Herman: Mustangs must focus on defense, discipline against Kerrville Tivy
Marble Falls High School head football coach Brian Herman challenged his defense to play more aggressively during the team’s 22-15 win against the Killeen Chaparral Bobcats on Sept. 9. Herman’s defense will need to remain aggressive as the Mustangs take on the Kerrville Tivy Antlers on Friday, Sept. 16. Staff photo by Nathan Bush
After a last-minute 22-15 win against Killeen Chaparral, the Marble Falls Mustangs (2-1) hope to cap off their three-game homestand with a victory against the Kerrville Tivy Antlers (1-2) on Friday, Sept. 16. The game kicks off at 7:30 p.m. at Mustang Stadium, 2101 Mustang Drive.
You can listen to it live on KBEY 103.9 FM Radio Picayune, at KBEYFM.com, or via the free KBEY app starting with a 7 p.m. pregame show.
In an interview with KBEY, Marble Falls head coach Brian Herman said he was surprised by his team’s play last week after giving it a second look.
“When you look at the film, it looked a lot better than it did on Friday night,” he said. “It felt like a dogfight.”
Turnovers plagued the Mustangs in the game against the Bobcats. Herman hopes his team will correct those mistakes heading into Friday’s matchup against the Antlers.
“We’re back to work this week,” he said. “We had our best Monday morning practice all year, maybe in two years. We’ve restructured some things to spend more time in certain areas and more ball security drills. I’m excited at where we’re at right now.”
Another key area Herman would like his team to improve is discipline. Several costly penalties have made life difficult for the Mustangs early on this season.
“We’ve had some false start penalties and some things,” Herman said. “It’s a combination of what’s happening on the field and what’s going on in someone’s head, so we just have to keep working at it and work on discipline.”
Herman knows his defense will need to perform well if the Mustangs are to emerge victorious against the Antlers.
“(Kerrville Tivy) has an explosive offense much like Brownwood’s offense,” he said. “They may not have the same size that Brownwood had but (have) somewhat similar concepts.”
Particularly, the Mustangs must zero in on Tivy senior Kale Lackey, a dual-threat quarterback with four rushing touchdowns on the season.
“It’s going to be a challenge with the quarterback with the way he can keep plays alive and make plays with his legs and with his arm,” Herman said. “It’s going to be a little bit of a task defensively to contain all of their weapons with their running backs and receivers.”
To prevent Lackey from taking over the game, the Mustangs must stay patient, physical, and play smart defensively to force the mobile quarterback out of his rhythm.
“We’re going to have to be true to our coverage and, hopefully, not confuse our kids,” Herman said. “I think we’re going to need to keep it as simple as possible, and make sure we’re assigned and aligned correctly and ready to attack when we see our keys and trigger quickly and tackle well.”