September 18, 2024 • 18 mins
Opelika Coach Bryan Moore recaps a week 4 win against J.A.G. and previews the week 5 matchup against Smiths Station. Also Special Teams coach Jamie Ferguson joins the show.
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
This it's the Coach Brian Moore Show with Opah like
I had football coach Brian Moore and now with Coach
Moore the voice of the Bulldogs.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Man wrecks.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Another win for the Openlika Bulldogs. I'm thinking Riggs alongside
Coach Brian Moore and coach exciting game, a lot of
offensive firepower in that game against Jack. Congratulations on the win.
Just kind of what are your thoughts after that big win?
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Yeah, I mean I thought, you know, some good moments
in the game.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
You know, still looking for that consistency that we've talked
about all year long. And but but please with the kids.
You know, sometimes after the game, like the week before,
you know, it becomes very difficult to get yourself back going.
And I think we had a great week of prep. Specifically,
Monday was not a great week. However, we bounced back.
Tuesday and Wednesday were really really good. Thursday morning was
(00:58):
a monsoon out in the rain, which was good for
us to go through. It did rain a little Friday,
not much to it, not not enough to impact us.
But you know, please with with the kids and their
maturation and how they're growing. You know, again we got
a speed up because we know what's coming. But but
but again excited, excited about Rhys Beasley.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
I thought he had a really good night and he.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
Was seven of seven h with pats, kicked three in
the end zone for touchbacks and made a field goalf.
So him stepping up for Johnny's seen, I think it's
been really really big. I thought our two quarterbacks played well.
Both CJ and Colby played well in the game. We
split reps between those guys. I thought we spread the
ball to several different you know, offensive weapons, with Waits
getting his first touchdown and Tommy uh and then Jayalen.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Nelson you know, scoring as well.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
Jordan Waits also had a kick off return for a
touchdown and got called back, but he was out the
gate on that. So that was exciting to see, not
just having the lean on Calvin because we know what
Jordan can do and the type of player he is.
We saw that a year ago. I didn't think up
front we were really clean offensively. I thought we needed
to work on that, and we have this week and
they'll get better. Taking Darius Witlow out of the equation
(02:02):
or right guard, that's been exceptional as a sophomore.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
I think hurt us a little bit, but Carmel.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
Stepped up and so did Keeling, and so those guys
will continue to develop. But the communication is different when
new pieces up up front. And then defensively, it was
good to see Smiley back, you know, really rolling.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
I think he had three.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
Sacks in the game, and then of course the Superman
where he lays out and you know, strip sack only
he can do. And I thought my league was more
dominant last week. And you know, TJ. Thomas continues to
play well, you know, and Braden Stinson had a big sack,
and I thought ty Hudson had several tackles, several of
which you know, they didn't really challenged us inside much
like Auburn.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
They put the ball on the edge.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
And Tie had some sideline and sideline tackles that I
didn't see from him a year ago that I think
is the next step for him. He's a college football player,
you know, he just needs to keep coming on. We
held Tyler Moore just for precaution in the game. But
it was good to see k two Kate and Harris
have a start, and I thought he played well like
Kedrick played well. Berts, he made some plays also, so
again encouraged, but got to be a little bit more
(02:58):
consistent as we go forward.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
One of the players I know that's been banged up,
Bennet Young. Couple of good receptions. It's really good runs
after the.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
Catch, no doubt.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
And Bennett is a guy that you know, was a
little bit nicked up early in the season, and you know,
a guy we need.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
We need him to be solid.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
And you know, we didn't play Brody as much, you know,
out of precaution again, had a little ankle deal, but
Bennett really stepped up. Jalen had another touchdown from Jamari,
you know, so that was cool to get sort of
a dynamic play.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
There and really good pass, a great pass.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
You know, We've got some guys Quees Johnson can too,
that can really spend it. You know, Brody can throw it.
And so we just got some kids that have thrown
the football in the backyard a lot in their life,
you know, and so a lot of schools don't have
that anymore. They're missing that. Our kids still get out
and play and do those things. So Jamory is very
talented with her without the ball. I thought he blocked
really well downfield. Excited to see him grow there. But yeah,
(03:48):
it just encouraged by Bennett. We really need him to
keep growing as we move forward, and.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
That just gives other teams something in the back of
their mind. Anytime they touched the football, boy this guy
could throw it down there.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
And we have all kinds of those I mean, truthfully,
like we we've repped and repped and rep those things,
and we've been really cautious about them. You know, we
ran one against Auburn that we mishandled it, and you know,
we don't want to.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
Gimmick ourselves down the field. That's not who we are.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
But I do think creating explosives is something we need
to do.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
You know.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
Coach McCracken made that point. I think on the radio
broadcast that we had three explosives against Auburn. You know,
we need more like six to eight of those a
game to really get those chunk yards and you know,
to where offenses isn't so hard, you know for us.
