PARACLETE DEFENSE READY AND WAITING.Byline: Chris Cocoles Daily News Staff Writer Paraclete High's defensive line will have quite a chore slowing down a pair of 1,000-yard rushers in Kilpatrick's Albert Youngblood and Kevin White Kevin White may refer to:
But the Spirits learned a lot about defending the Mustangs' double-wing attack in last week's semifinal victory over Cathedral. Yes, those are the same Phantoms who sent quarterback Robert De La Cruz's national-record 60 touchdowns passes into Marauder MARAUDER. One who, while employed in the army as a soldier, commits a larceny or robbery in the neighborhood of the camp, or while wandering away from the army. Merl. Repert. h.t. Stadium. But with the Spirits harassing De La Cruz de la Cruz is a common surname in the Spanish language meaning 'of The Cross.'
It worked, at least in terms of rushing yards gained. The Phantoms' bigger offensive line gained over 300 ultimately futile yards on the ground in a 62-33 loss. ``They were a little outmanned by Cathedral,'' Spirits coach Steve Hagerty said of his five-man front. ``They were a lot bigger and our guys aren't very big. We were happy to survive that.'' But it's also a quick and clever group, one that has fared respectably during Paraclete's 12-1 season. None of the five were on the defensive line that powered the Spirits to the Division XI championship in 1997. ``We've really learned how to play together,'' said senior Nick Lodovici, who sat out the 1997 season. The others, Joey Joey after Joseph Grimaldi, famous 19th-century clown. [Am. Hist.: Espy, 45] See : Clowns Rispaud, Robert Watts Robert Douglas Watt, FRHSC (born 1945) was the first Chief Herald of Canada. He was appointed at the foundation of the Canadian Heraldic Authority, and was replaced by Claire Boudreau in 2007. Watt was born in Picton, Ontario in 1945. , Mike Gonzales and Mike Drivdhal, either spent 1997 on the junior varsity junior varsity n. Abbr. JV A high-school or college team that competes in interschool sports on the level below varsity. Noun 1. or at another position. But like the Spirits' similarly reconstructed re·con·struct tr.v. re·con·struct·ed, re·con·struct·ing, re·con·structs 1. To construct again; rebuild. 2. offensive line, Paraclete's front wall on the other side of the ball has been a pleasant surprise. ``None of the guys on the offensive or defensive line have been asked to play anywhere else. That usually doesn't happen here,'' Hagerty said. ``We had 10 (inexperienced in·ex·pe·ri·ence n. 1. Lack of experience. 2. Lack of the knowledge gained from experience. in ) guys, and as coaches we decided to put half on offense and half on defense. We didn't want to put any added pressure on them and force them to learn any other positions. And we wanted to make sure they all had fresh legs.'' And a clear head, too. Hagerty raves at his defenders' ability to play smart enough to outfox out·fox tr.v. out·foxed, out·fox·ing, out·fox·es To surpass (another) in cleverness or cunning; outsmart. outfox Verb an offense. ``Probably 75 percent of times in a game the kids on the field are calling the formation changes. They can recognize the sets,'' Hagerty said. ``Our defense can do a lot of things.'' Such as focus on what goes on in an offensive huddle. They look for receivers and running backs discussing their pass patterns and blocking assignments with the quarterback. ``Body language has a lot to do with it,'' said Rispaud, a 5-foot-10 senior. ``We look for who's doing the talking in the huddle. That might be able to tip us off to what play is coming next.'' Unlike Cathedral, which has multiple formations and options to both throw and run the football, Kilpatrick won't have any intricate scripts on offense. ``They have two excellent running backs and are effective with the double-wing. They might throw the ball three or four times, and if they end up with 8-10 passes it means we're going to be ahead,'' Hagerty said. ``The key to this game is our defensive line. If it does its job, we will beat Kilpatrick. If they don't, we could be in trouble.'' The Spirits' successful meltdown meltdown Occurrence in which a huge amount of thermal energy and radiation is released as a result of an uncontrolled chain reaction in a nuclear power reactor. The chain reaction that occurs in the reactor's core must be carefully regulated by control rods, which absorb of De La Cruz forced Cathedral to turn to its running game. The Phantoms' strategy mirrored that of Kilpatrick's philosophy. ``We hadn't prepared for defending the run at all (prior to the Cathedral game) because we knew what kind of passing team they had,'' Gonzales said. But when Cathedral did abandon De La Cruz, it served as a bonus tuneup for the Spirits' defense. ``Cathedral runs it better than Kilpatrick,'' said Lodovici said. The Spirits defeated the Mustangs 40-14 on Nov. 6. ``We'll be prepared this week.'' And for the lineman, sufficient preparation is not necessarily making tackles but just taking out the Mustangs' offensive line, allowing the linebackers and defensive backs to tackle Youngblood and White and preventing the breakaway break·a·way adj. 1. Designed to break, bend, or fall apart easily upon impact, especially to create an illusion, as with a theater prop, or for safety, as with a highway sign or barrier. 2. threats from busting long gains. ``They're not going to get a lot of tackles or any of the glory. They need to protect the linebackers,'' Hagerty said. ``And they just won't get a lot of credit for doing it.'' CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO (Color) Paraclete's Robert Watts is part of a defensive line that has helped the Spirits compile To translate a program written in a high-level programming language into machine language. See compiler. a 12-1 record heading into Saturday's title game against Kilpatrick. Jeff Goldwater/Daily News |
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