Prep Football City Preview: Pleasant Grove

Pleasant Grove at Nashville

 

TEAMS: Pleasant Grove Hawks (0-0) at Nashville Scrappers (0-0)

KICKOFF: 7:30 p.m.,

LAST YEAR: These two teams did not play.

GAME FACTS: Pleasant Grove went 15-1 last year to win its second Class 4A, Division II state championship in three years. The Hawks return seven starters on offense and five defensive starters.
Pleasant Grove runs the Wing-T offense. Nashville returns seven starters on each side of the football. Nine of the 14 returning starters are 3-year starters. The Scrappers went 14-2 last season and run a spread
offense.

COACH'S COMMENTS: Pleasant Grove's Josh Gibson - "Nashville has a rich tradition, a really good football program, they know how to win and do things right. They are well coached, and a lot of things that people see in the top teams in Texas, they will see in Nashville.

"We're excited. These kids have not had an opportunity to compete since March. We didn't get to play our scrimmages, so we haven't faced an opponent. We are excited about that too. We are fired up that we get to play, are thankful and are ready
to go.

"Nashville has a fast paced offense and is one of the highest scoring in the state. We want to make sure we control the tempo, slow it down and eat the clock on offense. Defensively, we have to match their fast pace with speed and aggressiveness. We have to make sure not to have any busts. The team that does that, have few penalties and have few turnovers, will have the best chance to win."

 

Nashville's Mike Volarvich - "Pleasant Grove has been successful in getting to the state championship game three years in a row. That is hard to do anywhere in America let alone the state of Texas, where arguably is one of the best states to play football. They have a lot of talent in their senior class and are well
coached.

"We need to start fast. The style of their offense has the ability to control the game. If they get an early lead, they will be able to control the clock and control the game. We have to weather the storm early.
Offensively, we have to make the most of our possessions and get into the end zone when we have the opportunity. We need to limit the pre-snap penalties and the metal
errors.

"The kids are ready to take on their first opponent and are ready to hit someone else. It is a little different with the Covid, but our approach has been very similar to years in the past. The kids are excited. We will need to eliminate the self-inflicting wounds. We can't let the emotions get too high or too low. We need to just go with the flow of the
game."

RADIO: KTRG 94.1 FM

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