The Gazette-Enterprise

SEGUIN — After beginning the season with stingy efforts against New Braunfels, Georgetown and East Central, the Matador defense has had its troubles stopping the run in district play.

Seguin has allowed four players to eclipse the 100-yard mark on the ground in the past three games, also giving up more than 200 yards to Alamo Heights’ Justin Rosenthal.

And while each rusher that the Mats have faced has been good in his own right, Seguin has yet to see anything like what it will encounter tonight when Steele rolls into town.

The Knights are led by junior Malcolm Brown — a running back whose skills make him 10 times scarier than Michael Myers or Jason Voorhees in the eyes of opposing coaches. And on the night before Halloween, Brown will look to add Seguin’s front seven to his ever-expanding list of victims.

“He is probably a top 10 running back in Texas and maybe even the country,” said Seguin head coach Jim Carson. “He’s 215 pounds, he’s really fast and he’s a power runner — a really impressive kid.”

The junior has rushed for a team-high 23 touchdowns this year while amassing 1,351 yards on 125 carries. Carson said that the Knights’ game plan will involve handing the ball to Brown early and often, although Steele does have some other weapons offensively.

“They have another running back (Alfonso Trammell) and they put him out in the formation and throw the ball to him,” Carson said. “They’ve got a sophomore quarterback who’s young and real talented, but he doesn’t get a lot of pressure because everybody’s concerned about the running back.

“But probably the most impressive thing about (Steele) besides Brown is their offensive line — they’re man eaters.”

That offensive line has allowed Steele to roll up nearly 2,500 rushing yards as a team and has also given quarterback Nick Sergent time to complete just under 57 percent of his passes for 664 yards and four touchdowns — not bad for an underclassman.

Of course, Sergent’s passing prowess isn’t likely to be the story of the game.

“They don’t mess around early,” Carson said. “They give their best players the ball.”

As for the Knights’ defense, it looks to have the potential to be one of the top units in Class 4A, despite giving up 38 points to Kerrville Tivy a week ago in Steele’s only district loss of 2009.

“(Steele head coach Mike Jinks) told me he has four D-I (prospects) on defense,” Carson said.

Tivy had success passing the ball against the Knights, as quarterback John Manziel threw for 319 yards and two touchdowns in the Antlers’ 38-34 win.

And if there’s one thing the Matadors like to do, it’s toss the pigskin around, as evident by the 56 pass plays that the Seguin coaching staff called against Boerne Champion.

Unfortunately for the Matadors, six of those attempts were intercepted by the Chargers, as quarterback Brig Gerlich was often under pressure behind a patchwork offensive line featuring two new starters.

Carson said that the same five linemen that played last week will likely be back on the field against the Knights and that the Mats will also have to make do without receiver Chris Martinez, who broke his collarbone prior to the Champion game.

But if there’s been one bright spot for Seguin all season long, it’s been the effort and never-say-die attitude shown by the Matadors’ seniors.

That includes the play of Seguin’s corps of experienced receivers, who seem to take turns coming through with huge games — the most recent of which was Thomas Cockrum’s 145-yard, two-touchdown performance a week ago.

“We’ve had great effort from them and we’ve had good leadership the entire year,” Carson said. “There’s nothing wrong with what our seniors have done for us. They’ve busted their tails, and when we’re finished every week, they’ve laid everything on the line.”

Tonight marks the final time that those Seguin seniors will take the field at Matador Stadium, and Carson says to expect nothing but every player’s best effort.

The word “quit” obviously isn’t in this coach’s vocabulary.

“That’s never an option, period,” Carson said. “When things aren’t going your way, you pick yourself up by the bootstraps and keep playing.

“We tell our kids that if we’re 17 points ahead we play hard, and if we’re 17 points behind we play hard. We don’t care if it’s 100 degrees or if it’s 10 degrees — the Matadors play hard.”

Share | Save | Mail | Print | Comment

Bringing Life To Your Doorstep Since 1888

A Southern Newspapers publication.