The Gosnell Pirates (0-2) will look to have better luck this Friday night against another tribe of Indians as they travel to south Mississippi County where they face the Osceola Seminoles after being defeated by the Kennett Indians last Friday 44-8.
The Pirate defense has allowed 113 points in their first two weeks against the Nettleton Raiders and the Indians.
Earnest said anytime you turn the ball over eight times, you’re going to give up points as they did against Kennett.
“Nettleton, we had a lot of busts that we worked on for Kennett and then Kennett, I felt like we played pretty good for three quarters but we’ve got to play good for four quarters. Anytime you give a team eight turnovers, you’re going to give up points, obviously,” Earnest said. “I do feel like our defense had more fight and I felt like we had a good game plan against Kennett and they executed it pretty well. We are just going to continue to work on us. We are developing linebackers every week and we knew that would probably be, not a weak point but a point we had to work on all year. So, that is what we have been doing all week.”
Earnest said the Kennett defense blitzed the Pirates 100 percent last Friday and caused problems for the offensive line and sophomore quarterback Cooper Pieri, who was intercepted three times.
“Kennett did some things on defense that we hadn’t seen. They blitzed us way more than we had seen and hoped for. They were twisting and they confused our offensive line, so Cooper was running for his life all night long, and he’s got to learn from his mistakes,” Earnest said. “He was trying to make plays and throwing into traffic, and we worked with him all weekend. So, I don’t think he will do that again. He should have just took a knee sometimes or threw it out of bounds. He’s got to learn from it. The scrimmage game and the first game, he played pretty well. We are going to keep going and get better with him.”
Earnest said they have spent all week learning ways to combat the blitz.
“Osceola is good. Hopefully, they won’t blitz as much as Kennett did,” he said. “They blitzed 100 percent of plays. We have worked on ways to combat that this week. Last week I feel like we weren’t prepared for it as well as we should’ve been. We spent all weekend gaining ways so if we see a team do that again we know how to combat it.”
OHS is athletic across the board and has great receivers and backs, according to Earnest.
“They have some great wide receivers. (Tray Moore), (Stefan Coleman) and (Greg Hooks) are deep threats and have great hands. Their quarterback does a good job of getting the ball (to the receivers),” the Gosnell coach said. “You’ve got to protect deep and if you back off too far they’re going to throw it short and run past you. So that is what we are focusing on this week.(Rod Hale) and (Brandon Johnson) are great running backs. They are just athletic all the way across the board.”
The ‘Noles are also led by senior quarterback MJ Vance who nearly had 300 yards of total offense against the Blytheville Chickasaws last week in a ‘Noles 33-18 victory.
“We are going to have to keep an eye on (MJ Vance) all week because he runs so well,” said Earnest. “He is a big body. He is a senior. Obviously experienced. So, he has been through the battles. He is a very good athlete and we will have our work cut out trying to stop him.”
The positive thing for the Pirates, according to Earnest, is that his team is still fighting and working in practice.
“ We are 0-2 but we had 100 percent attendance in Sunday’s practice. The kids are still fighting. We know it is our mistakes as to why we aren’t wining. It’s us. It’s not that we can’t compete with Osceola and Nettleton and Kennett,” Earnest said. “It’s just mistakes we are making, and we are trying to clean up. I think they’re bought in and I think we are going to. I think we will go out and have a good showing Friday night and that is what we are hoping to do.”
The Seminoles will also be with out lineman Jacob O’Kane who was ejected last Friday night against the Chicks.
The Pirates and ‘Noles are set to kickoff at 7 p.m. Friday night at Seminole Stadium.