Thursday, September 18, 1997

Bulldog defense overwhelms opponents

By MARK WILSON / Abilene Reporter-News

How quick is the defensive unit of the Wylie football team this season?

The Bulldogs, who haven't allowed a score in seven of eight quarters so far this season, have been pursuing so aggressively that they've been asked to slow down -- a little.

Graham was taking advantage of Wylie's excellent backside pursuit last Friday night, as standout running back Reagan Kelley was using cutbacks across the grain on the way to a 112-yard first half rushing for the Steers.

"They ran some misdirection cutbacks against us in the game that we had not seen," Wylie defensive coordinator Chuck Eoff said. "We had some flow breakdowns overpursuing. We were too aggressive and too in a hurry in the first half. Sometimes we do get hurt pursuing so quickly. We had to slow the backside down just a little bit."

After the adjustment, Wylie went on to post a 17-9 victory -- its third straight over Graham -- improving to 2-0 on the year.

That's a minor flaw in a gem of a defensive unit that has given up only one touchdown (a 26-yard pass play by Graham). Wylie's streak of four scoreless quarters was interrupted by Graham's nine points in the first quarter, but the Bulldogs quieted the Steers in the final three quarters.

The swarming quality of the quick, undersized Wylie defense may deserve the nickname "The Killer Bees," but Eoff has another name for them.

"We just call them the junkyard dogs," Eoff said. "We don't have much size, so we have to use quickness and our pursuing ability to get to the football."

The lack of size hasn't kept the unit from being effective, yielding only eight first downs against Hamlin and eight more versus Graham.

"We're just tremendously pleased with the effort our men have given us," Eoff said. "This is probably the quickest group we've had defensively in seven or eight years, as a team. This is also the smallest group of defensive personnel we've had in that length of time.

"We stress that size is not always beneficial. It helps, but when you use quickness and team concept and get six or seven people to the football, it makes it awful difficult for a ball carrier to continue to go."

Eoff noted that there's always room for improvement, though.

"We can improve on our tackling, and we've got to have a stronger pass rush," he said.

Wylie head coach Hugh Sandifer, whose team has now won 13 of 14 games since the start of last season, said, "No question, our defense is doing a great job putting pressure on opposing offenses. They're playing smart defense and pursuing the football. Lots of gang tackling is one of the keys for us to be successful. We've been fortunate we haven't had big breakdowns defensively, due to playing a team style and not relying on one guy to make every play."

Senior linebacker Scott Unger has nine tackles and 12 assists, and junior linebacker R.D. Hussman has six tackles and 14 assists. Senior outside linebacker Eric Martin has eight tackles and six assists.

While senior nose guard Justin Scott (seven tackles, three assists, four hurried passes) -- the only returning starter on defense -- has been attracting double-team blocking, senior left defensive tackle Jason Hearon has racked up six tackles and six assists. In the Graham game, Hearon recovered three fumbles and caused one of them.

Wylie will play its home opener against Snyder at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Bulldog Stadium.