Quick Poll

Who will win tonight's GHSA State AAAAA Football Playoff game?

Blogs

Angela McRae

Tea with friends

Lorrie Lynch

Who's News

Published Sunday, October 12, 2008 in Sports

Football a team game at East Coweta

By Stuart Crosby

The Times-Herald

Anyone who doesn't think football is a team game will get a strong argument from Clint Wade and his East Coweta Indians after Friday night's 27-0 win over the Lovejoy Wildcats at Garland Shoemake Stadium.

The Indians lost senior runningback/linebacker Henry Dixon for the season after a knee injury suffered at practice during the week in addition to Tay Willis, his team-high 731 rushing yards and seven touchdowns being held out of Friday's game due to an ankle injury.

Enter the versatile Ma'Derrius Robinson who has been seeing action at runningback, wide receiver, defensive back, punt returner and wherever else head coach Clint Wade may need him to play even quarterback.

For now Robinson will assume the "super-sub" starting role for the Indians who are now 5-1 overall and 5-0 in Region 4-AAAAA while Austin Ingram continues behind center after the season-ending injury suffered by Mac McKnight.

Robinson finished the win over the Wildcats with 88 yards on 16 carries with a pair of scores in place of Willis.

"I am proud of the way the kids played tonight because it was going to be tough game," he said, "I am still concerned about our lack of depth but our kids have played hard and deserve to be 5-1 this year."

The win over the Wildcats also became the next step in the maturation of Ingram as the Indians starting quarterback.

"We planned on having him throw more tonight as part of the process of learning the job. Austin has really worked hard and has gotten better," Wade said about Ingram who completed 8-of-16 passes for 153 yards and two scores. "His confidence has gotten stronger but is still a work in progress."

Another player who has assumed a "super-sub" or role of versatility continues to be Jeric Woodall who took some snaps at tailback Friday in addition to his wide receiver position that featured five receptions for 126 yards and a 58-yard touchdown reception.

Woodall also had a 22-yard carry for the Indians as part of the running game for the evening.

Another important factor in the win was the fullback position where Cody Davis, Denzell Bass and D.J. Hardaway combined for 90 yards on the night as the Indians was looking for a number of players to carry the load.

Bass also carried his load from his linebacker position as he became a nuisance to Wildcats quarterback Vic Hardison and the team's rushing game.

Bass wasn't alone in preserving the shutout as Kevin Summers, Robinson, Hardaway and others made their presence felt on defense as well.

Summers and Bass had several stops while Robinson knocked away a pass attempt

Next for the Indians will be a trip to Douglasville on Friday night when they face a Chapel Hill Panther club that has been a surprise with a 5-1 overall record after an 0-10 season in 2007.

Comment On This Story

Times-Herald.com does not necessarily agree with the comments posted below. Responsibility of comments rests solely with the writer.

Submission of a comment does not guarantee publication. Comments will be posted by a moderator after being scanned for abusive language, relevance, etc. See our Comments FAQ for more details.