osceola in the playoffs 13 years ago.
Watching film this week, Harriman said this year’s Seminoles look very similar.
“They look like the same football team ... Wishbone,” Harriman said. “They’ve got tremendous speed ... real hard-nosed ... they aren’t going to try to fool you. They’re going to run right at ya. They are really explosive. All you’ve got to do is miss one tackle.”
Senior tailback Tony Dancy (5-foot-10, 165 pounds) leads the 4A-3 Conference-champion Seminoles (8-1-1) with 1,785 yards and 23 touchdowns. Osceola definitely leans on the ground game, rolling up more than 3,000 yards rushing compared to just 36 completed passes.
Dancy ran for 339 yards and four touchdowns in Osceola’s regular-season finale win over Pocahontas a week ago.
“Defensively, we’ve got to throw bodies in there and try to gum everything up inside,” Harriman added. “Offensively, we’ve been throwing the football pretty well. Conversely, they don’t see a lot of that in their league and we hope we can counter their speed.”
The Eagles, the No. 5 seed from the 4A-1, will try to utilize a short passing game led by junior quarterback Cody Stevens (5-9, 145). He has thrown for more than 1,600 yards. Junior Sean Furr (5-10, 145) is the Eagles’ leading receiver with 54 catches for 540 yards.
“We’ll see if we can’t nickel and dime ’em by throwing on the perimeter with some screens and stuff,” Harriman said.
It’s the second straight playoff appearance for Huntsville, which has given the program a lift, Harriman said.
“It means so much for a program,” Harriman said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re a second seed or a fifth seed.”
Harriman acknowledged the Eagles (4-6) are a little disappointed after struggling against a tough road schedule, but have played well the past two weeks. They finished with a 42-28 win over Gentry to end the regular season.
Huntsville will be working on its third tailback of the year since Phillip Hoskins (5-10, 165) and Cody Wages (5-10, 170) both suffered knee injuries. Junior fullback Wilson Phillips (6-3, 205) has moved to the tailback spot and came up with a big game against Gentry, running for 120 yards and two touchdowns.
Today’s Class 4A Playoff Ticket
Huntsville at Osceola
KICKOFF: 7:30 p.m.
WHERE: Seminole Stadium.
RECORDS: Huntsville Eagles, 4-6; Osceola Seminoles, 8-1-1.
COACHES: Huntsville, Ken Harriman; Osceola, Clinton Gore.
LAST WEEK: Huntsville defeated Gentry 42-28; Osceola defeated Pocahontas 37-21.
HOOTEN’S RANKINGS: Huntsville is ranked No. 30 in Class 4A; Osceola is No. 5.
HOOTEN’S LINE: Osceola by 21.
(Advertisement)
« Previous Story
Bulldogs Take One On The Nose In Scrimmage
Standing on the sideline, Fayetteville coach Barry Gebhart became annoyed as he watched several of his players... Read »
Comments
To report abuse or misuse of this area please hit the "Suggest Removal" link in the comment to alert our online managers. Please read our comment policy.
Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.
Registration is required to make comments. Click here to LOGIN.
You can register for FREE to post comments and receive alerts.