BAKER — Baker School's football team, coming off an open date, has one last warm-up game before open district play next week.
When the 3-0 Gators host Rocky Bayou Christian (1-3) on Friday, it could be a trap game for a team that has won 14 straight regular-season games.
Baker Coach Matt Brunson won’t be overlooking the Knights.
“They are the defending state champions in their league,” he said. “Coach (Josh) Childers, who I got to coach a little bit his sophomore and junior year, does a great job at Rocky Bayou and their program. Last year, against Rocky Bayou at half time, it was 7-7 and they battled with us.
“Josh has done a good job of getting skill guys in there. They’ve got a back and a couple of receivers. They are going to be fine and hopefully we will match up with them.”
The Knights will operate out of a spread offense that looks a lot like the one run by Baker, Brunson said. But while the offenses use similar formations, what they do from the formations couldn’t be more different.
The Knights will try to stretch the field with quarterback David Mareno. Mareno threw for 279 yards and three touchdowns last week in Rocky Bayou’s 36-8 win over Oak Hall.
Baker remains a run-first team while using the spread to create matchup problems for opposing defenses.
The Gators used last week’s open date to get some players healthy and work out a few kinks in the system, Brunson said.
Baker coaches haven’t talked about the winning streak, but Brunson admits it is something the Gators can be proud of.
“It is fun to have something positive going on in your program,” he said. “We do take pride in winning regular-season games, although the big game is next week with our district opener against Freeport.
“We will try to get Baker better and worry about what we do. Hopefully, it will be enough.”
UPCOMING
WHAT: High school football, Rocky Bayou Christian at Baker
WHEN: 7 p.m. Friday
WHERE: Baker School’s Doug Griffith Memorial Stadium
EmailNews Bulletin Sports Editor Randy Dickson, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Gators seek to avoid upset