If you think about the Auburn game specifically, it was
like five yards, six yards, eight yards. I mean, it
was just a grind to move the football. There weren't
any easy ones outside of Calvin having a couple of
(04:34):
big runs. But we've got to go find those explosives
as we go through the year. I think that'll help
us to become more dynamic and put more points up, kind.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
Of like the big pass that Kobe had to Jamariy.
I mean, that's a huge explosive pass plays and it
was one that was right on the money.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
No doubt, and it was right after Blake had one
down the scene that was called back for a hole
we had kind of had rigged up all year, but
it was good to see that was a third and
really long that we threw the ball to Jamori. Jamar
is not usually the single receiver of the boundary, but
we can do. And we had that play rigged up
and so great throw their great protection, eighty three yard
touchdown pass.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
We need more of those, all right.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
As you move into smith Station, I know it's homecoming week,
been homecoming week, and a lot of fun and festivities
going on with that.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
Yeah, you know, so a couple of cool things going on.
First off, we're playing Smiths all week, starting you know
with our with our freshmen or excuse me, with our JV.
Our freshmen are on the road at Taalsey. But then
we'll play Smith on Thursday as well for middle school,
and then play on Friday night. Also, we have a
community PEP rally at five point thirty downtown right across
(05:33):
fro First.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
Baptist Church there in the square. That's a cool deal.
Our mayor will.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Speak there and you know, I know, all of our folks,
all of our city council folks and everybody will be
there and be involved.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
That's a really cool deal.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
Walk through the breezeway and you know, sit there in
those chairs and be able to invite our people out,
you know, to support our kids.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
So we're excited about that.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
There are a lot of things that can get in
the way a little when it comes to homecoming, but
we've been cautious of that, and I honestly, I was
more concerned. I asked the coaches on Sunday, I said,
is the Auburn week you know, things off the field
bigger than homecoming?
Speaker 2 (06:05):
They said, yes, you know, so we address those.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
And we don't want to have, you know, issues off
the field.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
But you know, our kids have handled all that really well.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
So but it is a great event for our you know,
former players and coaches and fans and people that maybe
have moved away to come back and see the game,
and hopefully it'll be packed out. It looks like the
weather's gonna be really nice as we moved through the week,
So nice to not have you know, last two games
and in rain games, you know, and so had to
sort of have contingency plans on that. But I expect
a big crowd. Look, I know, you know, records and
(06:33):
all that kind of stuff. You know, we can look
at all that and deal, you know, dig into the
scores and everything, you know, but these are still sixteen
year old kids that are playing. And you know, we've
got to go play well against a region opponent that
is very unorthodox nowadays and what they do offensively, and
so that concerns you. So we've had to work really
hard on that all week. So we'll have to be
right in the run fit and be clean there.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
And we can't let Homecoming.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
And things like that distract us from the fact that
we got to play a region game at home, which
again I don't love homecoming to be on a region
type ball game, but it's just sort of the way
it failed this year. But you know, again, what to
play well to get a win.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
I had to do a double take again week five.
Can you believe we're gonna be at halfway one of
the season already?
Speaker 1 (07:12):
It just flies by, I mean, especially for us without
a bye week, you know, so we're gonna play ten
straight and then have the byewey, you know, before the playoffs,
so you know that it's going to go really really quickly.
And what I want to caution everybody and our kids included,
is don't get ahead with.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
The with the back four. You know.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
We know, you know, once Smith's and Pike Road and
all that, we've got four straight region games in a
row to finish that they are going to really make
or break our year. But we just got to keep
stepping forward because again, even if you don't play well
like last week, you know, we had some moments we
didn't play well, you know, and you still win, you
still don't take the step you need to take in
your maturation through the season, like your team is not
(07:48):
progressing and peaking at the right time if you take.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
A week off.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
So you know, we've got to really do a great
job of focusing on our salves and continuing to clean
up because we're in no way shape or form a
dominant football team.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Right now that can just roll out there and play well.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
We're going to have to compete every week and make
sure that we're locked in, have a great week of
prep and practice to prepare for these games.
Speaker 3 (08:09):
I know a group on your team that gets a
lot of attention defensive line. There'll be showcase coming up
at the weekly lunch on Thursday at First Baptists Opalika
right now.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
Yeah, there'll be a lot of fun.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
You know, we're taking five of them. We could take ten,
but you know, I didn't think we'd have enough food,
you know, if we took ten of them on Thursday.
But exciting league and Smiley and Lightfoot and Braden Stenson
and TJ. Thomas are all going, and Coach Howell's going,
Kenny Prescott's already been one time.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
And so we're going to go through.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
Some clips about two each for kids that you know,
just kind of highlighting a different skill set for them.
