After a week-long hiatus, Washington returns to action tonight hoping that some bye week tweaking to its offense can help the Pam Pack produce more points.
With 883 rushing yards in four games, Washington (2-2) has been able to move the ball, but teams are beginning to load up against the run, as evident by its 14-7 loss to West Craven its last time out.
With a week off between games, Pam Pack coach Sport Sawyer went to work on trying to add new dimensions to his attack.
“We were glad to see the bye week,” Sawyer said. “We were able to make some changes in the way we approach things. It was a good time to have the bye.”
The Pam Pack will test out its spruced up offense tonight at home against a Riverside team that owns a 3-2 record and is coming off of a heartbreaking 20-18 loss to East Carteret in Week 5.
The Knights are coached by Washington alum Asim McGill, who played quarterback for the Pam Pack before graduating in 1996.
“It’s always exciting to go back,” McGill said. “I went to school there and it’s fun to see some people that you know, so it’s always exciting to go back.”
As for the loss to East Carteret, McGill said he refused to let his team dwell on it.
“I tell the kids that when you win you’re not as good as you think you are and when you lose you’re not as bad as you think you are,” McGill said. “We enjoy wins till midnight and if we lose we forget about it after midnight and move on.
“We looked at the film and we worked on correcting some of those mistakes and we will be ready to play on Friday.”
Tonight’s matchup figures to be an explosive one as Washington will attack behind the backfield tandem of Markel Spencer (126 rushing yards per game) and Stevie Green (83 RYPG), while the Knights will counter with electric sophomores J.J. Wilson (7.6 yards per carry) and Malik Smith (5.8 YPC).
“Riverside has some good players,” Sawyer said. “Coach McGill works those guys pretty hard and has those guys intense and ready to play. I expect them to come out ready to play and we have to be ready for that.”
McGill said his main concern is stopping the tandem of Green and Spencer on defense, while his offense must figure out a way to block Pam Pack’s defensive tackle tandem of Baylone Guilford and Travon Wallace.
“They’re a good football team,” McGill said. “They have two 300-pound defensive tackles and two guys in the backfield that can go to the house any time. We have our work cut out for us this week.”