Game 3 preview

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​Game 3 Preview
Westfield School (0 – 2) vs. Southland Academy (1 – 0)
7:30pm September 6, 2019
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The Hornets will travel down Highway 127 to Americus this Friday to take on another longtime rival, the Southland Academy Raiders. The Raiders come into this matchup with a 1-0 record after they defeated Southwest Georgia Academy last Friday 30-21. Raider’s running back, Clay Owens, led the Raiders with 140 yards on 19 carries and scored 3 touchdowns. Jake Kennon and Nathan Duke anchored Southland on the defensive side of the ball.
 
In 2018, Westfield faced off against the Raiders twice, once in the regular season and once in the playoffs. The Hornets lost their first matchup against Southland 15-14 in a game that saw the Hornet defense stifle Southland for 3 quarters only to lose the lead late in the contest. Later in the season Westfield faced off against a more organized and well-oiled Raider squad who rolled to a 35-7 victory over a sluggish Hornet gang.
 
Keys for the Hornets:
Westfield must play turnover free football on Friday if they are to get a victory. Southland will bring a similar attack that they used last season and will look very similar to Terrell Academy on Offense. Westfield did a solid job for a half of football against Terrell but eventually wore down due to a major time of possession advantage for the Eagles. The Hornets can ill afford another outing where the offense struggles to move the ball and fails to provide rest for their defense.
 
Gang Green looked much more comfortable at home during week 2. They have to translate that development into an increase in scoring and game management. The plan this week will be to attack the Southland defense with misdirection in the run game and short/decisive pass completions to stretch the defense for the run game. Defensively, the Hornets know that Southland will want to get on the edge with their skill players and create big plays. Westfield must stay disciplined in their defensive approach by keeping everything in front of them. The Hornets can’t commit too much to the window dressing that Southland will present during the pre-snap formations.
 
Ultimately, the Hornets have to help the Hornets win this game. In the first two games of 2019, Westfield was somewhat its own worst enemy. Limiting turnovers, penalties and opponent big plays will go a long way for the Hornets to gain their first victory. Coach Bruce Lane has made his mark on this program in his short time with the Hornets and Westfield seemed to turn the corner in their close loss last week to Deerfield-Windsor. If Gang Green can take a couple of more steps forward in their development, we should start seeing Hornet victories sooner rather than later!

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