And you know, if nothing else, I've told people this before,
you know, the reason we do all this stuff, the
coaches Show and the Thursday lunch and everything a is
to highlight our kids, to put them in the spotlight
because of the work they put in and this experience
that we're creating for high school students, but also for
(08:56):
them to learn how to manage the media and manage
public speaking. And like you know, maliek Autry is gonna
speak a lot in public, so its smiley. So I mean,
all these guys are possibly college players, you know, they're
going to have to experience that.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
And so you know, what a great way.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
To put them on a stage, you know, and and
let their parents come and celebrate them, you know, to
be able to come out and watch them, and you know,
have a great meal that's provided there at the church.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
Just a really cool event.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
So I think the luncheon has really grown and exceeded
my expectation. We had over sixty last week, you know,
and I hope with all the kids that were bringing,
we'll have one hundred this week. And I've encourage everybody
that comes to those bring bring one person with you.
You know, let's get this thing growing. The church can
hold three hundred, so that's the goal. You know, long term,
we'll figure out another venue if we have to, But
I hope that our city will come out and see
(09:40):
our kids, and we'll just continue to go at different
angles each week, just like we're doing this week with
Coach Ferguson being here, you know, for this show, we
want to continue to highlight different people because of the
job that not only our kids are doing, but our
coaches are doing.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
And I really don't say that enough.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
We've got great coaches that care about our kids, that
pour into them, you know, and help those two things.
We always talked about creating championship people that win championships,
you know, and that's what we're working towards. And you know,
Coach Ferguson being here is doing a great job with
our special teams, but more so, he's doing a great
job with the character of our young people, you know,
and how he pours into him and cares about him
and so many behind the scenes things that people don't
(10:16):
even know about.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
So really really pleased with him.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
And while I'm on him, you know, how good have
our special team's been all year, you know, and now
ree stepping up and you know, Reese Beasley's just had
an incredible two game stretch. Again, like I mentioned earlier,
but Zion's punting the ball really well. We'll have Johnny
back soon, maybe even this week, you know, and so
we're encouraged by the job that they're doing with our specialists,
and Marshall Myers as well, with our specialists.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
And they're just doing a tremendous job.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
And again, all these shows and things that we do,
Van and what you're helping us do kind of highlight
our people, and I appreciate that.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
I told the kickers and warm ups there the day,
I said, you know, Marshall used to kick it over
the endoors, that's right, you know, And they kind of
looked at me funny, and then you know, Marshall of
course didn't.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
He didn't go along with it, right right.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
Yeah, Well, you know, actually last week, you know, we
had a left footed they Jack had a left footed kicker,
and so I said, Marshall better stretch for his practice brother,
because you're gonna kick that thing around. So they had
a left footed punter and kicker, different kids, and so
Marshall was our guy. So he's done a tremendous job,
you know, coming from Auburn University. What he's able to
do for coach Ferguson is, you know, is Jamie can
(11:17):
really look at the whole scheme, you know, And I'm
in there too, And we.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
Got several coaches that help. But Marshall can look at
just the specialists.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
You know, so he's just focused on the kickers and
punters because a lot of times, man, if you guys
have any of the people watching have been around football,
I mean, those guys cruise around and do whatever they
want to do at practice.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
I mean, you got ninety nine guys that are working
at practice.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
You've got three kickers that are over there hanging out
talking about whatever, you know. And so we put together
a practice planning for those guys and we structure practice
around them because specialties for us are that important and
we feel like that's got to be a win, like
a given and then we'll work on offense and defense
to win another phase of the game every week.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
But for those guys, man, that's got to be a
given deal.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
And with our specialists, you know, really, I think we're
four for four in the special Meean's phase. This is
so far this year, and that's got to be a
dominant phase for us, and Marshall and Jamie just done
a great job with that.
Speaker 3 (12:06):
All right, don't forget lunch. You'll meet the defensive line,
get to hear from them, and of course coach more
at first Baptist Church, Opelaika. Just ten dollars will get
you a great lunch. And again that's Thursday at noon,
First Baptist Church in Opelaika. We come back on The
Brian Moore Show Special Teams Coach Jamie Ferguson as we
continue on the way, continueing here on the Brian Moore
(12:27):
Show with Special Teams Coach Jamie Ferguson. Coach, thanks for
joining us.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
I appreciate you having me today.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
We just talked a lot about your special teams. Talk
some more about it. I know you've got a great
group over there you're working on.
Speaker 4 (12:37):
I'll tell you what, we have a really good group
of specialists. You know, you take Zion Henderson, who's putting
the ball really really well right now, has a really
big foot, just comes off as you know, you can
just hear the difference between him kicking and other kickers
when he really hits that ball flushes up. He is
a tremendous leg. And you know, you take the Auburn game.
You know he flipped the field position on one kick.
(12:57):
I think of a sixty four yarder down at the two.
I mean, that's that's game changing. You know, a lot
of people don't look at that, but that's a lot
of hiading yards and uh, for the most part, you know,
he's been pretty good NonStop the whole year. Then you
go into Johnny, who's another tremendous leg and it just
comes off his foot, you know, really different than most
most people. And uh, we've been really pleased with him.
