Leesville Road football
Broughton, Leesville Road's first-round playoff opponent, should expect a good dose of Pride running backs Dylan Edwards (42) and Nate Whittington (1) Friday night.
Pride battles conference foe Broughton
When this qualifies as a positive you begin to understand the rash of injuries the Leesville football team has battled this year.
As Pride head coach David Green listed off the handful of notable players expected out for Friday's 4-AA playoff opener at Broughton, the coach added "Well, the good news is Josh Stanley is off crutches this week."
Yes, having Leesville's first-string quarterback back on the mend is encouraging.
But as Green pointed out, the Pride must string together a few more wins before Stanley's back behind center.
Not an easy task, but Leesville has grown accustom to replacing starters this fall and have shown plenty of resiliency during its 8-3 regular season.
In the past week, the Pride lost two more players — one of whom they just got back.
During last week's 20-3 loss to Wake Forest-Rolesville, quarterback Logan Bible injured his shoulder and is "unlikely" to see action Friday, Green said. (Austin Berrios and Andrew Wolfe should split snaps Friday, much like they did against Millbrook earlier this season.)
And even more disheartening is defensive back Ryan Mangum, out for the past two months, was cleared to play this week, only to re-injury himself a day later.
"They turned him loose Monday, and he got hurt Tuesday," Green shrugged. "But that's a part of football. You have to adjust. All you can do is play the game with who you have."
Although Leesville got the better of the Capitals 31-6 in their Oct. 2 meeting, Broughton finished the remainder of the conference season on a roll, taking second place and clinching a state playoff home game.
During the Capitals' three-game winning streak to end the regular season, the squad has developed a consistent ground attack, relying heavily on running back Chris Mangus to move the chains.
"They have gotten into more of a power running game," Green explained. "They were using that some early, but they seem to have gone to it a lot more in the past few weeks. And it's working well for them.
"They have been playing good, solid defense, and they are moving the ball well on offense. And they've improved a lot down the stretch."
Having faced a Cap-7 Conference opponent in the postseason during each of the last four years, Green said he's come to expect squaring off against a familiar foe in the playoffs.
"It seems to work out that way most years," he said. "With as many 4AA teams in our conference, you're almost bound to have some rematches in there."
Although the Pride are on the road, it's nice to stay in Raleigh, Green explained, "It beats getting on a bus for a long trip."
With the conditions Friday expected to be soggy because of this week's rain, the Pride will likely stick to the ground game, meaning Dylan Edwards, Nate Whittington and Berrios will get plenty of work.
Green explained the weather won't change his team's mindset, however. "We got to do what we do," he said. "We have played in the rain before. It's seem to rain just about every Friday night we have been on the road this year. It won't be too much different. Our white jerseys have gotten messy before."
The winner of Friday's game plays the winner Jack Britt/Panther Creek.
