(Smithville) — The Navarro Panthers take to the road for the first time this season Friday night when they head to Smithville. The Panthers split their first two games at home with a win over Navasota and a loss to Cuero.
Navarro head coach Rod Blount says his team’s defense will look to build off their performances of their linebackers Hayden Toliver and Jacob Arias. Arias was credited with over 25 tackles against Cuero last Friday.
“We knew our linebackers are very good players. We had Arias with 26 tackles against Cuero and Toliver was in double digits as well,” Blount said. “So, the defensive line is doing a good job of keeping the offensive line off those guy and letting them make plays. So, we’re excited about that and we’re gonna continue to build on it.”
Smithville and Navarro each sport 1-1 records coming into Friday night’s match-up. Friday night’s game kicks off at 7:30 p.m. at Tiger Stadium in Smithville.
(Marion) — The Marion Bulldogs will play in front of their home crowd for the first time in the 2023 campaign when they host the Gonzales Apaches on Friday night. The Class 3A Bulldogs will be looking to avenge last year’s loss to the Class 4A Apaches.
Marion head coach Ryne Miller says his team will rely on their play-makers to keep the chains moving down the field on offense.
“Gonzales runs an even front which is good and our kids are familiar with that. So we need to block up front and execute assignments with our offensive linemen. Obviously (quarterback Bo) Stahl is a big part of that. He’s gotta get the ball going,” Miller said. “Jaxon (Garner), Chase (Hallmark), Hadley (Mote), Aiden (Batey), all these guys need to be explosive. We just gotta keep the chains moving and go down and score.”
Friday night’s game between the Bulldogs and Apaches has a 7 pm kickoff at Veterans Stadium in Marion.
And don’t miss Friday night’s high school football coverage on KWED starting at 6:45 p.m. with the Navarro Panther Report where we’ll talk with Panther coach Rod Blount. We’ll follow that with the Marion Bulldog Report and talk with Marion head coach Ryne Miller then we’ll head to Matador Stadium for our Matador pre-game show where we’ll have the Matador Report with Seguin head coach Craig Dailey as the Mats take on Laredo United on Friday night.
It’s all on AM 1580 and streaming online worldwide at SeguinToday.com.