(13:18):
You know, he's been a little banged up last week
or so. And then you know what a luxury to
how to have Reese basically come in and be able
to do whatever he needs to do. Like coach said,
uh before seven or seven on you know, extra points.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
This week, Uh one.
Speaker 4 (13:30):
On one or one for one on his field goals
and uh I had three touchbacks. So I mean that's
a very nice luxury to have. As far as specialists,
and then as far as our teams go, man, we've
had Uh. You know, we want to win every single game,
the special teams, every phase of it. Uh, and that's
kind of our goal every single week. We have goals
that we hit. You know, everybody has offensive degens of goals,
(13:52):
but we have special team goals and we want to.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
Meet those goals.
Speaker 4 (13:54):
And uh, they've done a really good job of not
only meeting those goals, but exceeding those goals and post areas.
I think the most we've never gotten. I think there's
eleven goals for each week, and I think one time
we've not met him two goals.
Speaker 2 (14:08):
In one week. So, uh, they're they're playing extremely.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
Well, all right. I know one thing it starts with
is a snap. Cam Radley's done a good job absolutely.
Speaker 4 (14:15):
This this past week, best snaps we've had him. Kim
really handled a lot of our extra points this week.
You know, when we do our swinging gate, cam Radley
is the guy because he's an eligible guy for as
far as like the fakes and whatnot. Uh so he
has to be able to short snap and he has
some really good short snaps. Kyle Efferson also going there.
He was short snap when we go big field goal
or you know, just big p a t. Again, really
(14:37):
good snaps this week was their best and and you know,
I know coach McCracken always says it, you know, nobody
knows who the snapper is and so there's a bad one,
especially on punt and cam Rady has done a really
good job on all his punts. And they're just continuing
to continue to get better each and every week.
Speaker 3 (14:53):
And you got some pretty good hands there on the holding.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
To it jobs.
Speaker 4 (14:56):
You get it close to bro to him, make everybody
look good. That's what I tell him. Just get it
close to him. He'll make everything work. And he's such
a leader, you know, in everything he does and special teams.
He takes pride in that. You know, somebody that has
such a row on offense or we have defensive players
as well that have really important roles. But our kids
really have bought in to special teams and how important
(15:16):
they are, and not just broughte but of all of
them really, And I think that comes because Coach Moore
is so involved with our special teams and wants and
like he tells me, it's got to be a given,
we've got to win special teams. We'll figure out a
way to win. You know, another phase of the game.
We win to at a three win the game. So
you know, it's being so important to him, makes it
very important to the kids and for me as well.
Speaker 3 (15:37):
And covering kicks, I know so important. I was looking around,
I know Enterprise ran to kick off back on Auburn.
It's one of those things with down the home stretch,
those can make or break their season, and covering some
of these athletes, we're gonna face, it's gonna be key.
Speaker 4 (15:49):
You know, I think every good coach I ran looks
at what your weaknesses were last year, and ours, of course,
you know, glaringly was kickoff coverage. So you know, I
spent the summer and coach Moore, you know, we met
with many different college coaches is trying to figure out
the best strategies, best ways, best you know, circuits to
put our kids through in order to understand how to
(16:11):
make our fits better. And that was a key focus
for us this summer is to make sure our kickoff
covers are better and knock on wood, we've been really
really strong in that aspect that now we have really
good players and they make you look good when you
put those dudes out there, they get down the field.
And again when you get Johnny and Reese that are
banging it down there either in the end zone starting
at the twenty, you know, that's that's the luxury. And
(16:33):
then but most people they wanted to go on the
zone because when they returned it right now, they're not
getting to the twenty. Because our kickoff covers team is
getting downe there so good. So I've been really really
happy with that group. And really, you know, kids like
Xavier Thomas and Vince Wank and Nelson and Brody Jones,
all these guys are just you know, dudes on both
(16:54):
sides of the field and they're just busting to on
special teams through It's just been really good to watch
these guys get down the field really just for the
Harrold fire and looking to hit somebody.
Speaker 3 (17:02):
All right, I know you're excited to get everybody back
to full speed, hopefully coming back this week.
Speaker 4 (17:06):
Yeah, I definitely think we get all these people that
are a little banged up back full speed. You know,
it always makes you feel better and you've got everybody
at your disposal. But I've been really really pleased with
the people that have been stepping in when we've had
some injuries.
Speaker 3 (17:20):
Coach appreciated vis and thanks so much. Thank you for
having me Special teams Coach Jamie Ferguson. We'll be back
next week with a Brian Moore Show. Don't forget Coach
Moore's weekly lunching, Thursday's first Baptist Church and Open like
an eventsive line again the special this week and of course,
next week on the Brian Moore Show, we'll be recapping
hopefully a big win over Smith's Station, a happy homecoming,
and getting ready for the Pike Road Patriots next week
here on the Brian Moore Shows
This it's the Coach Brian Moore Show with Opah like
I had football coach Brian Moore and now with Coach
Moore the voice of the Bulldogs.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Man wrecks.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Another win for the Openlika Bulldogs. I'm thinking Riggs alongside
Coach Brian Moore and coach exciting game, a lot of
offensive firepower in that game against Jack. Congratulations on the win.
