PREVIEW: John Tyler Needs Win + Help to Reach Playoffs

DISTRICT 11-6A

Tyler Lee Red Raiders (5-4, 2-4)

vs.

John Tyler Lions (5-4, 3-3)

7:30 p.m. Friday

CHRISTUS TMF Rose Stadium, Tyler

Coaches

• Lee: Kurt Traylor
• John Tyler: Ricklan Holmes

Last week

• Lee: def. North Mesquite, 50-21
• John Tyler: lost to Mesquite Horn, 35-13

Next week

• Lee: season is complete
• John Tyler: TBD

Playmakers

Lee

• QB Chance Amie, Sr., 6-5, 185 (97 of 169, 1,369 yards, 11 TDs, 7 INTs; 132 carries, 872 yards, 12 TDs; committed to Houston)
• RB Ladarius Wickware, Jr., 6-0, 190 (152 carries, 1,054 yards, 9 TDs; 9 catches, 81 yards, 0 TDs)
• DL Nathan Niedrauer, Sr., 6-1, 230 (62 tackles, 11 for loss, 5 sacks, 28 QB pressures, 2 forced fumbles)
• RB/LB Lanthony Simmons, Sr., 6-2, 210 (67 carries, 387 yards, 4 TDs; 6 catches, 118 yards, 1 TD; 47 tackles, 6 for loss, 2 sacks, 17 QB pressures, 3 INTs, 2 PBUs, 2 forced fumbles)
• DB Rhett Parker, Sr., 5-8, 150 (85 tackles, 2 for loss, 1 INT, 1 PBU)
• WR Te'vion Massey, Soph. (26 catches, 310 yards, 1 TD)
• WR Marquis Gray, Sr., 5-5, 140 (23 catches, 443 yards, 4 TDs)
• TE Jamal Ligon, Soph., 6-3, 230 (9 catches, 107 yards, 3 TDs)

John Tyler

• RB/LB Tre Allison, Sr., 6-2, 220 (15 carries, 34 yards, 4 TDs; 80 tackles, 2 INTs, 3 PBUs, 1 forced fumble, 1 recovery; committed to SMU)
• DL/LB DeKalen Goodson, Sr., 6-3, 215 (35 tackles, 8 for loss, 4 sacks, 4 QB pressures, 2 PBUs; committed to Houston)
• WR Ke'Andre Street, Jr., 6-4, 195 (31 catches, 759 yards, 10 TDs)
• RB Kitan Crawford, Soph., 5-10, 170 (32 carries, 237 yards, 0 TDs; 3 catches, 79 yards, 0 TDs)
• OL Chance Billington, Jr., 6-3, 280 (committed to SMU)
• QB K'Lon Warren, Jr., 5-10, 175 (50 of 80, 842 yards, 10 TDs, 5 INTs; 50 carries, 75 yards, 0 TDs)
• WR/DB Michael Givens-Washington, Sr., 5-9, 175 (32 catches, 445 yards, 3 TDs; 22 tackles, 2 INTs, 3 PBUs)
• ATH Devlen Woods, Jr., 5-8, 170 (58 of 114, 869 yards, 11 TDs, 4 INTs; 47 carries, 155 yards, 0 TDs; 6 catches, 108 yards, 1 TD)

Just the facts

• This is the 62nd all-time meeting between John Tyler and Tyler Lee. John Tyler leads the series, 32-28-1. John Tyler won last year's meeting, 49-28.
• John Tyler will know a lot more about its playoff chances Thursday night when Rockwall and North Mesquite meet. The Lions need a North Mesquite win, and then to defeat Lee in order to make the postseason. JT hasn't missed the playoffs since 2007.
• Lee is averaging 34.1 points and 453.2 yards per game -- 293.8 rushing and 159.4 passing.
• Red Raiders running back Ladaruis Wickware has six 100-yard rushing games this season.
• Lee is allowing 31.7 points per game, and has forced 13 turnovers -- nine interceptions and four fumbles.
• John Tyler is averaging 28.8 points and 374.1 yards per game -- 181.9 rushing and 192.2 passing.
• Six Lions ball carriers have at least 32 rushing attempts on the season.
• John Tyler is allowing 27.2 points per game, and has forced 11 turnovers -- seven interceptions and four fumbles.

Key matchup: Tyler Lee rushing attack vs. John Tyler defensive front. It should be strength on strength when Tyler Lee is on offense, as the Red Raiders bring in one of the district's top running games into Friday's regular-season finale. The duo of running back Ladarius Wickware and quarterback Chance Amie have been on fire, especially during district play. For the season, Wickware and Amie have combined for 1,926 yards, and if Amie runs for at least 128 yards on Friday, Lee will have two 1,000-yard rushers for the year. During the Red Raiders' six district games, they are averaging a staggering 305.7 yards on the ground per game, which includes last week's season-high, 438-yard performance against North Mesquite.

John Tyler's specialty on defense all season has been stopping the run. The Lions have limited their last five opponents to less than 200 rushing yards as a team, and during district play, they are allowing a respectable 144.2 yards per game. With strong line play anchored by DeKalen Goods and Dewayne Jones and punishing linebackers like Tre Allison and Tabias Marshall, John Tyler's opponents have found little success on the ground for most of the season.

The Lions' best plan on defense is to make Lee go to the air more often than it wants. Red Raiders senior quarterback Chance Amie has at least one interception in seven of his team's nine games, which might explain why Amie's pass attempts have dropped considerably over the last half of the season. In Lee's first five games, Amie averaged 24 attempts and 212 passing yards. However, the Lee QB is averaging just 12 attempts and 78 yards in the last four weeks.

Don't be surprised if: John Tyler continues to try and feature its running game. In last week's game against Mesquite Horn, the Lions had their best performance on the ground since Week 1. JT ran the ball a season-high 51 times for 272 yards, which allowed the Lions remain in the game until the latter stages of the second half. Turnovers played a determining factor as the Lions threw three interceptions in defeat. Kitan Crawford and Victor Campbell Jr. combined for 162 yards on the ground last week.