Wolves hope to take advantage of new coach, system at El Dorado
Lake Hamilton looks to continue its 3-0 winning run as it travels to El Dorado tonight to open the conference season against the Wildcats at Memorial Stadium.
“We’re really excited about Friday night to have a chance to go 4-0, but also 1-0 in conference play,” said Lake Hamilton head coach Tommy Gilleran. “Hopefully we can get a lot of fans to go down to El Dorado to support these kids as they try to make a run at a conference championship.”
With first-year head coach Steven Jones now calling the shots at the helm of El Dorado’s football program, Gilleran and his players look to capitalize on any unfamiliarity and newness the Wildcats (1-2, 0-0 6A West) may be facing due to the recent changes. Last year, the Wildcats defeated the Wolves 28-6 at Bank OZK Field.
“What will probably be the difference this year is they got a new head coach,” noted Gilleran, referencing the departure of Scott Reed for Cabot. “They’re trying to figure out their offense and defense. … They’ve been running another guy’s [system] for 10-12 years, and now he’s gone. For us, that’s an advantage; they’re trying to learn his system. Hopefully we can take advantage of that and that they’re still trying to figure out what they want to do.”
Reed was at the helm of the Wildcats program for the past 12 seasons before he took over the head coaching job at Cabot in December. Jones takes over at El Dorado after leading Junction City to the Class 2A state title in his second year at the school.
Coming off a 48-6 blowout over Hot Springs last week, the Wolves (3-0, 0-0) will continue to utilize the same offensive strategy as they face a “small” but quick defensive front in El Dorado.
The Wildcats make up for a weaker defense by employing multiple playmakers on the offensive side of the ball.
“They’re really fast on offense,” Gilleran added. “They have some really good receivers [and] really good running backs. The quarterbacks are young, so they’re just trying to struggle through everything right now; I think that’s probably their weakness, but their offensive line is gigantic. We’re going to mix up some fronts on them and do some different things just to make sure we make them have to think a little more than they have to.
“And then offensively, we’re going to kind of do what we’ve been doing, but add a couple of things. They’re not real big on defense; they’re small and fast, so that kind of reminds me of Hot
Springs, being really fast up front. We’re probably going to run at them more than around them. … I think they want you to run sideways, so some of our game plan is to run at them instead of around them.”
Lake Hamilton aims to keep eyes out for El Dorado senior Jacoby Hankton (5-9, 215) who mans the line at defensive tackle while classmate Quentin Frazier (6-1, 205) wreaks havoc at defensive end.
“Their nose man, No. 44 [Hankton], and No. 48 [Frazier], on their defense are really good football players,” confirmed Gilleran.
While keeping in mind that the Wildcats utilize a runheavy offense due to their size and speed, Gilleran looks to his senior leaders on the defensive line with hopes that the crew will forge a solid front while preventing their opponent from scoring.
“We expect our linebackers with [seniors] Lautaimi Nasilai and Braden Qualls and then our defensive front with [seniors] Caleb Smith and Blake Stachey — our front four — they have to really play well and keep them contained, but also our back end has to cover their receivers well,” he said. “Our front end has just got to play well to kind of keep them from running the ball so well.”
With hopes of earning a conference title in 6A, the Wolves have their sights set on at least finishing in the top three in the 6A West, which in turn would allow Lake Hamilton a home-field playoff advantage.
“Of course we’d like to win the conference,” Gilleran said. “That’s one of our goals, but we’d like to finish top three, so we can have a home playoff game.”
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Memorial Stadium in El Dorado.