Just kind of what are your thoughts after that big win?
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Yeah, I mean I thought, you know, some good moments
in the game.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
You know, still looking for that consistency that we've talked
about all year long. And but but please with the kids.
You know, sometimes after the game, like the week before,
you know, it becomes very difficult to get yourself back going.
And I think we had a great week of prep. Specifically,
Monday was not a great week. However, we bounced back.
Tuesday and Wednesday were really really good. Thursday morning was
(00:58):
a monsoon out in the rain, which was good for
us to go through. It did rain a little Friday,
not much to it, not not enough to impact us.
But you know, please with with the kids and their
maturation and how they're growing. You know, again we got
a speed up because we know what's coming. But but
but again excited, excited about Rhys Beasley.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
I thought he had a really good night and he.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
Was seven of seven h with pats, kicked three in
the end zone for touchbacks and made a field goalf.
So him stepping up for Johnny's seen, I think it's
been really really big. I thought our two quarterbacks played well.
Both CJ and Colby played well in the game. We
split reps between those guys. I thought we spread the
ball to several different you know, offensive weapons, with Waits
getting his first touchdown and Tommy uh and then Jayalen.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
Nelson you know, scoring as well.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
Jordan Waits also had a kick off return for a
touchdown and got called back, but he was out the
gate on that. So that was exciting to see, not
just having the lean on Calvin because we know what
Jordan can do and the type of player he is.
We saw that a year ago. I didn't think up
front we were really clean offensively. I thought we needed
to work on that, and we have this week and
they'll get better. Taking Darius Witlow out of the equation
(02:02):
or right guard, that's been exceptional as a sophomore.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
I think hurt us a little bit, but Carmel.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
Stepped up and so did Keeling, and so those guys
will continue to develop. But the communication is different when
new pieces up up front. And then defensively, it was
good to see Smiley back, you know, really rolling.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
I think he had three.
Speaker 1 (02:17):
Sacks in the game, and then of course the Superman
where he lays out and you know, strip sack only
he can do. And I thought my league was more
dominant last week. And you know, TJ. Thomas continues to
play well, you know, and Braden Stinson had a big sack,
and I thought ty Hudson had several tackles, several of
which you know, they didn't really challenged us inside much
like Auburn.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
They put the ball on the edge.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
And Tie had some sideline and sideline tackles that I
didn't see from him a year ago that I think
is the next step for him. He's a college football player,
you know, he just needs to keep coming on. We
held Tyler Moore just for precaution in the game. But
it was good to see k two Kate and Harris
have a start, and I thought he played well like
Kedrick played well. Berts, he made some plays also, so
again encouraged, but got to be a little bit more
(02:58):
consistent as we go forward.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
One of the players I know that's been banged up,
Bennet Young. Couple of good receptions. It's really good runs
after the.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
Catch, no doubt.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
And Bennett is a guy that you know, was a
little bit nicked up early in the season, and you know,
a guy we need.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
We need him to be solid.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
And you know, we didn't play Brody as much, you know,
out of precaution again, had a little ankle deal, but
Bennett really stepped up. Jalen had another touchdown from Jamari,
you know, so that was cool to get sort of
a dynamic play.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
There and really good pass, a great pass.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
You know, We've got some guys Quees Johnson can too,
that can really spend it. You know, Brody can throw it.
And so we just got some kids that have thrown
the football in the backyard a lot in their life,
you know, and so a lot of schools don't have
that anymore. They're missing that. Our kids still get out
and play and do those things. So Jamory is very
talented with her without the ball. I thought he blocked
really well downfield. Excited to see him grow there. But yeah,
(03:48):
it just encouraged by Bennett. We really need him to
keep growing as we move forward, and.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
That just gives other teams something in the back of
their mind. Anytime they touched the football, boy this guy
could throw it down there.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
And we have all kinds of those I mean, truthfully,
like we we've repped and repped and rep those things,
and we've been really cautious about them. You know, we
ran one against Auburn that we mishandled it, and you know,
we don't want to.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
Gimmick ourselves down the field. That's not who we are.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
But I do think creating explosives is something we need
to do.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
You know.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
Coach McCracken made that point. I think on the radio
broadcast that we had three explosives against Auburn. You know,
we need more like six to eight of those a
game to really get those chunk yards and you know,
to where offenses isn't so hard, you know for us.
If you think about the Auburn game specifically, it was
like five yards, six yards, eight yards. I mean, it
was just a grind to move the football. There weren't
any easy ones outside of Calvin having a couple of
(04:34):
big runs. But we've got to go find those explosives
as we go through the year. I think that'll help
us to become more dynamic and put more points up, kind.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
Of like the big pass that Kobe had to Jamariy.
