Abbeville, WSM to clash on Thursday

The Abbeville High Wildcats would like to be able to throw the ball as well as run it on offense, but with the way its offensive line dominated a young Beau Chene team for homecoming this past Friday, AHS head coach Roderick Moy was pleased to see the way his team imposed its will on the game.
“We went out and made a statement about what we want to be,” Moy said after his team’s 36-7 win over the Gators. “I keep saying every week we’re going to have to throw the ball — somebody’s going to make us throw the ball — and we do want to e as multiple as we possibly can be, but at the same time, I’m glad we were able to impose our will and weren’t forced to do anything we didn’t really want to.”
The Wildcats rushed for 350 yards and only passed once, with six players getting carries and five of them scoring touchdowns. Three players ran for at least 85 yards — Edmar Simon III (87 yards on six runs), Tazavian Andrews (95 yards, 11 carries) and Justin Montgomery (15 runs, 115 yards).
The Wildcats are also benefiting from the weekly improvements that sophomore quarterback Da’Zavien Maze is making.
“Da’Zavien Maze is really starting to read that option very well,” Moy said. “He pulled that thing out of there when nobody else was expecting it and scored a touchdown last week. I’m very pleased that he’s getting better every week in that position.”
But it all began up front for Abbeville.
“The offensive line on that side of the ball (played very well),” Moy said. “I was very impressed with our linebackers. A lot of that has to do with the defensive line keeping them clean, but those two guys, who are new to that position for us — Zaylun Williams and Tyrin Doucette — are coming into their own, and they’re making us a lot better with their play in that position. We’re much improved right there over the first two weeks of the season.”
Abbeville gets an early game in this week, traveling to face West St. Mary on Thursday.
“Athletic guys on the perimeter, they have some good size to where they’re going to throw four or five jump balls up there and we’re going to have to be in position to stop that,” Moy said in describing the Wolfpack. “We’re going to try to negate their speed with our power and see which one wins.”
The Wildcats will again look to control the ball on offense to keep WSM’s offense off the field.
“Our best defense is going to be a ball-control offense to limit their opportunities and limit their explosive plays,” Moy said. “If their offense isn’t on the field, they can’t score.”
The defense is a mirror of the offense, Moy said.
“Tall, athletic, lean guys, that can really run,” he said. “They can really cover sideline to sideline, so we’re not going to have any secrets. We’re going to go right at them and try to impose our will with power football.”
Moy said that so far this week his team has done a good job preparing for an earlier game.
“We had a really, really good practice (Monday) trying to build two days into one, because we’re going to lose a day on Wednesday that was normally a longer day for us,” he said. “But the kids came out very focused. We had a very good practice, a little longer than usual, but the kids were very focused and I was very pleased with our preparation.
“It’s a short week for them, too, so I think we’ll be ready come Thursday night.”