This interview was recorded Tuesday, Sept. 14, at the Athens ISD Field House.
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The Athens Hornets are 3-0 as they head into Wills Point Friday night. The offense has scored more than 40 points each week, and the defense hasn't given up more than a touchdown.
I. Players of the Week (2:03)
Coach Zac Harrell starts out this week's podcast by talking about the top players from last week's 43-14 win over Fairfield. They are:
MVP: Ty Arroyo
Offensive MVP: Jaden Crane
Defensive MVP: Cody McMichael
Special Teams MVP: Jaxson Stiles
II. Wills Point (6:09)
The Wills Point Tigers are 0-3 and coming off a 49-0 loss to Mabank last week.
Since the Hornets only other away game this year was against Brownsboro, this will be Athens' first real road trip of 2021.
"This will be our first true road test, which is great because our first district game at Chapel Hill is about the same distance," said Coach Harrell. "So it will be a good test for us to get used to what our road game procedures look like on Friday."
Wills Point will also provide another first for the Hornets this year, their first Wing T offense.
"We play two teams in district that run that type of offense in Palestine and Mabank," Coach Harrel said, "It will be a great tuneup for our defense to line up against that."
Coach Harrell explained that lining up against a Wing T or Slot T style of offense is very different than lining up against a spread offense.
"There are hardly any similarities in what you have to do to be technically sound playing against those two types of offenses," he said.
III. Inside Zone (8:44)
Our discussion about Wills Point's 4-2 defense turned into a breakdown of an important run concept for the Hornets: Inside Zone.
"Inside zone is the play we hang our hat on for the offensive line," he said. "From the offensive line standpoint, we want to make sure every time we run inside zone on Friday, we're taking the exact right zone step, we've got our hands in the exact right placement, we're doing all the small thing that makes us successful for our position."
Coach Harrell spent extra time taking fans inside the strategy and explaining exactly what inside zone means. That discussion runs from 10:24 through 13:35.
IV. Keys to the Game (13:37)
Word of the Week: Fundamentals -- "Our goal this week is to get better at doing what we do."
Key No. 1: Be Fundamentally Sound At Your Position
Key No. 2: Execute Our Run Game
Key No. 3: Complete Our Basic Passing Game
Key No. 4: Line Up Right to the Wing T
Ken No. 5: Have Fun
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Hornet Podcast: Athens travels to Wills Point Friday night