The Pampa Harvesters (1-0) return home after the big win against Iowa Park last week 42-28. Pampa will take on the Plainview Bulldogs (0-1). The Bulldogs dropped their first game to Randall by a 26-16 score. It will be a special night in Pampa as Harvester Field at Zach Thomas Stadium gets its official unveiling. Thomas will be in town for the dedication which will begin at 6:35 p.m. before the game. Kickoff will be at 7 p.m.
“I’m very blessed to be out here. I am so excited to watch our kids grow. Our kids are doing such an amazing job and they are excited to get out in front of the fans and put on a show for the home crowd,” Head Coach Floyd White said.
On last week
Pampa took a 21-7 lead into the locker room last week before surrendering the score to a 28-28 tie. Then, Jarren Hill took over with two late touchdowns to bring the Pampa win home.
“It’s great to be able to get out there and get started on a positive note. That always sets the tone. I always talk to our guys about how you have to start strong. If you go out and lose that first one, it is hard to continue to preach that to those guys. We went out there and started strong on the first drive, went down the field and scored on those guys. If it wasn’t for a little snafu on defense we could have got the ball right back. We very easily could have been up 21-0 going into the second quarter of the game,” White said. “After that, everyone settled in and started playing good, solid football. I was most happy to see that. We got the jitters out and we were dominant in the game. We had a couple of issues in the pass coverage that allowed them to keep drives going. We had a couple of silly penalties that kept drives going. Had we not had those, all the sudden that game may not be as close as maybe it was.”
On Plainview
Pampa lost 35-7 in Plainview last year to the Bulldogs. The Harvesters will look to avenge that loss on Friday.
“They are very similar offensively to Iowa Park. I do think Plainview is a little more pass-heavy. Part of that was probably due to what Randall does. They got up on them and forced them to throw the ball more. Right now, they are about 70-30 pass-run. Early on, it is hard to tell if that is what they want to do but the more I am looking at them on film, I think that is what they want to do. They have really good receivers, they have a good back, a pretty good offensive line and a pretty good quarterback. They want to keep the ball in his hands as much as possible. He is dangerous out there when he gets out there scrambling. We have to do things to make him beat us from the pocket,” White said. “Defensively, those guys are pretty solid. They are where they need to be. They do some things really well. We have to make sure we are on target with our assignments. Once we do that, I think we are going to find ourselves in the green pastures before it is all said and done.”
Key Players
Who are the key players for the Bulldogs?
“The quarterback #11 Seth Mayberry is a very good player. He can make all the throws. He can beat you with his arm or legs and that is what makes him so scary. If you miss him, he is running around and dangerous. They have a slot receiver #3 Maddox Ellis who moves all over the field. They do a lot of things to try and get him involved. He breaks a tackle or two and he is outrunning everyone to the endzone. They have multiple other good receivers. It will be a case of trying to keep those guys at bay,” White said. “Up front, they have a couple of good defensive ends and tackles. The end does a good job of setting edges and not letting anyone get outside. Their linebacker play is pretty solid. They are in the holes where they need to be. We have to do some things to get them off schedule. They are pretty good in the secondary. Their front seven is probably a little better than what most people give them credit for.”
First home game
The first game at home is always special for any Texas high school. But, when you have a former player and NFL Hall of Famer, it is even more special. How are the Harvesters looking forward to this night?
“It’s such a cool thing to be able to honor such a legend in the game. He is not just a legend in the NFL by being a HOF member but he is also a legend in the high school game. It is so cool to see someone you watched growing up, go out and then come back and be able to be honored and get the stadium named after him. I am blessed to be able to be here and be coaching the team that is going to be representing him on Friday night. I am honored myself and I know my kids are honored to be a part of it,” White said. “It is going to be cool to see him and talk to him. I haven’t talked to him in a number of years. It will be great to see his family. That aspect to me is what is so exciting right now. On top of it, we get to play a good game against a quality opponent. Everyone will get a chance to see what the coaches, myself, and all the kids are seeing. They get to see it at home for the first time in a game situation. We are still a work in progress. Now, we are a lot more refined than what we were two and three weeks ago.
Keys to the game
• Win the time of possession battle and sustain drives with points
• Keep the quarterback in the pocket and prevent scrambling
• Take advantage in special teams
• Stay disciplined - avoid the silly penalties
“Offensively, we have to maintain possession of the ball. We have to continue to sustain drives and put points on the board just like we did last week. They will do some things to try to take away our run game. We have some things to try to combat what they will try to do. We have to get our pass game going. Once we get that going, it will be hard for people to commit eight or nine into the box. That is what we will start seeing if we don’t start passing the ball a little more,” White said. “Defensively, we have to make sure we keep the quarterback at bay. We cannot let him run around and make plays and make those off scheduled plays that get you in trouble. When you start doing that, everyone starts scrambling. We just need to stay on schedule, pressure smartly, and make sure we are covering and not looking at places we shouldn’t be.”
Another key to the game is to special teams.
“We have to continue to push the ball out there in those special teams situations. We have to take advantage of those snafus they will give us. We just about returned a kickoff the other night. We were one block away from returning it. That’s where we have to take advantage. Anywhere we can find just a small advantage, we have to take it. We just cannot beat ourselves with silly penalties. We had three silly penalties that extended drives for them the other night.”
The game will be streamed on Harvester Sports Network. You can find us on Youtube: www.youtube.com/@HarvesterSportsNetwork/. You can also follow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/HarvesterSportsNetwork. Lastly, we have a Twitter/X page: www.x.com/PampaHSN. Kevin Hunt and Richard Hawthorne will be calling the game. The game will also be broadcast locally on 101.3 Legends Classic Country. That station will be piped through our YouTube feed.
We will have the Zach Thomas dedication on the YouTube video feed. The pre-game show will begin on YouTube and 101.3 at 6:45 p.m. and kickoff is set for 7 p.m. Here is the direct link for the game: https://www.youtube.com/live/2sGUbztxD5k?si=BmrlpRLzFRJCEEGE.
