Patrick Henry: Give Me Defense or Rain Against Lincoln

SAN DIEGO —  Walt Baranski, Patrick Henry High School coach, will try just about anything to stop the potent Lincoln running attack when the teams meet tonight in nonleague action at Patrick Henry.

“We’re going to do a rain dance, hoping it rains like crazy,” Baranski said. “We want to slow ‘em down. They’re awfully quick.”

Witness last week’s 56-8 romp over Centennial. Lincoln’s Keith Mitchell carried five times for 128 yards, including a 56-yard touchdown run, and scored on a 65-yard punt return. Kevin Keys gained 145 yards on 10 carries, and Marcus Hopkins gained 90 on eight rushes. Lincoln totaled 363 yards on 23 carries.

Quarterback Malcolm Glover runs the Hornets’ wishbone attack.

“Watching their videos scares you,” Baranski said. “They can put points on the board awfully quick. Glover has a heck of an arm. You start looking for the run, they’ll throw the bomb on you.”

Patrick Henry was shut out by Helix, 21-0, last week, and the Patriots will be playing without tailback Darren Thrower, who has a separated shoulder. Baranski will shift fullback Kevin Macon to tailback and insert David Wilson at fullback.

In other key prep games:

Bonita Vista (1-0) vs. Mar Vista (1-0) at Southwestern--Mar Vista Coach Nick Nicoloff is taking an economic view of this game between the South Bay rivals.

“It’s kind of a rich man, poor man game,” Nicoloff said. “Bonita is one of the more affluent areas of the district. We’re one of the poorer areas of the district.”

Mar Vista was a 19-12 winner against Ramona last week, though the Mariners’ offense was not impressive.

“It’s a matter of putting mistakes aside and executing,” Nicoloff said. “I think the offense will snap back and do what they’re supposed to do. But we scored 19 points, that’s not bad.”

With an offense led by quarterback Doug Piper and receiver Kip Korzep, Bonita Vista is capable of scoring a lot. Nicoloff will be looking for another big game from defensive tackle Darin Houseman, who had two sacks and caused a fumble against Ramona. Safeties David Acero and Xuan Ho also will have to play well for Mar Vista to win.

Madison (0-1) at Monte Vista (0-1)--The teams entered the season with high expectations, but both have much work to do. Monte Vista lost to Mira Mesa, 27-14, and Madison had five fumbles and four interceptions in its 36-6 loss to Bonita Vista.

“We just stunk it up,” said Steve Miner, Madison coach. “In practice this week, our emphasis was placed on hanging on to the ball.”

Miner will shuffle his lineup against the Monarchs. Junior Maurice Jackson will replace Tony Blount at quarterback. Blount will switch to running back and defensive back. Another runner, Gerald Harris, is out with a dislocated hip.

“It should be a low-scoring game,” Miner said. “We’ve got more speed, they’ve got more muscle. They’re real strong on defense.”

Morse (1-1) vs. Oceanside (0-1) at San Diego (Saturday)--This is one case where ignorance definitely is not bliss. Oceanside Coach Pat Kimbrel knows nothing about running back Wesley Fuller or his cohorts in Morse’s wishbone attack.

“Mission Viejo (Morse’s opponent last week) said he’s a great back and incredibly quick,” Kimbrel said. “It’s kinda shooting in the dark. We’ve never seen these guys before.”

Fuller carried six times for 125 yards last week against Mission Viejo and scored twice against St. Anthony of Maui two weeks ago.

Morse presents other problems as well, such as defensive linemen Charlie Fishero (6-5, 275), Demetrius Bell (6-2, 270) and Richard Morris (6-3, 225).

“We’ve played Vista and scrimmaged against Sweetwater,” Kimbrel said. “We’re used to size, but nothing like this.”

Oceanside offensive tackles Okland Salavea and Joe Tuisee have the task of trying to keep Fishero and Bell under control

Escondido (1-0) at Orange Glen (1-0)--In this battle of intracity rivals, Escondido Coach Denny Snyder believes his defense will have to stop Orange Glen quarterback Brett Salisbury, who passed for two touchdowns and ran for two more in last week’s 42-7 Patriot win over San Marcos.

“The guy who makes them go is Salisbury,” Snyder said. “We’ve got to be able to contain him. He scrambles well and has a good arm. We want to keep him inside the pocket, so he can’t scramble.”

Escondido will probably start Jay Kent at quarterback, replacing Joe Perry, who was injured against Santana last week. Kent’s touchdown pass to Scott Weedman gave Escondido a 13-12 win over the Sultans.