Eagles and Owls Set for Tasty District Matchup

SAN ANGELO, TX — In District 3-3A Division 2, it seems as though most teams will be looking up at the reigning champs Sonora, who's currently undefeated. The five-team district still remains extremely competitive below Sonora.

The TLCA Eagles (3-4, 0-1) and Reagan County Owls (4-3, 1-0) are no exception to that in 2017.

Last year's struggles for the Eagles look to be in the past under first year Head Coach Brent Rider. The Eagles never won a game in their beleaguered 2016 season. This year, TLCA has won three more games and are contending for one of four playoff spots from the district.

"The attitude has changed," Rider said when asked about the program's change. "Everyone is working together."

Reagan County, under first year Head Coach and former Sonora Co-Offensive Coordinator Blake Weston, has seen a dip from where they were at last year with a 9-2 record. Going into their 2016 clash with TLCA, the Owls were in the midst of arguably their best start to a season at 7-0. The Owls would go on to defeat TLCA 70-0 and extend their win streak to eight games, where it would ultimately stop. 

Things have changed drastically since then. 

Reagan County is 1-1 in the month of October and went 3-2 in September. Meanwhile, TLCA has an offense, something that was lacking for the Eagles a year ago, and both teams could be fighting for their postseason lives in this game.

With the five-team district, one win could get you in to the playoffs. "Could". Ballinger (2-5, 0-1) has been almost a playoff mainstay over the years and could throw a monkey wrench into the playoff hunt for District 3 if they're able to grab a win somewhere along the way.

But Ballinger is on their bye-week so let's focus on Reagan County vs. TLCA this week instead.

Offense: Advantage Reagan County

Both teams love to run the ball. TLCA, over their first four games of the season, rushed the ball 146 times while only throwing it 28. Reagan County has run the ball 259 times for 1,606 yards. That's more than twice the 111 times they've thrown the ball this season. The rushing attack for Reagan County has to be attributed to their offensive line. The Owls boast four 250-pound linemen on their front. Coach Rider praised the Owls size and said they're really physical. TLCA boasts some similar size with three 250-pound linemen, one of which the six-foot-one, 330-pound Senior Lawrence Taylor.

However, Reagan County has been able to execute at a higher level than TLCA so far.

"We just can't make the mistakes we've been making," said Coach Rider.

TLCA has also been moving from the Wing-T offense to the spread offense.  

"It's a hard switch," Coach Rider said about the transition to the spread. "We haven't been as consistent as I'd like. We want to throw the ball a little more."

The Eagles, despite struggles in the passing game, have found that spreading out the carries in the rushing game has plenty of benefits. Senior Kentrell Williams heads up the ground game for the Eagles and Junior Quarterback Kaiden Kirkland isn't too far behind him. But the Eagles have spread the ball out to seven other ball carriers this season and Coach Rider likes that.

"The defense can't key on just one guy," Rider said. "We tried to rely on Kentrell a lot early on and defenses were able to key on him. Now we're spreading the ball out and it may open up the pass for us."

However, Reagan County boasts a dual-threat quarterback in Senior Alex Chavez. Chavez leads the Owls in rushing with 640 yards and five touchdowns. Chavez has also thrown for 648 yards and six touchdowns this season for Reagan County.

All of those factors put the advantage in favor of Reagan County on paper, which isn't worth much until the game is played.

Defense: Advantage Reagan County

Once again, size matters. Those same 250+-pound linemen for Reagan County play defensive line and TLCA has taken notice.

"I really like their defensive line," said Rider. "They stay low and play physical."

But Reagan County has had their struggles at times this season. Reagan County is allowing an average of 25 points per game while allowing an average of around 360 yards of offense per game.

TLCA is allowing 35.8 points per game and have struggled in coverage this season. Head Coach Brent Rider said he felt if the Eagles were able to play well in coverage, his guys would be just fine against Reagan County.

Reagan County has been nasty in opponent's backfield, racking up 13.5 sacks and 44 tackles for a loss this season. TLCA hasn't had that success with just eight sacks and twelve tackles for a loss.

Senior Angel Gallegos has spearheaded the Owl's defensive efforts with nine tackles for a loss and two sacks. TLCA will have their hands full trying to contain the Owl's defense.

Reagan County has struggled with consistency this season and TLCA is much better than they were a year ago. But Reagan County looks like they'll flex their muscles a little too much for TLCA in this game.

Prediction: Reagan County 35, TLCA 20