Carson High running back Angelo Macias (25) finds open space in front of him while lineman Cash Henry (57) moves to his next block.
Photo by Jeff Mulvihill, Jr. | InstaImage.
Carson and North Valleys met twice last season with a regular season and a postseason matchup.
The two sides split with the Panthers taking the postseason meeting.
It’s not out of the realm of possibility for the two squads to double up again this fall, but mathematically it is less likely.
Friday’s matchup will hold plenty of postseason implications and a win for Carson will essentially secure a home playoff game in the opening round of the Class 5A North Division III postseason.
PANTHER PASSING ATTACK
It’s no secret what North Valleys will try to do on offense.
While running back Hector Nunez (number 17) has done a nice job on the ground this fall, the Panthers’ offense is predicated on throwing the football.
Quarterback Mikole Almond (15) leads the league with 1,144 passing yards – nearly 300 more yards than second place Colson Kermode of Galena.
Almond’s favorite target has been senior wideout Zach Clarke (14), who has 632 receiving yards on 32 receptions with five touchdowns.
“We’re prepping our secondary and linebackers and getting ready for it,” said Carson head coach Ryan Boshard. “The intricacies of their route concepts that they run. They really work against what zone or man coverage you put out there.”
The Panthers aren’t one dimensional as Nunez has 616 yards rushing and five touchdowns while the team as a whole has 14 rushing touchdowns, but the priority is the air attack.
“(Clarke) does a really good job implementing route concepts and he understands coverage,” said Boshard.
Defensively, North Valleys will look to create chaos for Carson’s offense.
In last year’s postseason the Panthers recorded two sacks and forced a fumble along with breaking up several passing plays.
“They are going to be aggressive. They had some success against us last year in that playoff game,” said Boshard. “Coach (Brad) Rose over there does a really good job of strategizing and keeping things fresh with different looks.”
REMAINING READY OUT OF THE BYE
Carson, like most teams, will be fresh coming off a bye week.
A big feature for the Senators this Friday will be the ground attack, led by Angelo Macias and Christian Rey.
The two have been focal points in the offense all season and continue to impress their coach with their efforts in practice.
“I really have to give it to my two backs. They work their butts off. They play both sides of the ball,” said Boshard. “They take real pride in running the ball and staying true to what we do.”
Both running backs have had similar production on the ground with Macias averaging six yards per carry and totaling 409 yards rushing.
Rey is posting an average of 5.7 yards per touch and has 354 yards total.
Rey has eight touchdowns on the ground while Macias has found the end zone once.
Defensively, JT Heaton leads the Class 5A North Division III in tackles with 76 while Justin Gonzalez is fifth in the league with 58.
Carson’s Darron Rey is second in the league in sacks with four behind Galena’s Eddie Davis, who has five.
The teams’ overall focus in the bye week was getting back to its style of play and finding ways to better execute when necessary.
“There were some things we kind of missed out on against Galena,” said Boshard. “We focused on getting back to perfection.”