I mean, that's a huge explosive pass plays and it
was one that was right on the money.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
No doubt, and it was right after Blake had one
down the scene that was called back for a hole
we had kind of had rigged up all year, but
it was good to see that was a third and
really long that we threw the ball to Jamori. Jamar
is not usually the single receiver of the boundary, but
we can do. And we had that play rigged up
and so great throw their great protection, eighty three yard
touchdown pass.
Speaker 2 (05:05):
We need more of those, all right.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
As you move into smith Station, I know it's homecoming week,
been homecoming week, and a lot of fun and festivities
going on with that.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
Yeah, you know, so a couple of cool things going on.
First off, we're playing Smiths all week, starting you know
with our with our freshmen or excuse me, with our JV.
Our freshmen are on the road at Taalsey. But then
we'll play Smith on Thursday as well for middle school,
and then play on Friday night. Also, we have a
community PEP rally at five point thirty downtown right across
(05:33):
fro First.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
Baptist Church there in the square. That's a cool deal.
Our mayor will.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
Speak there and you know, I know, all of our folks,
all of our city council folks and everybody will be
there and be involved.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
That's a really cool deal.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
Walk through the breezeway and you know, sit there in
those chairs and be able to invite our people out,
you know, to support our kids.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
So we're excited about that.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
There are a lot of things that can get in
the way a little when it comes to homecoming, but
we've been cautious of that, and I honestly, I was
more concerned. I asked the coaches on Sunday, I said,
is the Auburn week you know, things off the field
bigger than homecoming?
Speaker 2 (06:05):
They said, yes, you know, so we address those.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
And we don't want to have, you know, issues off
the field.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
But you know, our kids have handled all that really well.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
So but it is a great event for our you know,
former players and coaches and fans and people that maybe
have moved away to come back and see the game,
and hopefully it'll be packed out. It looks like the
weather's gonna be really nice as we moved through the week,
So nice to not have you know, last two games
and in rain games, you know, and so had to
sort of have contingency plans on that. But I expect
a big crowd. Look, I know, you know, records and
(06:33):
all that kind of stuff. You know, we can look
at all that and deal, you know, dig into the
scores and everything, you know, but these are still sixteen
year old kids that are playing. And you know, we've
got to go play well against a region opponent that
is very unorthodox nowadays and what they do offensively, and
so that concerns you. So we've had to work really
hard on that all week. So we'll have to be
right in the run fit and be clean there.
Speaker 2 (06:53):
And we can't let Homecoming.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
And things like that distract us from the fact that
we got to play a region game at home, which
again I don't love homecoming to be on a region
type ball game, but it's just sort of the way
it failed this year. But you know, again, what to
play well to get a win.
Speaker 3 (07:07):
I had to do a double take again week five.
Can you believe we're gonna be at halfway one of
the season already?
Speaker 1 (07:12):
It just flies by, I mean, especially for us without
a bye week, you know, so we're gonna play ten
straight and then have the byewey, you know, before the playoffs,
so you know that it's going to go really really quickly.
And what I want to caution everybody and our kids included,
is don't get ahead with.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
The with the back four. You know.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
We know, you know, once Smith's and Pike Road and
all that, we've got four straight region games in a
row to finish that they are going to really make
or break our year. But we just got to keep
stepping forward because again, even if you don't play well
like last week, you know, we had some moments we
didn't play well, you know, and you still win, you
still don't take the step you need to take in
your maturation through the season, like your team is not
(07:48):
progressing and peaking at the right time if you take.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
A week off.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
So you know, we've got to really do a great
job of focusing on our salves and continuing to clean
up because we're in no way shape or form a
dominant football team.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Right now that can just roll out there and play well.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
We're going to have to compete every week and make
sure that we're locked in, have a great week of
prep and practice to prepare for these games.
Speaker 3 (08:09):
I know a group on your team that gets a
lot of attention defensive line. There'll be showcase coming up
at the weekly lunch on Thursday at First Baptists Opalika
right now.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
Yeah, there'll be a lot of fun.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
You know, we're taking five of them. We could take ten,
but you know, I didn't think we'd have enough food,
you know, if we took ten of them on Thursday.
But exciting league and Smiley and Lightfoot and Braden Stenson
and TJ. Thomas are all going, and Coach Howell's going,
Kenny Prescott's already been one time.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
And so we're going to go through.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
Some clips about two each for kids that you know,
just kind of highlighting a different skill set for them.
