The Garden City Telegram
NEW E-Edition!
Subscription
Required
Add Your Comment | Read (0) Comments
Busters hit road for long trip to Highland
Published 9/3/2010 in Sports
By BRETT MARSHALL
Garden City Community College head football coach Lucas Aslin has been around football long enough to know that you don't take anything for granted. You don't overlook any opponent, and especially you don't get fooled by scores from other games.
That's the words of advice he has passed along to his Broncbusters this week as they prepare for Saturday's 1 p.m. kickoff at Highland Community College's Kessinger Field.
It would be easy to overlook the Scotties, considering they were thumped by Iowa Western Community College, 63-6, last Saturday on the road. The Busters, meanwhile, played a solid defensive game with the exception of a few big plays in handling Northeastern Oklahoma A&M, 32-23, at Memorial Stadium.
Aslin likes the look of Highland's skills players — quarterback Rashad Jackson, 6-2, 205, Fr., of Albany, Ga.; and the running back combo of Tony Cornelius, 5-11, 205, So., of Boynton Beach, Fla., and Tay Willis, 5-8, 185, Fr., of Newman, Ga.
"They have an athletic quarterback and a couple of nice looking running backs," Aslin said Thursday before preparing to depart early today with his team for northeast Kansas. "Defensively, they're big up front, and anytime you go on the road, the home team is gonna be fired up, and I expect Highland to come out and play hard."
The Busters have defeated the Scotties by scores of 37-10 and 45-0 the last two seasons. But if Lucas had any thoughts of taking the Scotties lightly, all he would need to do is talk to his current defensive coordinator, Jacob Cox, who in 2006 was on the staff of then No. 1-ranked Butler, which went to Highland and returned home with the Grizzlies' first loss of the season.
"They're always dangerous when they are at home," Aslin said.
Aslin said he was pleased with the overall performance of the Busters in their opening victory over NEO.
"Offensively, I thought we grew up a lot in the second half," Aslin said. "We missed a lot of throws and some lanes running in the first half, and in the second half we completed them."
Freshman quarterback Wes Winfrey completed 13-of-27 passes for 194 yards and three touchdowns while redshirt sophomore Keion Wade paced the rushing attack with 112 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries.
"I thought defensively the effort was great," Aslin said. "The only thing is that we've got to get better control of the clock."
The Busters had the ball for only 22 minutes, 20 seconds compared to 37:40 for the visiting Norsemen.
"We've got to get the balance down to at least 50-50 in the time of possession," Aslin said. "If not, it's going to be difficult for us when we get into the big games."
The fourth-year coach also said the Busters came through the opener relatively unscathed as far as injuries.
"We're a little sore, but overall, pretty healthy," Aslin said. "We've got the clearance now for Korey Jones (linebacker). He's healthy and ready to go."
Defensively, Aslin said, the Busters must do a better job on third down.
"We'd do well on first and second downs and then give up something on third downs," Aslin said. "All night, we kept giving them extra chances."
And despite the fact sophomore placekicker David Gonzalez of Deerfield missed on two extra-point attempts, he did kick 36- and 44-yard field goals.
"One is a 3-pointer, the other is 1-point," Aslin said. "I'll take the 3-pointers anytime."
The Busters were scheduled to leave at 7:30 a.m. today, and drive to Lawrence where they were to practice at Memorial Stadium on the campus of the University of Kansas at 1:30 p.m.
They were then to bus on to St. Joseph, Mo., where they will stay the night and then take a 40-minute drive to Highland mid-morning on Saturday for the afternoon kickoff.
"I'm not too much of a fan of afternoon games," Aslin said. "We'll just have to get them early to get them out and moving and then be ready for the early start."
After Saturday's game on the road, the Busters will be back home Sept. 11 against Coffeyville.
------------
Gametime
What: Garden City Community College (1-0, 0-0) at Highland Community College (0-1, 0-0)
Where: Kessinger Field, Highland
When: 1:00 p.m. kickoff
On the Radio: 1030AM/1240AM.
What's at Stake: The Broncbusters opened with a 32-23 non-conference victory while the Scotties were thrashed 63-6 at Iowa Western. The Jayhawk Conference opener is critical for the Busters as they head into the heart of their schedule with home games the next two weeks against Coffeyville and defending Region and Jayhawk Conference champion Fort Scott. A road game in late September is followed by a home game against perennial power Butler.
How They Did It: The Broncbusters used big plays from quarterback Wes Winfrey to wide receivers Corey Johnson (2 touchdown passes) and T.J. Johnson (1 TD catch) and then a defense that limited NEO to just 186 total yards.
Found 0 comment(s)!