Zebras looking to ground Pirates

By Zack Cunningham/sportsreporter@trcle.com

When they take the field against Crawford on Friday night in the bidistrict round of the Class 2A playoffs, it will be for the first time in four years the Grandview Zebras will do so as something other than district champs.

After losing the district crown to Godley after a 56-28 defeat on Oct. 16, Grandview will face the high-powered Pirates of District 16-2A at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Memorial Stadium on the campus of Tarleton State University in Stephenville.

Zebra head coach Aubrey Sims said the Pirates’ track record speaks for itself.

“They’re a very disciplined team,” Sims said. “They’ve been running the same offense and defense for many years and they won a state championship doing it. They have two losses in district, but they could’ve won both of those games.

“We’re getting one of the district’s best. It’s going to be a challenge.”

With the loss to Godley put to the side, Grandview outscored its other opponents by a margin of 293-93, including a 48-16 throttling of Maypearl to claim 15-2A’s second playoff spot in Week 10.

The key to the Zebras’ success on offense has run through many players, but quarterback Derek Jarrell and running back Daniel Spencer have been two instrumental pieces of Grandview’s puzzle.

Spencer is a big-play threat and rushed for more than 200 yards during the Zebras’ loss to Godley.

He credits the offensive line for allowing him to go anywhere at all.

“I’ve been working hard in practice and practice makes you play good,” Spencer said. “That’s what I’ve been trying to do is find holes and hit them.

“The line is doing a great job. I thank them all the time because without them I wouldn’t be able to go anywhere.”

Spencer said Jarrell has had done a good job hitting him with long passes every once and again, too.

“He’s been throwing pretty good, too,” Spencer said, smiling.

Jarrell has targets in Spencer and Brant Rice, to name a few, but he also can run the ball, something he said provides a change of pace.

“I like running the ball a little bit,” Jarrell said. “I try to help out Daniel so he can get bigger gains. That way they don’t key on him every time.”

Jarrell said the receivers make it easy for him even if he’s having an off night.

“I’ve got great receivers,” Jarrell said. “They go get the ball and I don’t have to put it on the money every time. The line has given me a lot of time lately and I’ve been able to do whatever I want, lately.”

With Crawford posing threats both on the ground and through the air, Sims said adjusting could prove to be difficult for the Zebras.

“They’ve got a little running back who runs hard and is hard to bring down,” Sims said. “The quarterback takes a lot of three-step drops and puts it on the money. You can’t just focus on the run or the pass. It makes it tough. We’re going to need to be smart about who we’re blocking and we’ve got to throw it and run it on offense.”

Jarrell said the Pirates’ coverage schemes will require extra attention on his part.

“I’ve got to be smart in my reads,” Jarrell said. “They’ve got a lot of people who will drop back in coverage. I need to make sure I read the safeties right and know who’s blitzing.”