Jags Media Day During Short Week Prep For Huntingdon College
The Jags opponent in just two short days may be the teams biggest challenge of the year. The Jags are coming off of back to back 64 point games then will follow it up with a short week for the Thursday night match up. But Huntingdon College may not be like most of the schools the Jags have faced this season.
Huntingdon has experienced players, they will have juniors and seniors. They are averaging around 550 yards of offense and about 44 points per game. Although they are a Division III school, they have experience and they have talent. What they may lack would be size on the offensive and defensive lines.
Here are some comments from Coach Jones during Monday’s media day on Huntington College. “When you look at Huntingdon you see a very good football team,” said Coach Jones. “We may have played some other teams with better athletes, but this is by far the best team we’ve played. They’re extremely well coached, and they do all the right things. They’re very good on offense, averaging 44 points per game, with 550 yards a game. They’re leading the nation in Division III offensively. We realize they’re a very good football team, and we’re really looking forward to Thursday night.”
Huntingdon’s quarterback, Justin Ridgeway, has made some plays this year. Coach Jones had this to say about him. “He’s very athletic. He has a good arm, is a big quarterback with size to him, and he rolls out of the pocket and throws the ball really well. One thing I notice about him is he makes plays when things seem to go awry. If the protection breaks down he will scramble and make a throw, and that always scares you as a coach because you do everything right, things break down and you feel like you’ve got him, and then all of a sudden he makes a big play.”
Again, the other elephant that was in the room about this weeks game is the short turnaround time from Saturday to Thursday. “It is different. We’ve cut back two days of preparation from the normal week to week cycle,” Coach Jones answered. “We came in on Sunday and worked, and the coaches have been here nonstop getting ready for this ballgame. The biggest thing is our coaching staff has to have time to put a game plan together, put it in a simple way for the kids to understand it, and we’ve done that. I told the team yesterday that we’ve got to be ready to play. We’ve only got two more practices left, and so we’ve got to get everything done. I’ve challenged them to do that, and they’ve responded to it.”
The Jags kick off against Huntingdon College on Thursday at 6:00pm at Ladd-Peebles Stadium for their last game of the season and a chance to go undefeated in the Jags inaugural season of football. They are billing the game as a white out. The Jags will wear their white helmets with their white jersey’s and white pants. They encourage their fans to wear white as well to support the Jags.
GO JAGS!!