Apaches to build off last week’s success

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GONZALES — Last week’s win against La Grange was a blueprint for all to witness what the Apaches offense can accomplish this football season. With the multitude of capable running backs on the roster as well as hitting on their vertical passing, the Gonzales Apaches (4-2, 1-0) were able to move the ball, constantly staying in front of the chains.

“We just go to continue to do that, improve on accuracy, and just fix simple mistakes we did [like] blocking and hitting the hole by the running backs,” Gonzales Head Coach Kodi Crane said. “Just build off what we did last week.”

Friday night, the Apaches travel to Columbus to take on a Cardinals (0-5, 0-1) team searching for their first win. Columbus now has junior quarterback #11 Hayden Leopold under center who has shown his athleticism in recent games.

“He’s smaller in stature than the kid he replaced #18 [Troy Pflughaupt], but he’s faster, he runs the ball way better and he throws the ball well,” Crane scouted. “The other kid was a senior and I’m sure they gave him plenty of opportunity to win the job, then later on in the year didn’t win it. [Leopold] can run really well and can throw it as well.”

Second-year head coach Mike Bonewald has installed his offensive philosophies into the game plan this season, shifting the style from a Triple-I to a spread.

“He started so late in the year, [so he] just did the things that the kids know,” Crane noted. “Now they are more spread, trying to get these athletes space in the field.”

Those athletes include running back #4 Dakarai Evans, #1 Tyree Simcik and #28 Julian Carter who Crane called “a full-grown man.”

“[Carter] is big, strong, fast, physical — a good football player,” he said.

Defensively, the Cardinals are based out of an odd front, but will shift to even fronts during the game. Carter is a disrupter on the defensive line, playing defensive end while the team is in an odd front and defensive tackle when they have four men on the line.

The key to knocking off the Cardinals will be to just improve on last week’s win. As Crane noted, the Apaches showed what they can do when the offense is running effectively. Now they just need to improve on “the little things,” no matter the record Columbus may have.

“This might be a touch different for our kids because we beat them team last year,” Crane said, “but going into this game last year they were a one-win team. We ended up beating them 14-7, scored with just over five minutes left in the game to get it to 14 and then we had to hold on.”

Columbus is improved from last year, despite their record, so the Apaches can’t let up if they want to continue their quest toward a district title.

Kickoff is set at 7:30 p.m. at Memorial Stadium in Columbus.

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