PREVIEW: Longview Can Clinch Homefield By Beating Rockwall-Heath

DISTRICT 11-6A

Rockwall-Heath Hawks (6-2, 4-1)

vs.

Longview Lobos (7-1, 4-1)

7:30 p.m. Friday

Lobo Stadium, Longview

Coaches

• Rockwall-Heath: Mickey Moss
• Longview: John King

Last week

• Rockwall-Heath: def. Mesquite, 50-27
• Longview: def. John Tyler, 28-19

Next week

• Rockwall-Heath: vs. Mesquite Horn, Nov. 10
• Longview: at Mesquite, Nov. 10

Playmakers

Rockwall-Heath

• ATH Tanner McCalister, Sr., 6-0, 185 (146 carries, 1,094 yards, 14 TDs; 3 catches, 10 yards, 0 TDs; 35 tackles, 4 for loss, 2 INTs, 2 PBUs, 1 forced fumble, 1 recovery; committed to Arkansas)
• QB Garrett Cody, Sr., 5-10, 180 (30 of 66, 496 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INTs; 67 carries, 365 yards, 4 TDs)
• OL Michael Denson, Sr., 6-5, 265
• DB Kendell Jimerson, Sr., 5-10, 175 (25 tackles, 1 for loss, 3 INTs, 1 PBU, 1 forced fumble, 1 recovery)
• WR/DB Tyrus Fort, Sr., 5-10, 160 (14 catches, 289 yards, 5 TDs; 49 carries, 322 yards, 6 TDs; 17 tackles)
• LB Desmon Williams, Sr., 6-0, 235 (98 tackles, 5 for loss)
• DL Cutter Cleveland, Sr., 6-2, 225 (65 tackles, 16 for loss, 5 sacks)
• LB Wyatt Watson, Jr., 6-1, 185 (83 tackles, 2 for loss, 1 INT, 3 forced fumbles)

Longview

• TE Jaylin Brown, Sr., 6-3, 205 (17 catches, 363 yards, 5 TDs)
• QB Haynes King, Soph., 6-3, 170 (56 of 114, 941 yards, 9 TDs, 5 INTs; 9 carries, 52 yards, 0 TDs)
• RB Keilyn Williams, Jr., 5-5, 145 (93 carries, 554 yards, 9 TDs; 6 catches, 103 yards, 1 TD)
• WR Kamden Perry, Jr., 6-0, 165 (16 catches, 239 yards, 1 TD)
• DB Jephaniah Lister, Jr., 5-9, 155 (69 tackles, 1 for loss, 1 sack, 1 INT, 1 PBU)
• DB Jalen Carr, Sr., 5-10, 150 (26 tackles, 2 for loss, 1 sack, 6 INTs, 1 PBU, 3 blocked kicks)
• DL JC Blakemore, Sr., 5-11, 220 (39 tackles, 11 for loss, 5 sacks, 1 PBU, 3 fumble recoveries)
• WR A'Darius Carter, Sr., 6-4, 205 (13 catches, 178 yards, 2 TDs; 19 carries, 118 yards, 9 TDs)

Just the facts

• This is the fourth all-time meeting between Longview and Rockwall-Heath. Longview has won all three previous encounters.
• Longview won last year's meeting, 35-21.
• Rockwall-Heath is averaging 34.1 points and 338.9 yards per game -- 250.5 rushing and 88.4 passing.
• Hawks running back Tanner McCalister has five 100-yard games this season.
• Rockwall-Heath is allowing 23.3 points per game, and has forced 12 turnovers -- 10 interceptions and two fumbles.
• Longview is averaging 37.8 points and 378 yards per game -- 199.1 rushing and 178.9 passing.
• Lobos senior A'Darius Carter has 374 total yards of offense on the season, but has scored 11 touchdowns.
• Longview is allowing 19.4 points per game, and has forced 18 turnovers -- 11 interceptions and seven fumbles.

Key matchup: Rockwall-Heath rushing attack vs. Longview defensive front. The Hawks don't mix it up too much on offense. They instead prefer to stick with what works, and that's a powerful ground game. Heath comes into Friday's game with perhaps the district's top rushing attack, averaging more than 250 yards per game on the ground. Senior Tanner McCalister, an Arkansas commit, is the primary ball carrier. He has already surpassed the 1,000-yard mark on the year, and has five 100-yard rushing performances to his name in 2017.

The Hawks have only lost twice on the season, and in both games, they were held to less than 130 rushing yards. In its six wins, Heath is averaging 292.7 yards on the ground, and the Hawks are coming off their best performance of the season with 418 yards in a 50-27 rout of Mesquite.

Longview has been strong on defense all season long. The Lobos are limiting opponents to just 122 rushing yards per game, including only 102 last week in a big road win at rival John Tyler. Longview has racked up 59 tackles for loss as a team, which comes out to more than seven per game. If the Longview defense can have similar success Friday night against Rockwall-Heath's ground attack, the Lobos should be celebrating their fifth consecutive win.

Don't be surprised if: Longview pulls out all the stops in order to come out victorious Friday night. A Lobos win guarantee them a first-round home game in the playoffs against the Division II No. 2 seed from District 12-6A, which at this moment looks like Beaumont West Brook. Lobos head coach John King wasn't particularly happy with the way his team moved the football last week. Longview had only 299 yards of total offense, which is well below its season average. Expect a much better performance on the offensive side of the ball this week.