Llano spent past year preparing for Lytle’s run game
JENNIFER FIERRO • STAFF WRITER
LLANO — Llano High School football fans know the team has spent two weeks preparing for the showdown against Lytle on Oct. 23.
But head coach coach Craig Slaughter said the Yellow Jackets (2-5 overall, 0-1 in District 13-4A Division II) actually have spent the past 11 months getting ready for the Pirates (2-6 overall, 0-2).
“Our goal is (to make the) top three (in district), and our goal is still within reach, but it’s time to cash in and purchase some tickets to make it happen this week,” he said. “This is a big week for us, but the game means the same thing for Lytle. One: It’s a district win, which you badly need. Two: It has a chance to bump your seed a little higher, which obviously helps you down the road.”
So coaches began preparations for the Pirates during this past off week, he said, especially in thinking about how to defend senior running back Christian Cedano, who ran for 270 yards against the Jackets last year in a 34-31 Lytle win.
“My biggest fear is we play a play right, and that kid reverses field or bounces it outside that you don’t really coach a kid to do, he goes and gets the edge because he outruns you,” Slaughter said. “You have to do a great job of balling up that kid’s speed and making good tackles on him.”
Lytle’s offense is about 85 percent run, he said. The good news, however, is coach believes the Llano defense is better than in 2014, and he views this game as a chance to see how improved it is.
Offensively, the Jackets are shuffling some of the offensive linemen to different positions in hopes of eliminating some errors that have put the unit behind the chains such as missed blocks, poor snaps and even ineligible receivers down field. Slaughter said coaches have thought about moving players in different positions for two weeks.
“A great line of scrimmage smooths out everything,” Slaughter said. “It smooths out pass protection, which makes your quarterbacks better. It smooths out your run game, smooths out being on schedule. Those five pieces on the lineman puzzle are huge for any football team in any program.”
Leading the Yellow Jackets are sophomore quarterback Ben Walling, who has completed seven of 21 passes for 119 yards with a touchdown and an interception in two starts for Llano. Sophomore running back Mason Greenwood has 126 rushes for 650 yards and four touchdowns.
The game kicks off at 7:30 p.m. at Walter H. Joyce Stadium, located at North Prairie and Laredo streets in Lytle.
jfierro@thepicayune.com
Wimberley 24, Llano 0 on Oct. 9
TEAM STATS
(Llano) First downs, 5; total yards, 96; rushes-yards, 22-65; passing, 31; interceptions, 1; comp-att-int, 2-10-1; fumbles-lost, 0-0
INDIVIDUAL STATS
RUSHING – (Llano) Ben Walling 7-48, Airon Layton 3-18, Mason Greenwood 9-10, Cody Miller 1-7, Brent Greenwood 1-5, John Heflin 1-1
PASSING – (Llano) Walling 2-10-31-0 TD-1 INT
RECEIVING – (Llano) Matt Agee 1-24, M. Greenwood 1-7