Tigers face hefty hurdle in Camden
Published 12:00 am Saturday, September 24, 2005
Even with a 6-foot-7, 315-pound all-state tackle on his team, Greenville coach Mike Williams looks at tonight's non-region matchup between his Tigers and Wilcox Central as nothing more than David versus Goliath.
And the Goliaths are in Camden.
With a veteran offensive line that easily averages more than 270 pounds, the Jaguars (1-3) have learned to push their opponents around. Wilcox Central certainly did that last week when it tallied its first win of the season with a 40-23 victory over Shaw.
Jaguar running back Charlie Nicholson rushed for 216 yards and three touchdowns on just 15 carries, while fellow running back Cleveland Coles added 134 yards on 16 carries and a touchdown. By the end of the game the Jaguar offensive line had paved the way for its offense to roll up 433 yards of total offense.
"Their offensive line is huge and they have a fullback (Coles) that easily is 230 pounds and is strong as an ox," Williams said. "With their offense, they line up and come right at you. They are just going to try to bloody our noses."
While Wilcox Central was able to notch its first win of the season, the Tigers (0-4) are still looking to pick up a victory. Greenville's offense with a couple key players out because of injury could not get into a rhythm and fell to Charles Henderson 42-6.
"We've got some guys back that couldn't play last week," Williams said. "The extra day to prepare has also given our guys time to heal."
Greenville's game was pushed back a day so that the Jaguars could get in a makeup date with their Week 2 opponent because of Hurricane Katrina.
Williams certainly welcomed the extra day.
"I think it's helped us," he said. "That's one day we get back that we lost in the summer or one of those rainout days that we needed earlier in the fall."
The practice schedule didn't change much, either. With an extra day to prepare for Wilcox Central, the Tigers took advantage. There were no off days, Williams said.
Greenville continued in contact drills through Wednesday and then began to get into gameplanning mode. The Tigers treated Friday like their Thursday with a light practice.
Williams said the key will be how to slow down the Jaguars' huge back.
"We'll have to anchor down and hope we hold on to him so we get another person in there to help the first guy to get him down," Williams said.