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Jacorey Daniels (#1) gets tough on defense during the Fairfield Eagles’ 48-0 defeat to Athens. Photo by Thomas Leffler
Heading on the road for the first time this season, the Eagles will attempt to dust themselves off from an auspicious 0-2 start Friday night. The Eagles (0-2) will face the Robinson Rockets (1-2) in Robinson, with action beginning at 7:30 p.m.
The Eagles are looking to avoid their first 0-3 start since the 2010 season, and will be starting with the fundamentals.
First, special teams, where Athens’ successfully pressured the Eagles several times during a 48-0 defeat to the Hornets, including a punt return touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Other special teams woes included a fumble on a kickoff return by Dylon Rushin to set up a last-second first-half Hornets touchdown, as well as a bobbled punt return by Tyler Smith early on.
“Our goal is to punt the ball over to the right numbers, and we were punting it right down the middle of the field… they put a little pressure on us, but if we punt it to the right we’re fine, if we punt it to the middle we’re not fine,” Eagles head coach John Bachtel said of the special teams unit.
Fundamentals will be preached this week during practice on the special teams, as well as the defensive and offensive units.
For the defense, improved tackling will be a focus, as the Eagles struggled against Athens’ power back Nathan Sims.
“Our defense got a lot better, [they play] really hard,” Bachtel said. “We kept hitting and hitting and hitting, and [Sims] got his yards, which he does every game, but we didn’t stop hitting him. [I’m] proud of what the effort is. We have to fix the fine-tune parts of it.”
The Hornets’ offense clicked on Eagle ground this past week thanks to Sims and quarterback Tivon Arroyo, who threw three touchdowns in the contest. Despite the deep throws connecting for Hornets scores, Bachtel believes his secondary provided a solid effort as well.
“I thought our secondary did really good. We’re gonna have some pass interference calls, to be honest I’m not upset about that, its a 10-yard penalty against a 30-yard catch.”
To counter, the Eagles’ offense was in a continual search of momentum, as junior Kaden Crawford’s debut at quarterback ended in a shutout. The offensive attack behind Crawford is still searching for a rhythm heading into the Robinson matchup.
“That starts with me and the offensive line,” Bachtel said. “[Monday] we really picked up our intensity a whole lot [at practice]. I’m putting a lot of pressure on our guys to get better. I thought we had a really good practice.”
One other wrinkle of the Eagles’ defeat was the coaching staff’s aggressive playcalling in several spots, including an onside kick attempt to begin the Athens contest. Thinking outside the box will continue to be an effort for Bachtel and his staff going through the 2020 campaign.
“I just want our guys to know that we’re 100 percent behind [them]. They have to know that we believe in them, so that they believe in themselves.”
The Eagles defeated the Rockets last November in a 26-20 overtime classic that propelled the Eagles into the 4A playoffs.
Down 20-5 to begin the fourth quarter, then-senior Justin Abram scored touchdowns in the air and on the ground to force the extra session, where Abram would rush for the winning score.
The 2020 Rockets unit is coming off of a 48-6 defeat against Troy, and has been offensively challenged to begin the year. The team’s option-rush attack has been stifled, with the Rockets scoring just 32 points over three contests in 2020.
“A lot of people don’t [run the option] anymore, that’s old-school stuff,” Bachtel said. “We’re going through our option responsibilities.”