Saturday, Nov. 07, 2009

Hornets hope to take air out of pass-happy Auburn

Their quarterback has thrown for almost 2,000 yards

NASHVILLE -- The offenses on the field today at Nashville High couldn't be any more different.

Auburn's pass-happy attack will clash with the ground-hugging style of the Nashville Hornets (6-4) in a second-round game of the Class 3A playoffs. Game time is 1:30 p.m.

"It's the exact opposite when you talk about Nashville's offense and our offense," said Auburn coach Dave Bates. "It's totally one end of the spectrum to the other different."

The Trojans (8-2) have one of the most prolific passers in the Springfield area in junior quarterback Michael Bates, the coach's son. Bates has completed 134-of-229 pass attempts for 1,972 yards and 17 touchdowns.

"I think this is the best passing quarterback that we'll face," said Nashville coach Matt Gajewski. "(Tyler) Detmer's pretty good for Mater Dei, but he's more of a dual threat. This guy is a true passing quarterback. He's a good athlete, but he wants to throw instead of run.

"He's got some good receivers and he's going to give us a challenge. He makes some plays and gets rid of the ball fairly quick. We're going to have to put some pressure on him to take some pressure off of our secondary."

As a sophomore, Bates threw for 2,559 yards and 25 TDs in leading Auburn to a 12-1 record. The Trojans were beaten 27-13 in the Class 2A semifinals by Casey-Westfield, which lost in the state title game to (Elmhurst) Immaculate Conception.

All four of Auburn's top receivers graduated, leaving Bates with a new crew of wideouts in junior Tavelle Hammer (41 catches, 762 yards, eight TDs), junior Forest Brake (19-305), senior James Dambacher (19-305) and senior Tyler Johnson (11-190).

Four other receivers have caught at least eight passes, as Bates likes to spread the ball around.

"We had some growing pains early in the year and we knew that would happen," Dave Bates said. "Later in the year, I think everybody started to get on the same page and we started playing better. It took awhile for him to get comfortable with the four new guys considering he had played with the other guys for two years."

Auburn, which is the smallest school in 3A, can run the ball with senior Ryan Gardner (130 carries, 825 yards, 12 TDs) and Dambacher, who has gained 231 yards and eight TDs as the fullback.

Nashville is no stranger to the spread offense. All four of its non-conference opponents -- Mater Dei, Columbia, Benton and West Frankfort -- utilize some form of the spread.

"This is the fifth shotgun/spread offense we've faced this year," Gajewski said. "I'd like to think that we've gotten better each time, but the big test will come Saturday."

Nashville -- which came in as a 15th seed and knocked off No. 2-seeded Sesser-Valier 21-19 in the first round last week -- makes its living running the ball out of the double-wing behind its mammoth offensive line, which averages 250 pounds.

Junior scatback Gannon Mamell has 1,228 yards and 20 TDs on 178 carries, while Chris Storey (87-529) and Tyler Meyer (56-313) alleviate some of the pressure off Mamell.

Junior quarterback Brady Harre has completed just 35 passes for 653 yards, but Gajewski said that doesn't mean the Hornets are one-dimensional.

"We're just better at running the ball than we are passing," Gajewski said. "We have some big weapons that we can use in the passing game, too. We catch teams off-guard when we throw, and Auburn catches teams off-guard when they run."