Llano back from bye with home district match against Lytle
JENNIFER FIERRO • PICAYUNE STAFF
LLANO — The Llano High School football team used its bye week to prepare for its District 13-4A Division II game against Lytle on Oct. 24.
That contest will be played at Llano Stadium, 400 Texas 71 East, starting at 7:30 p.m.
Yellow Jackets head coach Craig Slaughter said the result of this game does not make or break the season.
“This game goes a long way toward it,” he said. “You can be behind the eight ball or you can be in good shape toward where you really want to be: the playoffs.”
Lytle (4-2 overall, 0-1 district) utilizes a zone-read offense operated by quarterback Bryan Bippert. He has 44 completions for 750 yards, nine touchdowns and seven interceptions and 43 rushes for 190 yards. Running back Christian Cedeno has 40 rushes for 320 yards and five touchdowns, and running back Matt Frias has 30 carries for 240 yards and three touchdowns. Receiver Nick Martinez has 13 catches for 277 yards and a touchdown, while receiver Chris Davila has 12 receptions for 247 yards and three touchdowns.
“They have kids with quickness, and we’ve definitely struggled with that,” Slaughter said. “I’m hoping they’re not as quick as what we’ve already seen. Frias can change direction and make you look bad.”
The trend for zone-read quarterbacks has been to hold the ball as long as possible before letting the running back keep it on the handoff or pulling the ball back for a keeper.
Slaughter acknowledged a running quarterback is a whole new element for the Jackets. So defenses can either wait to see who has the ball before starting to run or be aggressive to force the quarterback to make a quicker decision.
“It depends on what you’ve been teaching your kids and what they’re comfortable with,” the coach said. “It’s hard to change things six weeks into the season. So you go with what you’ve been playing and what you’ve been teaching all year long. You want to get more than one person on the ball and a lot of players in space.”
The Pirates’ defense is anchored by defensive ends Jon Darby and Joshua Macat, defensive tackle Daniel Garcia, and linebackers Nathan Medrano and Isaiah Martinez.
“They have two good defensive ends,” Slaughter said. “They play hard.”
The Jackets stuck to a normal routine during their bye week except coaches gave them the day off Oct. 13. They still lifted weights, received performance grades and watched film. Coaches began to install bits of the game plan for Lytle.
“We can accomplish all our goals … as long as we show up and play solid football,” Slaughter said. “We’ve had more days to prepare for this game than Lytle.”
jfierro@thepicayune.com