D’ville not taking Evadale lightly

[KFDM COOP]

D’ville not taking Evadale lightly

Van Wade

The Orange Leader

DEWEYVILLE — Without question, the Deweyville Pirates are breathing a big sigh of relief.

After all, the Pirates coming off an emotional 8-6 victory over a tough Vinton (La.) team in what was their first-ever home game at their new Pirate Stadium.

“I’m so proud of the kids because I think they got a big monkey off their backs last week,†said Pirate head coach Dwight Bickham. “They felt a lot of pressure with it being the first game in the new stadium and all. They can be very proud of beating a very sound football team. This week, they already look relieved and seem to be having more fun again.â€

The Pirates (1-0) will play host to an old rival in the Evadale Rebels (1-0) this week. The Pirates have had the Rebels’ number the last several years, including a 34-0 shutout victory last season, but Coach Bickham sees the Rebels as a much more formidable foe this season.

“Evadale is very much improved,†Bickham said. “They really put the hurt on Colmesneil 45-7 last week. They do a lot of good things.â€

The Rebels return six starters on both sides of the ball from last year’s 4-6 unit.

Junior quarterback Micah Stringer leads an explosive Evadale offense along with backs Justin Crain and Wes Massingill.

“They run a lot of formations to keep you off-balance like the shotgun and two-back play,†Bickham said. “They have a couple backs that can burn you and a good quarterback. They like to run the toss and they also like that little swing pass. They’ll certainly keep our defense honest.â€

The Pirates chewed up a lot of yardage on the ground against Vinton. Sophomore Keaton Addison ripped off 166 yards on 19 carries. Cruz Thrailkille added 51 yards and Stephen Gibson added 49.

That’s the good news for the Pirates. The bad news — they’ve lost running back/safety Kane Kachtik for the season with a knee injury.

“Kane’s injury is so tough and it does hurt us as far as our depth goes because he was important on both sides of the ball,†Bickham said. “We’ve got some guys that can carry the load in the backfield still but we certainly can’t afford any more injuries because of our overall depth.â€

The Pirates hope to remain stingy on defense after limiting Vinton to a mere 153 total yards last week.

“Defensively, we got after it pretty good,†Bickham said. “It’s not easy holding a team like Vinton to that many yards. Without a doubt, Evadale will certainly test us this week. We’ve got to be prepared for anything.â€

[DP#1FAN]

Get after it tonight Pirates!

[SteelerCzy]

Good luck Pirates, play hard.

[24 over par]

cut down on those turnovers

[dav-joel]

Let's go pirates.....