GLADEWATER at PLEASANT GROVE
TEAMS : Gladewater Bears (2-5, 1-1) at Pleasant Grove Hawks (5-2, 1-1)
KICKOFF: 7 p.m., Hawk Stadium
LAST WEEK:
Pleasant Grove
Pleasant Grove walloped Spring Hill, 63- 21. Gladewater fell to Atlanta, 35-28.
LAST YEAR: Gladewater, the eventual district champion, locked down a third straight trip to the playoffs by pulling away from PG with two scores in the final two minutes to notch a 41-21 win.
GAME FACTS: The winner will likely nail down a playoff spot from District 6-4A D-II and be in good shape for a playoff run. The loser can still get in but likely would face undefeated Gilmer in the first round. Despite five losses, Gladewater is still ranked in the top 15 in the Harris Poll. The Bears lost to Carthage by a point and to Kilgore and Atlanta by a touchdown each.
COACHES’ COMMENTS:
Pleasant Grove’s Josh Gibson— “We showed we’ve improved by playing Atlanta closer than last year, but at some point you have to do more than close the gap. Our goal is to actually beat one of the top teams. We’ll have to play a really, really special game to do that.
“On defense, we’re going to have to play our keys. You can’t slip up. They’ll go 3 yards, 4 yards and then take it to the house. If you’re slow to your assignment, they’ll really exploit you.
RADIO: KTRG 94.1 FM TONIGHT’S LINEUPS (numbers in parentheses) PLEASANT GROVE OFFENSE: QB-Carson Cox (4); WR-Vashon Williams (9); FB-Logan Wesley (20); TB-Keshawn Jones (25); C-Collier Cordray (52); LG-Jacob Heminger (58); LT-Zach Wrinkle (74); RG-Hunter Adams (75); RT-Nick Gavriel (77) PLEASANT GROVE DEFENSE: CB-JaJuan Phillips (1); CB-Keyunte Kelley (3); SS-Tyler Allen (6); OLB- Bobby Cooks (16); ILBMark Ashby (19); OLB-Xavier Benson (33); DE-Cole Lipham (44); DE-Cannon McCrary (51); DT-Matt Tucker (56); NG-Noah Bates (61); K-Dalton Hinton (10) GLADEWATER OFFENSE: QB—Blake Guthrie (5); OL—Dre Tennison (59), Terent Geers (64), Ezekiel Espionza (65); Andrew Williams (55), Joden Jackson 71; WR— Fernando Serrano (7), Jordan Edwards (17); TE—Austin Garza (24); RB—Marcello Jackson (28) GLADEWATER DEFENSE: DL—Quanterius Turner (44), Isiah Tiner (55); DE—Shawn Johnson (33), S— Adam Kegarise (11), Clint Starling (27); DB—Cameron Callaway Jr. (11), Austin Hawley (15); LB—Bryston Oliver (21), Michael Batchelor (31): OLB— Darnell McKnight (25), Marcello Jackson