Badger defense confident, prepared for ‘best QB we’ve seen’

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  • Aden Rascoe (27) blocks a Uvalde Coyote as Ethan Moreno, right, breaks tackles in the Badgers’ 61-14 bi-district playoff win last week. JEFF LOWE | DISPATCH RECORD
    Aden Rascoe (27) blocks a Uvalde Coyote as Ethan Moreno, right, breaks tackles in the Badgers’ 61-14 bi-district playoff win last week. JEFF LOWE | DISPATCH RECORD
  • Joseph Whitehead (10) makes his first field goal of the season while Dax Brookreson (5) holds and Ian McKinney blocks a Uvalde Coyote. JEFF LOWE | DISPATCH RECORD
    Joseph Whitehead (10) makes his first field goal of the season while Dax Brookreson (5) holds and Ian McKinney blocks a Uvalde Coyote. JEFF LOWE | DISPATCH RECORD
  • Landon DiBattiste (80) takes a handoff from Peyton Underwood (4) as Harrison Hays (51) and Caleb Brady (55) block against Uvalde last week. JEFF LOWE | DISPATCH RECORD
    Landon DiBattiste (80) takes a handoff from Peyton Underwood (4) as Harrison Hays (51) and Caleb Brady (55) block against Uvalde last week. JEFF LOWE | DISPATCH RECORD
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Two of the best offenses in the state will meet Saturday, as Lampasas (9-0) plays Corpus Christi Miller (7-4) for the bi-district title at Dub Farris Athletic Complex in San Antonio.

Kickoff is at 8 p.m.

Both teams are defending area champs.

The Buccaneer offense scored a season-high 86 points two weeks ago, while allowing 76 points in the same game against Beeville Jones (2-8).

Miller senior quarterback Andrew Body has committed to Texas Southern University

“In a way he reminds me of Ace [Whitehead],” LHS Defensive Coordinator Sam Waldrip said. “The way he‘s a good runner. He finds ways to create on the fly. And he’s an accurate passer He’s got a good arm.”

Body threw for 4,176 yards and 47 touchdowns last season. He had 8,762 career passing yards and 90 touchdowns coming into this season.

Whitehead entered the year with 9,555 career passing yards. He now has 11,271 yards and 135 touchdowns in the air through his career and just over 2,000 career rushing yards.

Body “is by far the best quarterback we’ve seen,” LHS head coach Troy Rogers said.

Badger junior linebacker Case Brister said, “If we get pressure on him, that’d be awesome. No quarterback handles pressure as well as they do whenever they’re just sitting back there in the pocket by themselves.”

Brister is coming off a game with 11 tackles and one safety forced in the Badgers’ 61-14 bi-district victory over Uvalde (2-9).

Brister has postseason experience, having been in three playoff runs, but the Badgers also saw big plays last week from first-year varsity players.

“Any playoff game is a confidence-builder, and people who haven’t been in that position before know what it feels like to be in a playoff game now,” Brister said. “It’s very big for the younger kids.”

After a lot of film study on the Buccaneers, Brister said their best game actually was a 77-76 loss to the Port Lavaca Calhoun Sandcrabs.

Calhoun was ranked No. 3 in the state earlier this month. The Sandcrabs, the Miller Buccaneers and the Calallen Wildcats combined to form one of the bestranked districts in the state.

But Miller also has had plenty of mismatches. The Bucs have held three teams to a touchdown or less.

“They don’t come off the gas,” Rogers said. “There’s no, ‘Hey, we’re late in the third quarter, up by 50 or whatever.’ Against La Feria, they poured it on them. But in those other games when they’re in shootouts, they have the firepower.”

Miller is strong on the run and the pass.

Sophomore receiver Lonnie Adkism and junior running back McCullion Williams have been clocked at about 4.5 seconds in the 40-yard dash, and senior receiver Adraeon Lloyd has close to 4.7 speed.

The Buccaneers’ two best also are starting cornerbacks. Their receivers are about the size of the Badgers’ starting defensive backs.

Top defensive players to watch are senior linebacker Jayshawn Trimble, big junior defensive tackle Dae-Jon Bisby and senior linebacker Albert Levingston.

The Buccaneers don’t bring a lot of pressure defensively.

On offense, “their idea of time management is score as fast as possible,” Rogers said. “They play extremely fast. If you take a play off, they’re gonna snap it and run by you.”

The Badgers should be well prepared. Even though they are not running 16 110- yard sprints like they did in August, the fast pace of practice “is go, go, go. We like to think of our practice tempo as conditioning, and then we tack on good, old-fashioned running,” Rogers said.

Brister described the Miller offense as not complicated but consistent.

“I’d probably compare them to about like LBJ,” the linebacker said. “They’ve just got some athletes who know how to make plays, but we have athletes who know how to make plays, too.”

The Badgers’ district game against Austin LBJ was their second-closest of the year – an 18-point victory.

Whitehead, fresh off signing a National Letter of Intent to play baseball at The University of Texas, said it felt good to have that done so he could focus on football for the time being.

“We definitely want to score as many [points] as we can,” Whitehead added. “I know our defense will step up like they always do.”

Two Badger receivers who missed part or all of recent games with injuries were suited up in practice Wednesday, but there was no official word on whether they would return to the starting line-up this weekend.

The winner of this area match-up will advance to face either Calhoun or Boerne.