Raul Lara, coach of Poly football, has been asked a lot of questions about the quarterback position this week—not about Chris Leachman, who will start for the Jackrabbits, but about Dylan Lagarde…who used to start for the Jackrabbits, but will instead be starting for the host Los Al Griffins Friday at 7pm, at Vet’s, when the two teams clash in the first round of the playoffs. “Everybody is asking me about that situation,” he says. “And how can it not be on our minds? How can it not be on that kid’s mind? But as coaches, that’s not our main focus—the main focus is to move on.”
Football coaches can’t afford to get caught up in storylines—and the truth of this game is that Lagarde has thrown 74 times for Los Al, while their stud running back Nick Richardson, has 256 carries. In other words, storylines aside, when you’re scheming for Los Al, you aren’t as worried about their quarterback as sportswriters might be.
“Richardson is very elusive,” says Lara. “He has good speed, which concerns us, and their offensive line is very impressive. If we can stop the run, then we have a chance.”
Stopping the run is definitely the focus of Poly’s defense—the pass rush will have to remain disciplined and not get caught looking too eager on any draws or screens, since it’s sure Los Al will assume they’ll all be champing at the bit to get to the sophomore Lagarde.
On offense, Poly is facing one of the more underrated defenses in the Pac-5, a defense that has 23 sacks, 13 interceptions and 12 fumble recoveries. As we saw against Wilson, they blitz very well, with two of their three sack leaders not lining up as a down lineman, and they have a special athlete in the secondary in Shaquille Richardson, who has snagged five picks this year. They also didn’t allow a point until week four, and have yet to allow more than three touchdowns in any game, including their matchup with Edison.
Poly’s struggled some on offense this year—or rather, on some weeks. In the games where they’ve scored more than two touchdowns, they’ve scored a lot—28, 31, 34, 34, and 42 points. Four of those five games are wins. But the weeks sandwiched in between those performances, they’ve scored 7, 7, 7, 14, and 15 points—and lost all but one decision. Whether it’s running or throwing, they need to put some points up against this stingy Los Al defense to win—the history of this season seems to show that if they can score more than twice, they’ll likely have the edge.
With a healthy, focused team, they certainly stand a better chance—and Lara says they’ve had a good week of practice, and that there are no major injuries they’re worried about. Leachman, who will start in his first playoff game, certainly seemed focused after practice this week, saying, “I just want to go out there and prove that I’m a Jackrabbit quarterback. I’m not worried about somebody else [Lagarde] or trying to beat them.”
Lara and his coaching staff know they’re likely in for a dogfight, but they want to come out on top—Lara reminded the team as he broke practice on Wednesday that it’s been well over a decade since Poly lost a first-round playoff game. It’s been some years since the Jackrabbits didn’t have to show up to practice Thanksgiving morning—tonight, against a talented Los Al team, we’ll find out if they can keep the tradition going.