Goats look to earn playoff victory against Whitney

It’s been 26 years since Groesbeck won a football playoff game. The Goats will try to snap that streak Friday when they take on Whitney in a Class 3A bi-district game at Waco ISD Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 7:30 p.m.

Groesbeck enters the fray with an 8-2 overall record. They won four of five games in District 8-3A, Division I and finished second. Whitney is 5-5 overall. They finished third in District 7-3A, Division I with a 4-2 record.

Groesbeck coach Jerry Bomar said he’s not emphasizing the playoff victory drought with his players this week. They’re concentrating on getting a victory and moving to the next round of the postseason.

“I think you have to handle that carefully,” Bomar said. “Because me, my staff, these players won’t really have a whole lot to do with what’s gone on in the past. I don’t want to put a burden on them to feel like there is added pressure to win the game. I think our kids want to play well because it’s a playoff game. We want to bounce back. We don’t feel we played as well as we could have last week. The kids are determined to go out and play a good game. I don’t want to put that (playoff victory drought) as a burden on our players. We need to win anyway, regardless of whether we’ve had a long drought or not.”

The Goats enter the postseason healthier than they were last season, when they lost to Dallas Madison by a touchdown in bi-district despite missing starting quarterback Allen Lewis and starting running back Ma’Qua Smith. The two juniors are healthy and ready to go against Whitney.

In fact, Bomar said, his team is as healthy as it’s been since the beginning of the season. He said the only starter who could sit out due to an injury is linebacker Ryder Bagley.

Groesbeck got offensive tackle Cyler Corn back last week after he was out for two months with an injury. Bomar said linebacker Brian Valentine, who has been out for a month, could see some action Friday.

“We are probably at this point in time the healthiest we’ve been since the start of the season,” Bomar said. “It hasn’t been that way all year. It’s been a fight all year. It’s been a challenge week to week on who’s going to play and who the depth is going to be. It’s been one of the hardest years we’ve had to go through.”

Bomar called Whitney’s offense a “very wide open offense.”

The Wildcat attack revolves around quarterback Garrett Peacock. The 6-foot- 1, 175-pound senior has completed 56 percent of his passes for 2,178 yards with 22 touchdowns and six interceptions. He also is Whitney’s leading rusher with 554 yards and four touchdowns.

“They have a very, very good quarterback,” Bomar said. “He’s a big kid. He can really throw the ball well. He’s also an excellent runner. He’s their whole offense. It’s him running or him throwing. They spread the field constantly and you have to defend the whole field. They have a really wide open scheme. They’ve scored a lot of points this year.”

Whitney has five players who have caught at least 16 passes. Kyler Cryns is the leading receiver with 43 catches for 589 yards and eight touchdowns. The Wildcats’ main deep threat is Orrin Green, who has 27 receptions for a team-leading 614 yards (22.7 yards per catch) and six touchdowns.

Bomar said Groesbeck will have to defend the Wildcats in multiple ways.

“I think you have to do a little bit of everything,” he said. “We have to play situational football in this game. Sometimes we need to man up and go get the quarterback. Sometimes we need to back off and cover. We’ve just got to be smart about it and our players are going to have to execute either way.”

Bomar said he felt that playing against Whitney’s spread offense is a better matchup for his team than some of the district games, where the Goats had to go against teams that were more run-oriented.

On defense, Whitney is quick and isn’t afraid to bring pressure.

“They’re a lot like our defense,” Bomar said. “Their very quick. I think we have a size advantage up front, but that doesn’t guarantee you of any success. You’ve got to utilize that to your advantage. We’re going to have to do a good job of being very balanced on offense. We’ve got to be more balanced and try to keep the ball more and have longer possessions.”