Loftis Expecting Physical Football Friday

Jackson County Head Coach Sean Loftis said his team is in for a physical fight when they take on the Monterey Wildcats Friday night.

Following a loss to Smith County, Loftis said the fall break and bye was a big deal for his team to rest and recover. He said with the way the brand of football Monterey plays, things may get messy Friday night and his team will need to be laser focused.

“You’ve got to be equipped and understand where to line up with all the sets and formations that they give you,” Loftis said. “When it’s all said and done, you’ve got to play physical, it’s going to be a very physical football game on who can kind of control both sides of the line of scrimmage.”

Both teams are 5-3 this season and both are 1-2 in the 2A district. A loss on Friday could end either team’s playoff hopes. Loftis said the Wildcats defense has not allowed much success on the ground, but noted the Blue Devil path to victory will be the running attack.

“Even though they’re a good run defense, we’re still going to have to run the football and figure ways to grind out yards on the ground,” Loftis said. “We’re not a real pass happy team anyway, so we’re going to continue to do our stuff and try to move the football.”

In their last game, the Blue Devils were held to just 58 rush yards and their two touchdowns were passes from junior quarterback Skylar Stacy. An uncharacteristic performance from a team that has ran for over 250 yards multiple times this season.

Loftis said the time of possession battle with be extra important this week with both teams using run heavy attacks.

“When it’s all said and done it’s about putting points on the board,” Loftis said. “We got to figure out a way to score points because people have had a hard time stopping them. They want to control the clock, they want to grind it out and they want to put together 12 or 15 play drives and that’s something we’re going to have to do as well.”

Jackson County at Monterey Wildcats this Friday. Kickoff set for 7pm.