Win-hungry Vikings face tough Rockets

Community will need to stick to their guns and pace Forrest if there is to be any chance at a win Friday night. (T-G Photo by Jasen Richardson) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

The Community Vikings are closing in on their third year as a varsity squad. The season has been a roller coaster ride of physical, mental, and emotional adversities.

The Vikings (0-8, 0-5 District 9-A) face eighth-ranked Forrest on Friday night in their last home game of the year. With two more chances at a victory, the Vikes' machine needs a proper oiling of completed assignments and an offensive attack.

The Rockets (7-1, 3-1) have only allowed 68 points this season (38 came from Cascade), and have put up 218 on the board. Community has been outscored 314-36.

Community's defense must stick with tackles, prevent plays in the backfield and handle the secondary. Coach Johnnie Frost and staff have continued to switch positions around and hopefully will find some sort of rhythm in the stunts and schemes from the line.

Defensive backs Albert Irwin, Dustin Tapp and Cody Pierce will need to be on top of their game and control any attempt at an aerial assault by the Rockets. Forrest had 106 yards in the air against Huntland last Friday as quarterback Dane Leonard threw three touchdowns.

"Chapel Hill will throw it, because they have a very good passing game," Frost said. "In order to stay in this game, we must complete our assignments that we've been practicing this week. We've mixed up our coverage a little bit and we have done some things with the pass rush. Watching them on film, I think they're the best team we've played this year. We've always played them hard. Our kids always play physically hard with Chapel Hill and they know that. We will be trying to break down their running backs; to make it one-dimensional."

VIking running back Pierce has tacked on a few games with over 100 all-purpose yards, more than a third of which were rushing.

"We are looking to establish our running game, so our passing game can be more effective," Frost said. "We need to stick to what we have been learning and get better at what we are doing. We need to hit our holes and we need to make our blocks. We must continue to work on our fundamentals."

Last October the Unionville crew was able to stay within two possessions in their 34-20 loss at Chapel Hill. The Rockets are going into this week after a 40-7 win over Huntland and Community has regained some composure after their 43-7 loss to Moore County. There is no better time than now for the Purple and Gold to pull out all the stops and give it their all.

"They are a very talented and multi-faceted team," Frost said of the Rockets. "They have some tendencies in certain formations. They run certain plays and we've worked on that this week and tried to make some adjustments accordingly. We are trying to put ourselves in the best possible spots to make the plays and be successful. If we can execute that then we may surprise them."

Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30.