Offense vs defense in semifinal showdown

JACKSON HOLE, Wyo. — Here we go again. As Jackson travels to Douglas for a semifinal round playoff showdown between east and west, the scenario looks all-too familiar.

A year ago, almost to the day, the Jackson Broncs found themselves on the long bus trip to Douglas to take on the best team in the 3A East in the Bearcats. Winner moves on to the state championship game. Loser says better luck next year.

Déjà vu all over again

The bad news? Douglas is a tough place to play. The Bearcats (8-1, 5-0) don’t often lose on their home turf. They went unbeaten there this season and haven’t lost at the “DHS” since the Broncs beat them in last season’s playoffs, 21-14 on November 6, 2020.

The good news? The Broncs (8-2, 4-1) just did this. Less than a year ago they made the trip and came away with a win. It’s familiar territory.

“We have the same routine this year with many of the team’s seniors knowing what to expect,” Jackson coach David Joyce said. “We’ve had a really good week of practice getting ready for these guys.”

Douglas head coach Jay Rhoades also noted how familiar with each other these two teams are quickly becoming. Many of the playmakers for Friday’s game were on the field last year in Converse County.

“I think we’re so similar with Jackson as far as the age of our kids. It’s a lot of the same kids playing against each other here again,” Rhoads said. “Everybody’s had a birthday. Everybody’s a little bit bigger and more mature. I think our kids are really excited to play this game.”

Best O vs best D

At first blush, this game certainly looks like a showdown between the #1 offense in the conference in the Jackson Broncs versus the #1 defense in the 3A in the Douglas Bearcats. And talk about defense. To say the Cats are stingy doesn’t begin to cover it.

Douglas is surrendering, on average, 5.2 points a game. Like, less than a touchdown. They allow a miniscule 0.9 yards per rushing attempt, and only 2 rushing touchdowns all season. And the Bearcats aren’t too shabby against the pass, either, holding opposition quarterbacks to a lower pass efficiency rating than any other team. By far.

But the Cats have never seen anything like these Broncs.

“Hopefully our team speed does match up with them,” Rhoades said. “That Jackson offense is very explosive, and we know we’ve got to stop the big plays. That’s key—not giving up chunk yardage.”

Jackson is averaging almost 300 yards per game by air—the 3A’s best passing attack. Add the Broncs’ average rushing output in a game—186 yards—and it’s easy to see why Jackson boasts the conference’s best offense, averaging 33.6 points per game.

And Jackson is coming off a 75-point outburst last week where they racked up an astronomical 731 yards of offense.

They say defense wins championships but Jackson is ready to put that old adage to the test. And they plan to do it at their usual breakdown pace. No huddle, up-tempo, strap it on and try to keep up.

“They do have a really good defense. They are good at what they do,” Joyce said. “But we are going to try to go fast, run as many plays as we can. I always talk to the guys about Mark McGuire, Barry Bonds.  If they have 20 at bats versus 40 at bats, how many more homeruns are they going to hit swinging more often? We’ve got some homerun hitters and the more at bats those guys get the better chance of big plays and points.”

Subplot: Broncs D chasing Ewing

Douglas isn’t all defense any more than the Broncs are purely about their ability to score. The Jackson defense has stepped up on more than a few occasions this season. And Douglas boasts the best running back in all the 3A in Karson Ewing (#28).

Ewing had a good game against Jackson last year in the playoffs as a junior. Now a year older, he’s faster and a better tackle-breaker. If Ewing gets the edge, gets into the open field, no one is going to catch him.

With 8.6 yards per carry, Ewing has the kind of explosiveness that defenses don’t hope to stop, they just try to limit the damage.

“[Ewing] is fast. They have good team speed overall,” Joyce said. “We cannot let 28 get the edge. 29 [Rylan Wehr] has good speed as well. Their quarterback [Jackson Hughes] can move. But our run defense has been pretty strong this year and that’s priority number one, is stopping their running attack.”

Douglas, meanwhile, does most of its scoring in the 1st quarter. They get out to early leads and let that suffocating defense just choke out opponents. But will they be able to move the ball against Jackson?

“Their defense is very sound,” Rhoades said of the Broncs. “There is not a lot of different looks you get with them that you have to prepare for. But they line up and play very solid and sound defense. We’ve worked all week trying to scheme to a degree but staying true to what we do and adjust when we need to, to be successful against their defense.”

Throwing caution to the wind

Friday’s game should be a close one. Jackson’s offense is too good to get far behind. Douglas’ defense is too good to allow Jackson to run away.

What often decides the close ones is turnovers and penalties.

Turnovers are dead even for both teams. On the season, the Broncs have lost 4 fumbles and thrown 12 interceptions. They are a -1 in the turnover department. The Bearcats have lost 8 fumbles and thrown 8 interceptions. They are also a -1 in that department.

Penalties have been an issue for Douglas. Rhoades says it is kind of par-for-the-course for a team that plays as aggressively as they do on defense. Joyce says he expects the game to get a bit chippy and told his kids to stay focused and stay away from the after-whistle junk.

Officiating in playoff games often brings different crews from around the region that teams have not played in front of before. Games can sometimes be called tighter (or not) by these officiating crews. Both teams will have to figure out what they can and can’t get away with and play accordingly.

Weather often affects late-season football games in Wyoming. While temperatures are expected to be in the low-60s at gametime, the usual Douglas wind will be howling. Sustained winds of 20+ are forecast for the entire game on Friday.

Wind will be out of the west. With the field laid out primarily east-west, that means each team will have the wind to their backs for 2 quarters. Expect Jackson to throw often when that is the case.

“The wind is a factor but I really thought we let that get in our heads last year in Douglas and Cody,” Joyce admitted. “We’re gonna call it like we usually do and not even think about it. We have a few plays we want to run that are really deep balls and we might wait until the wind is with us for those. But that is, like, two plays out of 67. For the other 65 we are just going to roll with it and do what we do.”

Jackson Broncs vs Douglas Bearcats in Douglas. Kickoff at 1pm. Pregame 12:30pm with live coverage on KZ95 and SVI Sports Network.