By Zac Green
The Pampa Harvesters (0-1) hit the road to play the Plainview Bulldogs (0-1) on Friday night at Greg Sherwood Memorial Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. Pampa opened the season at home last week with a heart-breaking loss, 28-27, while Plainview got beat at home by the Randall Raiders 44-23. As I do each week, I sat down with Head Coach Floyd White to discuss last week’s game as well as preview this week.
I first wanted to discuss the offensive line and how they performed last week. No sacks allowed by the squad and the team rushed for 346 yards and four rushing touchdowns.
“Our offensive line has been a work in progress. When we started this thing and the stuff we are doing on offense we knew we would have a good offensive line. We knew we would need to lean on them and let them start to figure things out themselves,” head coach Floyd White said. “They have taken a lot of coaching and butt chewings along the way but they’ve done a fantastic job of taking to what coach (Jackson) Kashwer and coach (Eric) Langhenning are teaching them.and they are applying it. Coach Kashwer does a great job with them and works with them nonstop all day. One thing people don’t realize about the offensive line is all five of those guys have to be in unison and work together more than any other group on the field. Those guys do a tremendous job. A lot of them got a lot stronger over the summer. We are able to double team and move guys and push people off. Very, very proud of those guys and what they have accomplished.”
Next, we discussed special teams. Pampa allowed a kickoff return touchdown and missed three extra point attempts, one ultimately was the difference in the game.
“We went in starting yesterday and those were the first things we addressed. Our field goal kicker spent two-and-a-half hours yesterday kicking field goals and extra points. He spent a lot of time on Labor Day. We wanted to re-tool our kickoff coverage. You don’t give up a kickoff return touchdown and be okay with it,’ White said. “We try to spend a lot of time on special teams every day. We designate the first 25 minutes of practice to it. Special teams are important to us. Sometimes you have to introduce some other people into the mix to create that competition. We have done a couple of things to make sure no one gets stale or stagnant. We brought in some kicking competitions today. We are doing some things to try to up our special teams game.”
Lastly, the defense played great, especially late in the first half when Senior Linebacker Boston Botello made a great play to end the half.
“Our defense really played hard. That has been a point of emphasis for us. We didn’t like the 97-yard touchdown drive and that was brought on by two really long plays for them. Those plays were pretty stoppable if we executed. We just didn’t do that. Ultimately that falls on my shoulder,” White said. “Right there at the end of the first half you practice those situations where people don’t have a timeout and they have to get something running. We work those scenarios in practice and we go back and look at them on film on Saturday. We make sure everyone gets to that guy, everyone gets to the ball. All those little things so you can maybe run out those last 5 seconds of the half or game. Those scenarios are very important for us especially when we try to teach young men how to play the game.”
Coaches final thoughts on last week’s game:
“The one thing I saw and was really excited about. We have gotten a lot of compliments around town and people talking about the resilience our kids showed. I am so excited and proud of our kids. Normally, you go and they score with four to five minutes left and everyone’s heads are down and sulking. The crowd goes quiet. Our kids found a way to fight back and kept fighting and got themselves a lead. We hate the way the game ended up how it did. (credit to Iowa Park they did a lot of great things). In the end, we have to continue to learn how to compete, capitalize on their mistakes, and stop making our own. I am very, very proud of our kids and the resilience they showed. Looking forward to a new week.”
Plainview offense:
“If you watched the game last year when we had the Zach Thomas Stadium tribute, they look similar to that on offense. They are led by their quarterback. He is an operator, he can deal the ball, he can run around, he does a great job of extending plays. He is one I really kind of worry about. They have two receivers outside #2 and #8. Those guys can get out there and run down the field and make a lot of plays happen. You don’t want to get them the ball out in space,” White said. “Up front, they aren’t bad. They have improved from last year. They are big, strong and aggressive. We will have our work cut out for us. I don’t feel like we are overmatched in any way though. We just have to make sure we continue to execute the way we can execute. If we continue to do that, and minimize our mistakes, from a defensive standpoint, we are going to be okay.”
