Aidan Atwell (17) pressures Lakeview Centennial’s Kendrick Sanders in the Pirates district win last week

Wylie is coming off a convincing 41-29 win against Lakeview Centennial last week and is determined to add to its four-game winning streak with a district win over Rowlett.

The Pirates have had a potent offense this season and that should be the case tonight.

Here are three keys to a Wylie Pirate victory:

AHMO gonna play defense

With a 2-4 record and 2-2 in the district, the Eagles have struggled against better teams. Sitting in the middle of District 9-6A standings, they’ve beaten the teams they are supposed to beat and lost to teams that should beat them. Rowlett’s losses are to Sachse and Garland, by a lot, and their wins are against Naaman Forest and South Garland, by a lot. The Eagles are an average team at best and the Pirates need to shut them down from the start and give the Wylie offense multiple scoring opportunities.

Run the rock

The Pirates have been averaging over 35 points a game and the Eagles have been giving up over 32 points a game. Stands to reason this should continue tonight. It’s no secret quarterback Jagger Bale can move the ball in the air, but he’s the top rusher on the team as well, averaging over 76 yards a game and 8.8 yards a carry. Let Bale, Roman Bueche and Josh Ausborne run and run often. Bueche is averaging 4.6 yards a carry and Ausborne is averaging 5.6 yards a carry. There is no reason these averages should go down in this game.

Contain Ellison, Benson and Gray

The Eagles offense is dependent on three players, quarterback Andrew Ellison and running backs Ger’Myius Benson and Devin Gray.

Ellison can connect, having passed for 868 yards on 127 attempts. He’s completed 73 passes and is averaging just under 12 yards per completion. Pressure him and he’s bound to add to his six interceptions and struggle to complete more than 50% of his passes.

When the Eagles run, the Pirates need to contain the box, stuffing Benson and Gray at the line to keep them from getting their five-plus yards per carry average. 

Kickoff is 7 p.m. at HB Johnson Stadium

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From Staff Reports • [email protected]