Horseshoe Bend riding high into Lanett

By Dusty Harper (Contact) | Alex City Outlook

Published Monday, September 14, 2009

The 2009 Horseshoe Bend football team has already broken two streaks this season. The Generals ended a nine-game losing streak to Wadley with a 29-19 victory over the Bulldogs to begin the season, and last week Jason Franklin’s team won its first home game in three years with a blowout over Ranburne.

This coming Friday, if the Generals can end a five-game losing skid to Lanett, HBHS will be in great shape to stop its most important current drought missing the playoffs, something the team has done every year since 2001.

This particular game against Lanett may be the best shot HBHS has had in a while against the Panthers. Lanett lost 34-0 last week against Lineville and lost the previous Friday against Woodland.

“There’s no doubt it would be big for us to get to 2-1 in the region,” Franklin said. “Lanett may not be as physical as they have been in previous years, but they are still big and athletic. We just need to come out and score on them early. They are young, and when they got down the last couple of weeks, they weren’t able to recover.”

The Generals clicked on all cylinders in a 33-9 victory over Ranburne. They racked up 403 yards of total offense in a fairly balanced manner, gaining 231 yards on the ground and 172 through the air.

Brandon Thomas, The Outlook’s Player of the Week, has dazzled fans all season with long runs, including a 95-yarder against the Bulldogs. Franklin said his success is all the more impressive when you consider the offensive line shuffling.

“We’ve used a new combination up front every week,” Franklin said. “The guys that haven’t had a lot of reps have stepped up, instead of playing timid like you see a lot of young players. We moved Kyle McCollum from fullback to linebacker, we moved Adam Taylor from guard to tackle and we also put Caleb Oliver from the backfield to the line. All of those guys seemed to fit nicely there and did a great job Friday.”

Tyler Harris, who was penciled in to start before the season, is still going to be out for at least another week with a leg injury, Franklin said. Patrick Duffie (broken leg), another two-way line starter, is still going to be on the shelf for at least three more weeks, as well.

Defensively, several HBHS players have had solid starts in their team’s 2-1 start overall. Thomas and Oliver lead the way with 28 and 25 tackles each. Kendall Thomas and Clay Phillips, who have emerged as top wide receiving targets, both have recorded double-digit tackles as has Reese Claybrook.

Caleb Willoughby has 2 sacks and McCollum and Lynnie Jones have 1. Gage Whiteard has 3 interceptions, while Kendall Thomas and Cody King have 2 apiece.

Franklin hopes the defense will remain consistent and the offense keeps its stride at a tough place to play in Panther Stadium.

“We traditionally haven’t fared too well against Lanett,” Franklin said. “We played with them a few times when we were in a different region down south, but they’ve gotten the best of us since we re-aligned. This is a game we’ve circled on our calendar as one that can swing the season either way.”

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