Carson High football looks to slow McQueen offense Thursday

Slowing down McQueen’s explosive spread offense will be priority No. 1 for Carson High football Thursday night.

After falling to the Lancers 44-0 in 2018, Carson head coach Blair Roman knows the Senators are going to be reliant on their defensive secondary to prevent McQueen from picking up large chunks of yardage.

“That has absolutely dogged us the last two seasons,“ said Roman of the big play.

Roman noted that Lower Lake’s ability to hang around in week one was through plays that gashed the Senators’ defense.

Offensively, Carson will look to its top running back from the opening week in Bradley Maffei, who posted 151 yards and three touchdowns on 16 carries for the Senators.

Getting Maffei involved early and often will help open the passing attack for Carson, which put together 137 yards through the air on five completions between the quarterback duo of Jonathan Laplante and Will Breeding.

“I don’t think it’s any secret we’re going to try to get him a few touches, either at running back or receiver,” said Roman of Maffei. “We’ve got a few running backs that can hurt you.”

Both QBs threw for a touchdown in the season opener, but will face a much tougher task in a McQueen team coming off an 8-3 year in 2018 in which it allowed just over 14 points per contest.

Carson will be running its standard Spread Wing-T offense, which puts the primary role with the backs, but the Senators add wrinkles out of the pistol to help open the passing offense.

Roman added that Laplante’s impact on offense is important, but keeping the ball in front of him while playing defensive back this week could prove invaluable.

“He’s a heck-of-a DB. He’s just one of those guys who is going to have to be a multi-purpose guy for us right now,“ Roman said of Laplante.

The 12th year head coach is fully expecting to see McQueen run a spread offense, something the Senators have become accustomed to seeing over the years.

“They want to hit guys in space. They’re a pretty typical offensive team that we see nowadays,” Roman said.

Thursday night kick

Due to the contest being broadcast on live television (Gustin Sports), Carson and McQueen will kickoff Thursday at 7 p.m.

Though Thursday kickoffs aren’t entirely out of the ordinary for the Senators, one coming this early in the year does change the weekly routine.

“I think it affects you more early in the year, where that extra day of practice is nice,” said Roman. “It’s kind of a rush to Thursday to get ready.”

Carson is also coming off a bye week, which Roman thinks helped with any offseason or early season wear and tear.

“I don’t think we’ve ever had one this early,” said Roman of the bye week. “I do feel like were 100 percent coming into the game right now.”

The Lancers on the other hand played last week against Del Campo (Calif.) and fell 31-15 after giving up 21 points in the second half.