Plainview defense:
“They are not real multiple on defense. They will sit in a 4-man front and have the backers close to the line. They will give you pressure. They do a good job of getting in gaps and staying in gaps. We have to go a good job up front on the offensive line to ID certain things and looks and make sure we get guys pushed out of the way. Some of their top players on the team are in the secondary. I think those are the best players on the team on the corner. They get out there and can lockdown anybody. You aren’t going to get many shots against them so you better take your shots when you get them. Those guys will be draped all over you,” White said. “No. 44, a linebacker, was a thorn in the side for Randall and will be for us as well. We have to ID him and keep an eye on him and make sure we don’t let him get loose and start terrorizing the backfield. They have two defensive tackles who are really good and we will have to make sure to get bodies on them. Sometimes we can read some of them, sometimes we have to double team them. Ultimately, it will fall down on the offensive line to get those guys moved.”
Keys to the game
Continue to execute drive after drive: “For all the great stuff we did, we still turned over the ball twice. That is not something we want to do. If we can eliminate those. We had an interception on the first drive last week. Turnovers are the ultimate end factor in a game like this, especially with how we do it. You aren’t going to get a bunch of possessions so you have to make sure when you get them you maximize them.”
Defensively execute pressures. “We have to make sure we execute pressure on defense.”
Create takeaways: “That’s one thing we missed the other night. We dropped two interceptions and one of them would have stopped the drive from happening before the end of the half. We had another pick we front cut early in the first quarter that would have staved off one of their drives. We just have to execute and capitalize on those opportunities to get those takeaways.”
What would the coach like to see Friday night?
“You see the true growth of a team from week 1 to week 2. That is where you see the biggest growth. I am planning on seeing some big strides Friday. Making sure we are taking care of the ball. Making sure we are executing and executing at a high level. We try to keep them away from having any moments where they can seize the momentum of the game. I like to control the ball and make sure we are doing things we need to do rather than having to adjust to things they are doing. If we can go ahead and seize the momentum and the pace of the game, I think the Harvesters are going to have a great chance,” White said. “I’m very excited. I can’t even begin to express how excited I am to watch these guys and see how they come back and respond going into this. What I really want to do is be able to get those guys out there and unchain the Harvesters and let them get after it Friday.”
I ended the interview by discussing a young gentleman by the name of Tristan Bagwell. He is a Senior and would be a star on the offensive and defensive line but is unfortunately not able to play football this season. His impact and presence is being felt on and off the field still as a Pampa Harvester.
Photo Courtesy of Charla Shults
“The one good thing about Tristan is he is not afraid to work. He will get out there and coach Kashwer will give him a task and he is going to take it and make sure he gets it done. What you always see with him is his leadership goes far beyond just working with the offensive line. For example, I am up there Sunday, and he comes up there with our kicker and just starts working kicking drills with him. He is one of those guys who is always willing to help. When you have a guy like that, you don’t let him get away from the program just because he is not playing. A lot of kids would want to twist off and say ‘oh, I am not playing so I am going to go over here and do this or that and come to football when I can.’ Tristan is not that kind of young man. He is such a tremendous young man and you can tell he was raised right. He comes out there day in and day out regardless of the situation knowing he won’t get a chance to play and puts all the work in. He does morning lift with us. He does all the running. He does all the things that he needs to do in order to be a leader. There is a reason why, even though he isn’t playing, he was voted in as one of the top vote getters for captain. That is a testament to who he is as a young man.”
The game will be streamed on Harvester Sports Network thanks to Kevin and Shawna Hunt stepping up. If you recall, I stepped down at the end of last school year as the leader of HSN. Without those two, there would be no away livestream for football.
You can find HSN on Youtube: www.youtube.com/@HarvesterSportsNetwork/. You can also follow them on Facebook: www.facebook.com/HarvesterSportsNetwork. Lastly, there is a Twitter/X page: www.x.com/PampaHSN. Kevin and Ethan Hunt will be calling the game. The game will also be broadcast locally on 101.3 Legends Classic Country. That station will be piped through the YouTube feed. If everything works out okay, the home games will be streamed through the video scoreboard meaning there could be replays on the broadcast!
The pre-game show will begin on YouTube and 101.3 at 6:45 p.m. and kickoff is set for 7 p.m. A weekly radio show with Coach White called “Whiteboard Wisdom” with yours truly interviewing him will play at 6:20 p.m. each gameday before Kevin Hunt gets on with his pregame show!