CROSBY — If the best offense is a good defense, then the Crosby Cougars’ offense should be in pretty good shape as they look to take on Montgomery today at 2 p.m.
After starting off 0-2, the Cougars went back to the drawing board and they started with the defense.
Defensive players like Cameron Trench, Dylan Judy, M.J. Mathis, Luke Porter, Johnny McKinney, Zane Harber, Wesley Holloway and Donnie Webster are a big reason the Cougars are in the Class 4A Division I area-round playoff game. The game is set for Spring’s Leonard George Stadium.
“We went back to what we had been doing the last seven or eight years,” Defensive Coordinator Chuck McKeon said. “We switched back from man coverage to the Cover 2 defense.”
The reason they made the change in the first place was due to personnel changes.
“We came through the summer and thought we would need six or seven men in the box to stop the run because not one of our defensive lineman were returning,” McKeon said. “That didn’t seem to work how we hoped and it seemed to be too soft so we went back to the zone.”
Ever since then, the defense has carried the team on its shoulders and helped earn its way to a 9-2 record, 7-0 in District 19-4A and a spot in the second round of the playoffs.
“I think that contributed a lot to the turnaround,” McKeon said. “We forced more turnovers. We didn’t give up as many yards and touchdowns but we got our defense off the field and gave good field position to the offense.”
Coaches say the defense is stacked with talent and leadership. The team is confident in its shut down corners, Trench and Mathis. Flanigan calls his senior linebacker Judy the “quarterback of the defense” and attributes a lot of the success to senior Porter. Just a couple weeks ago, when they took on Bay City, Mathis had three interceptions in the first half.
Head coach Kevin Flanigan said, “They weren’t throwing to the other side because Cameron (Trench) was doing a great job of shutting it down, and M.J. was in the right spot to pick off those passes.”
Others contributing to the defense’s success include players such as McKinney, Harber, Holloway and Webster, and the Cougars will need all the help they can get from those guys to come away with a win over Montgomery.
“They have 300-pound linemen and they like to pound the ball so we’re going to focus on stopping the run if we want to win this game,” Judy said. “We have high expectations for this team, but we also know it will be a tough game.”
“They have a lot of size and athleticism upfront,” McKeon said. “Their running back, No. 25 (Leroy Dobbins) is a good player who stretches the defenses from sideline to sideline. We need to do all we can to contain him.”
Dobbins is closing in on 2,500 rushing yards and has 23 touchdowns on the ground.
Montgomery currently holds an overall record of 9-2 and a district record of 5-2.
If the change in defense is what made the difference in helping them win nine straight games, then perhaps the Cougars will be able to add one more as they hope to find out that defense does win championships.