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Let the Games Begin: With bye behind them, Allen ready to start district
BY Kevin Hageland, khageland@starlocalnews.com
Despite last week being a bye, the Allen football team didn't alter its routine much from the prior five weeks.
"It was really similar to a game week," said Tom Westerberg, Allen head coach.
Because while the Eagles had the ability to back off, last week may not have been the right time to back off with District 10-5A beginning at 7:30 p.m. Friday from Kimbrough Stadium against Plano East.
"We focused on getting back to the fundamentals," Westerberg said. "We did a few more tackling drills than we had and a lot of stuff from scrimmage so we could correct some of the problems that had popped up."
Getting back to basics was not a product of the team's Week 4 loss to Coppell, a 27-24 overtime defeat that knocked Allen off its No. 2 state ranking and various top 25 national rankings, but rather due to a compilation of issues the coaching staff had seen throughout non-district play.
That did include a viewing of the Coppell game film.
"With all the technology available, we don't necessarily bring everyone in for that initial film session," Westerberg said. "But the kids watch it on the internet, or however they choose to do it, and then we bring them in Monday to go through a correction session with their group coaches."
Prior to the loss to Coppell, it didn't appear Allen had much to correct after posting average victories of 25.3 points in wins over state-ranked Southlake Carroll and Cedar Hill alongside Richardson and Hebron.
It was, however, a combination of all five games, not just last Friday's loss, that had the Eagles looking to take a break.
"This past week was a little less stressful, but I think we still got a lot out of it," Westerberg said. "We had a tough stretch of five weeks, so it was good to get a break because we've got another tough five weeks, and hopefully more, ahead of us."
If Allen hopes it will be more than five weeks, a win Friday would help.
The Eagles open district against the Panthers, a squad Allen holds a decade-plus winning streak against but also one that took the Eagles to the brink last season (eventually losing to Allen, 42-38) in a game televised on ESPN2 when the Eagles were the No. 1 ranked team in the country.
East appears to have similar firepower in 2012.
Heading into its double bye (the Panthers have only nine scheduled games this season), East was first in the Metroplex in total offense (539.5 yards per game), first in scoring (48.8 points), sixth in passing (265.5 yards) and seventh in rushing (274). Even when the Panthers ran into injury concerns, with senior starting quarterback Mario Smalls knocked out of the team's last game (a 38-17 win over Flower Mound Marcus), sophomore backup Taylor McGehee came in and ran for 93 yards and two touchdowns on just eight carries. The tandem of senior Ricky Ilodianya and junior Lionel Wills have been receiving the bulk of the carries with senior Collin Shaw serving as the squad's top passing target.
"East has got a great scheme and they are lighting it up by moving up and down the field," Westerberg said. "They like to max protect, so that can make it tough to get pressure, but I think we'll be able to dial it up when we need to."
The victory over Marcus was the Panthers' fourth straight to start the season.
"East is playing well right now offensively and defensively," Westerberg said. "And they are playing with a lot of confidence, which is huge for any team."
While the Panthers have had plenty of time to prepare for this game, Allen's offense should be ready too as East uses a 3-4 defensive front that is similar to that of the Eagles and their last two opponents (Hebron and Coppell).
The Allen offense has scored at least 30 points against East the past five years. The last time the Eagles failed to reach that mark was in 2006 when a 22-17 victory on the last day of the regular season sparked the first of six straight district titles.
A win Friday would start the march toward extending that streak.
"The more meaningful games start now, so the intensity ought to pick up," Westerberg said. "And it will; it will for the coaches and it will for the players because these next five games determine the district title, the playoffs, all of it."
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