And you know, if nothing else, I've told people this before,
you know, the reason we do all this stuff, the
coaches Show and the Thursday lunch and everything a is
to highlight our kids, to put them in the spotlight
because of the work they put in and this experience
that we're creating for high school students, but also for
(08:56):
them to learn how to manage the media and manage
public speaking. And like you know, maliek Autry is gonna
speak a lot in public, so its smiley. So I mean,
all these guys are possibly college players, you know, they're
going to have to experience that.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
And so you know, what a great way.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
To put them on a stage, you know, and and
let their parents come and celebrate them, you know, to
be able to come out and watch them, and you know,
have a great meal that's provided there at the church.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
Just a really cool event.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
So I think the luncheon has really grown and exceeded
my expectation. We had over sixty last week, you know,
and I hope with all the kids that were bringing,
we'll have one hundred this week. And I've encourage everybody
that comes to those bring bring one person with you.
You know, let's get this thing growing. The church can
hold three hundred, so that's the goal. You know, long term,
we'll figure out another venue if we have to, But
I hope that our city will come out and see
(09:40):
our kids, and we'll just continue to go at different
angles each week, just like we're doing this week with
Coach Ferguson being here, you know, for this show, we
want to continue to highlight different people because of the
job that not only our kids are doing, but our
coaches are doing.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
And I really don't say that enough.
Speaker 1 (09:55):
We've got great coaches that care about our kids, that
pour into them, you know, and help those two things.
We always talked about creating championship people that win championships,
you know, and that's what we're working towards. And you know,
Coach Ferguson being here is doing a great job with
our special teams, but more so, he's doing a great
job with the character of our young people, you know,
and how he pours into him and cares about him
and so many behind the scenes things that people don't
(10:16):
even know about.
Speaker 2 (10:17):
So really really pleased with him.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
And while I'm on him, you know, how good have
our special team's been all year, you know, and now
ree stepping up and you know, Reese Beasley's just had
an incredible two game stretch. Again, like I mentioned earlier,
but Zion's punting the ball really well. We'll have Johnny
back soon, maybe even this week, you know, and so
we're encouraged by the job that they're doing with our specialists,
and Marshall Myers as well, with our specialists.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
And they're just doing a tremendous job.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
And again, all these shows and things that we do,
Van and what you're helping us do kind of highlight
our people, and I appreciate that.
Speaker 3 (10:46):
I told the kickers and warm ups there the day,
I said, you know, Marshall used to kick it over
the endoors, that's right, you know, And they kind of
looked at me funny, and then you know, Marshall of
course didn't.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
He didn't go along with it, right right.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
Yeah, Well, you know, actually last week, you know, we
had a left footed they Jack had a left footed kicker,
and so I said, Marshall better stretch for his practice brother,
because you're gonna kick that thing around. So they had
a left footed punter and kicker, different kids, and so
Marshall was our guy. So he's done a tremendous job,
you know, coming from Auburn University. What he's able to
do for coach Ferguson is, you know, is Jamie can
(11:17):
really look at the whole scheme, you know, And I'm
in there too, And we.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
Got several coaches that help. But Marshall can look at
just the specialists.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
You know, so he's just focused on the kickers and
punters because a lot of times, man, if you guys
have any of the people watching have been around football,
I mean, those guys cruise around and do whatever they
want to do at practice.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
I mean, you got ninety nine guys that are working
at practice.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
You've got three kickers that are over there hanging out
talking about whatever, you know. And so we put together
a practice planning for those guys and we structure practice
around them because specialties for us are that important and
we feel like that's got to be a win, like
a given and then we'll work on offense and defense
to win another phase of the game every week.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
But for those guys, man, that's got to be a
given deal.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
And with our specialists, you know, really, I think we're
four for four in the special Meean's phase. This is
so far this year, and that's got to be a
dominant phase for us, and Marshall and Jamie just done
a great job with that.
Speaker 3 (12:06):
All right, don't forget lunch. You'll meet the defensive line,
get to hear from them, and of course coach more
at first Baptist Church, Opelaika. Just ten dollars will get
you a great lunch. And again that's Thursday at noon,
First Baptist Church in Opelaika. We come back on The
Brian Moore Show Special Teams Coach Jamie Ferguson as we
continue on the way, continueing here on the Brian Moore
(12:27):
Show with Special Teams Coach Jamie Ferguson. Coach, thanks for
joining us.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
I appreciate you having me today.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
We just talked a lot about your special teams. Talk
some more about it. I know you've got a great
group over there you're working on.
Speaker 4 (12:37):
I'll tell you what, we have a really good group
of specialists. You know, you take Zion Henderson, who's putting
the ball really really well right now, has a really
big foot, just comes off as you know, you can
just hear the difference between him kicking and other kickers
when he really hits that ball flushes up. He is
a tremendous leg. And you know, you take the Auburn game.
You know he flipped the field position on one kick.
(12:57):
I think of a sixty four yarder down at the two.
I mean, that's that's game changing. You know, a lot
of people don't look at that, but that's a lot
of hiading yards and uh, for the most part, you know,
he's been pretty good NonStop the whole year. Then you
go into Johnny, who's another tremendous leg and it just
comes off his foot, you know, really different than most
most people. And uh, we've been really pleased with him.
