It’s Anderson’s homecoming, and tonight, the Trojans will face the Jaguars in front of a blacked-out crowd of Anderson students. They’re looking for a huge win that would help propel them to the playoffs for the first time since 2016.
Last year, the Trojans fell to the Jags 38-21 on the road, as they had no answer for Buda Johnson’s run game. The Jaguars ran 61 times for 283 yards and 5 touchdowns, with graduated senior Ethan Ybarra leading the way with 141 yards and a touchdown of his own. While Ybarra is gone, the rushing attack is not.
Ybarra has been replaced by junior Kael Hatnot, who’s run for 682 yards and 4 TDs over just 4 games. He’s averaging 170.5 yards per game and a whopping 7.8 yards per carry running behind the ferocious offensive line that the Jags feature. Anderson’s run defense is going to certainly be tested, as Johnson likes to run early and often. They’re an 80/20 run-heavy team and it’ll likely be an even more drastic split as they’ll try to take advantage of the size of the Trojan defense.
Because the majority of the defense is going to be so focused on stopping the run, that means that the corners really need to step up in the passing game. Colin Haines has had a great season so far with a pick-six and multiple passes defended, but he’s likely going to be left on an island more tonight than he has at any point this season. He won’t have the benefit of as much safety help over the top, so he’s going to have to lockdown the Jags receivers and prevent big plays on the outside.
On offense, it’s likely going to be all Brady Gephart tonight for the Trojans, as the senior quarterback is going to be heavily relied on for both his arm and his legs tonight. Gephart has played phenomenally all year despite being pressured on most of his dropbacks and needing to extend broken plays often. He’s got almost 800 yards through 4 games and has thrown for 9 touchdowns and just two interceptions. Brady also leads the team with 193 rushing yards on the season.
While he can throw a good deep ball, Gephart will be better off with the short passing game early in tonight’s contest. Those long developing plays are hard to get off under the immense amount of pressure he gets in the pocket, and Anderson has the receiving talent to break short passes for long gains as we saw last game. Ed Small has broken multiple screens for huge gains and touchdowns this year, and Zayden Sharp can often use his speed to make the first defender miss and get those few extra yards.
Ben Hatcher is the X-Factor in the run game for the Trojans as he hasn’t had as many touches over the last few games and is primed for a breakout against Buda. Getting him the ball on pitches would be huge for the Anderson offense that, save Gephart, has struggled to run the ball effectively this season. Sharp ran 3 times for 30 yards and a touchdown on end-arounds last week, so seeing more of that would be great as well.
Anderson’s best chance to win is going to be forcing Buda quarterback Carson McMullin to beat them with his arm. That’s not to say the senior is a poor thrower, but if the Trojans can shut down a potent rushing attack and make Johnson’s offense one-dimensional, they’ll have a better chance to upset the Jaguars. Offensively, if they find a way to get the ball out quickly and into the hands of their best receivers in space, Anderson will be able to put up points. At the end of the day, it’s homecoming, and no one wants to lose in front of a packed crowd, so I expect the Trojans to be riled up and go out there and surprise a few people. Anderson 28 Buda 24
