After making progress in its opener last week at Nashville, the Benton Rangers are ready to make a move into the win column as Sparta comes to town for the home opener Friday night.
“We made progress physically and mentally last week,” Benton coach Jeremy Clodfelder said. “We just kept playing, there was no quit in us and we had a chance to win.”
The Rangers focused on being more disciplined in practice this week.
“We have to be more disciplined, there’s no doubt about that,” said Clodfelder. “We took the opening kickoff back for a touchdown and we had a chance to really make (Nashville) panic. We needed to get a stop and we didn’t do that.”
Clodfelder also wants to see more of a rushing attack from his Rangers.
“We have to protect the quarterback, establish the run, and catch the football,” he said.
Two changes have been made on the offensive line, with Devan Miner now playing center and Cortez Henderson playing guard.
Sparta comes in with a big-play mentality, according to Clodefelder.
“They have some really athletic kids,” he said. “And their offensive line is huge. They try to exploit you running the option.”
The Bulldogs also play two quarterbacks. Juniors Blake Shelton and Dartanus White split time as signal callers for Sparta.
Preston Nance will be a key in the backfield for the Bulldogs, with four quality receivers in the mix as well. Jake Hargis, David Sams, Clay Peck and Cody Klein can all catch the ball.
“We have to cover our zones and our man,” Clodfelder said. “And most importantly we have to break down and tackle well. We can’t look for the kill shot or go for the knockout against these guys, they are shifty. We have to get pressure on the quarterback.”
Defensively, Sparta plays a 4-4 and a man or Cover-3.
“I think we have the answers, we just have to execute,” Clodfelder said.
Against Nashville, quarterback Quincy Hamilton had a pretty nice game throwing the football, with Tim Corn his main target. They will have to have the same kind of effort to get others involved," Clodfelder said.
“We have some playmakers and we have to get those kids involved,” he said. “We have to establish the run with Miguel Martinez and if we can do that you will see others like Trevor Myers and Hunter Clark have big games, too.”