(13:18):
You know, he's been a little banged up last week
or so. And then you know what a luxury to
how to have Reese basically come in and be able
to do whatever he needs to do. Like coach said,
uh before seven or seven on you know, extra points.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
This week, Uh one.
Speaker 4 (13:30):
On one or one for one on his field goals
and uh I had three touchbacks. So I mean that's
a very nice luxury to have. As far as specialists,
and then as far as our teams go, man, we've
had Uh. You know, we want to win every single game,
the special teams, every phase of it. Uh, and that's
kind of our goal every single week. We have goals
that we hit. You know, everybody has offensive degens of goals,
(13:52):
but we have special team goals and we want to.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
Meet those goals.
Speaker 4 (13:54):
And uh, they've done a really good job of not
only meeting those goals, but exceeding those goals and post areas.
I think the most we've never gotten. I think there's
eleven goals for each week, and I think one time
we've not met him two goals.
Speaker 2 (14:08):
In one week. So, uh, they're they're playing extremely.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
Well, all right. I know one thing it starts with
is a snap. Cam Radley's done a good job absolutely.
Speaker 4 (14:15):
This this past week, best snaps we've had him. Kim
really handled a lot of our extra points this week.
You know, when we do our swinging gate, cam Radley
is the guy because he's an eligible guy for as
far as like the fakes and whatnot. Uh so he
has to be able to short snap and he has
some really good short snaps. Kyle Efferson also going there.
He was short snap when we go big field goal
or you know, just big p a t. Again, really
(14:37):
good snaps this week was their best and and you know,
I know coach McCracken always says it, you know, nobody
knows who the snapper is and so there's a bad one,
especially on punt and cam Rady has done a really
good job on all his punts. And they're just continuing
to continue to get better each and every week.
Speaker 3 (14:53):
And you got some pretty good hands there on the holding.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
To it jobs.
Speaker 4 (14:56):
You get it close to bro to him, make everybody
look good. That's what I tell him. Just get it
close to him. He'll make everything work. And he's such
a leader, you know, in everything he does and special teams.
He takes pride in that. You know, somebody that has
such a row on offense or we have defensive players
as well that have really important roles. But our kids
really have bought in to special teams and how important
(15:16):
they are, and not just broughte but of all of
them really, And I think that comes because Coach Moore
is so involved with our special teams and wants and
like he tells me, it's got to be a given,
we've got to win special teams. We'll figure out a
way to win. You know, another phase of the game.
We win to at a three win the game. So
you know, it's being so important to him, makes it
very important to the kids and for me as well.
Speaker 3 (15:37):
And covering kicks, I know so important. I was looking around,
I know Enterprise ran to kick off back on Auburn.
It's one of those things with down the home stretch,
those can make or break their season, and covering some
of these athletes, we're gonna face, it's gonna be key.
Speaker 4 (15:49):
You know, I think every good coach I ran looks
at what your weaknesses were last year, and ours, of course,
you know, glaringly was kickoff coverage. So you know, I
spent the summer and coach Moore, you know, we met
with many different college coaches is trying to figure out
the best strategies, best ways, best you know, circuits to
put our kids through in order to understand how to
(16:11):
make our fits better. And that was a key focus
for us this summer is to make sure our kickoff
covers are better and knock on wood, we've been really
really strong in that aspect that now we have really
good players and they make you look good when you
put those dudes out there, they get down the field.
And again when you get Johnny and Reese that are
banging it down there either in the end zone starting
at the twenty, you know, that's that's the luxury. And
(16:33):
then but most people they wanted to go on the
zone because when they returned it right now, they're not
getting to the twenty. Because our kickoff covers team is
getting downe there so good. So I've been really really
happy with that group. And really, you know, kids like
Xavier Thomas and Vince Wank and Nelson and Brody Jones,
all these guys are just you know, dudes on both
(16:54):
sides of the field and they're just busting to on
special teams through It's just been really good to watch
these guys get down the field really just for the
Harrold fire and looking to hit somebody.
Speaker 3 (17:02):
All right, I know you're excited to get everybody back
to full speed, hopefully coming back this week.
Speaker 4 (17:06):
Yeah, I definitely think we get all these people that
are a little banged up back full speed. You know,
it always makes you feel better and you've got everybody
at your disposal. But I've been really really pleased with
the people that have been stepping in when we've had
some injuries.
Speaker 3 (17:20):
Coach appreciated vis and thanks so much. Thank you for
having me Special teams Coach Jamie Ferguson. We'll be back
next week with a Brian Moore Show. Don't forget Coach
Moore's weekly lunching, Thursday's first Baptist Church and Open like
an eventsive line again the special this week and of course,
next week on the Brian Moore Show, we'll be recapping
hopefully a big win over Smith's Station, a happy homecoming,
and getting ready for the Pike Road Patriots next week
here on the Brian Moore Shows
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