Tribe ready to run




Jourdanton’s Jarel Lilly breaks free from a San Antonio Cole tackler during the Indians’ 35-13 win on Friday night. They open playoffs at home against San Diego this Friday. JOE DAVID CORDOVA | PLEASANTON EXPRESS

Jourdanton’s Jarel Lilly breaks free from a San Antonio Cole tackler during the Indians’ 35-13 win on Friday night. They open playoffs at home against San Diego this Friday. JOE DAVID CORDOVA | PLEASANTON EXPRESS

With a large group back from last year’s area finalist team, the Jourdanton Indians are hopeful they can make a deep run in the postseason.

“We’ve been preparing the [seniors] for this since they were in ninth grade,” head coach Darrell Andrus said. “They’ve been to the playoffs every single year since the ninth grade. A lot of them have played three, four playoff games since the ninth grade.”

That starts this Friday when the Indians welcome the San Diego Vaqueros, the team they beat in the bi-district round last year, to Jourdanton. The Indians know they can expect the Vaqueros’ best punch in another do-or-die situation.

“They’re gonna come out fighting,” senior defensive lineman Derek Jenschke said. “We beat them last year. They’re not gonna take that lightly. They’re gonna come out and they’re gonna hit us in the mouth to start play. But I know we’re gonna do the same thing to come out and start.”

But the Indians remain confident after getting back to their explosive ways on offense. Their come- from-behind win over Randolph on Nov. 1 helped keep that confidence high.

“We can be very dangerous. If we’re all clicking, doing what we need to do, doing our part, making plays, defenses won’t be able to stop us,” junior receiver Jarel Lilly said.

But the defense shouldn’t be overlooked for Jourdanton, either. They’ve allowed an average of 14.8 points this season and have seemingly found another gear over the last two weeks.

Andrus attributes that to the upperclassmen leadership on the defensive side of the ball.

“I attribute a lot of it [to the upperclassmen],” Andrus praised. “Obviously, all of the kids at any classification have to make the plays eventually. Really, you look at a lot of the juniors starting on defense, they’ve been on varsity since their freshman year. So, they have a senior mentality. We know offense is great, but it’s for show a lot of times. If you’re gonna win games in December, or get into December, it’s gonna take those guys on defense flying around, forcing turnovers, tackling in space, being physical. You hear it a lot of times, offense wins games, defense wins championships. I’m a big believer in that.”

The offense also has fed off the energy the Indian defense has created. It’s helped the offense settle down and get into a rhythm in games like the win over Randolph.

“It’s big because it gives the offense a little spark,” Lilly said. “The defensive stops help us offensive guys a lot, like where the ball is at.”

For Jenschke and the senior class, you can’t put a price on one more home game, which the Indians got by virtue of a coin flip for the bi-district round.

“It means a lot [to play at home],” Jenschke said. “For us to be able to play in front of our home fans, for us to not have to travel all that way, it’s a lot better.”

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