Indians hope to rebound against Lanier

TIFTON — After a disappointing 16-0 loss to the Fitzgerald Purple Hurricanes to open the 2007 football season, the Irwin County Indians will try to rebound this week against the Lanier County Bulldogs.

The contest with Lanier will be the second game in Irwin’s new stadium. Indian head coach John Gamble feels first-game jitters may have hurt his team in the emotional opener against Fitzgerald.

“On our first punt, the snap was low, but it wasn’t bad. Terry (Ashley) picks up the ball and tries to run with it even though it was 4th and 14,” said Gamble. “He did not make it and they had the ball on our 20 and scored on the next play.”

Gamble also said Irwin had two dropped passes that would have went for big gains and possible touchdowns.

However, Gamble felt the Indians’ biggest problem was the team’s offensive line. The problem was expected as the Irwin County coach said all summer his line would have to continue to work on blocking. The Indians had played the Wing-T under former coach Jute Wilson, while Gamble switched to the I formation.

“We couldn’t block them and they are pretty good on defense,” Gamble said of the game with Fitzgerald.

While the Irwin offense struggled, Gamble was happy with his defense.

“They scored with 10:26 left in the first half and they only gained 29 yards after that,” said Gamble.

The leading tackler for that unit was a surprise. Sophomore Kevius Robinson led with five tackles, even though he only played three quarters. Robinson replaced Horace Young, who left with an injury, in the second quarter.

Ashley, Marcus Walker and Xavier White had four tackles apiece. Matt Mobley forced two fumbles and recovered both, while Kendrick Edwards also had a fumble recovery.

“We just couldn’t get our offense going. We didn’t make any plays,” said Gamble. “We definitely had chances, but we couldn’t capitalize on them.”

Ashley had 40 yards rushing on 22 carries, while quarterback Clint Paulk was 4 of 14 for 40 yards.

“We challenged them at halftime and we played even with them in the second half,” said Gamble.

The Irwin coach hopes that will give his team a little momentum going against Lanier.

“Lanier is a good team,” Gamble said of the Bulldogs, who won their opener 30-0 over Albany High.

“They have a speedy quarterback and they run a double-slots, shotgun offense.”

The Irwin coach said even with the passing formation, the Bulldogs still focus on the run.

“They run a lot of traps and dives with their quarterback and fullback. They run basically the spread offense, but they just don’t throw the ball much,” said Gamble.

“Lanier has a lot of good-looking kids and they are a young team.”

Game time is 8 p.m. Friday in Ocilla.

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