Tigers look sharp in preseason win over Gentry
Posted on Wednesday, August 27, 2008
ANTHONY REYES Northwest Arkansas Times West Fork’s Taylor Genz (20 ) speeds past Gentry junior linebacker Nick Weeks (32 ) on his way to the end zone in the second quarter of a scrimmage Tuesday in West Fork.
WEST FORK - West Fork got its first live action of the season Tuesday night at Tiger Stadium, beating Gentry 28-14 in an exhibition benefiting the Arkansas Activities Association's catastrophic injury fund.
Next Tuesday the Tigers open the 2008 season against rival Greenland in the Simmons First / Hootens. com Classic. The game kicks off at 5: 30 p.m. in Bentonville.
West Fork's offense met with little resistance in the first half. The Tigers rolled up 21 points, 12 first downs and 239 yards of total offense before intermission, with senior quarterback Daniel Holiday engineering touchdown drives on West Fork's first three possessions.
"I thought we controlled the line of scrimmage very well," West Fork coach Rodney Selph said. "I thought our line had a pretty good game. There's things we have to get better at. There's some missed assignments here and there. That's to be expected. For the most part, early on there especially, I thought we blocked well, we ran hard and took care of the football."
The Tigers appeared poised for a fourthconsecutive score, moving 59 yards in six plays, before suffering a mishap at the Gentry 3-yard line. The Pioneers' Eathen Ramsey recovered a West Fork fumble that prevented the Tigers from taking a four-possession lead early in the second quarter.
"We've talked all summer long about focus- ing in, especially inside the 20," Selph said. "We have a fumbled snap and turn it over. Hopefully we won't have that again. We have to understand that when we get to that point we have to score."
The first of the Pioneers'two big plays in the passing game followed the West Fork fumble, with junior quarterback Caleb Ramsey hitting Robert Henderson for a touchdown on a 69-yard post pattern. The Tigers' Christian Langley deflected the ball, but Henderson still made the catch and raced over the goal line. Henderson led all receivers with five catches for 106 yards.
The Pioneers' second long pass play came in the fourth quarter, when Ramsey connected with Justin Wilkes for a 51-yard touchdown to cut West Fork's lead to 28-14 with 2: 59 to play. Ramsey finished the night 11 of 18 for 214 yards and two touchdowns.
"We try to convince our kids to believe in what we're doing, which is throwing the ball," said Brian Little, Gentry coach. "They know and believe that at any moment our passing game can get us back in the ball game and we can catch up if we need to."
Holiday completed his first six passes and finished the first half 9 of 12 for 108 yards and a touchdown pass. His quarterback sneak from the from 1-yard line capped West Fork's first scoring drive, a 13-play, 73-yard march that elapsed 5: 38 off the clock.
Senior tailback Taylor Genz finished the night with 96 yards on 14 carries scoring touchdowns on a 27-yard option run and a 9-yard screen pass from Holi day. Nathan Miller led all Tiger receivers with three catches for 47 yards.
Defensively, Isaac Muggy picked off two passes, the first setting up West Fork' second touchdown. Sophomore middle linebacker Logan Genz made numerous incursions into the Pioneer backfield, tallying four tackles for loss, two quarterback pressures and two sacks.
"We've put a lot on his shoulders, putting him in there as the leader of our defense," Selph said of Logan Genz. "He flew around the field and made a lot of plays. I was extremely proud of the way he played and led us on defense."
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