Wonders on win streak

By Bill Kiser

Kannapolis Citizen

Even thought A.L. Brown has a nice winning streak going and remains in contention for a conference title, the Wonders coaches aren’t ready to say the team is playing at its best.

That’s why Brown’s final two games — including Friday night’s home game against Porter Ridge — are so important, as the Wonders look to improve their play heading into the state playoffs

Game time is 7:30 p.m. at Kannapolis Memorial Stadium.

Brown (7-2, 5-1 South Piedmont Conference) has won four consecutive games after posting a 21-6 victory over Hickory Ridge last week. The win also leaves the Wonders one-half game back of Anson County in the league standings.

While A.L. Brown had problems getting its running game going _ despite two rushing touchdowns, the Wonders finished with a season-low 65 yards — its passing game made up for it. Jamill Lott threw for 134 yards and one touchdown (a 42-yarder to T.J. Johnson) on just 5-of-13 completions.

Lott also had one of Brown’s rushing TDs, a 

9-yard run midway through the second quarter that staked the Wonders to a 14-0 halftime lead. The other score came on Travis Riley’s 1-yard run nearly four minutes earlier.

Developing their passing game will be a key for the Wonders over the remaining weeks, according to offensive line coach Todd Hagler, to take the pressure off their ground game.

“We’ve got to get a lot better offensively,” Hagler said. “We’ve got a lot of people taking the run away, so we need to develop our passing game a little bit better. If we can throw it, we can do pretty good.

“We’re pleased with the win … but we need to be able to throw the ball a little bit better when teams are going to load up the box like they did last week.”

Defensively, while Brown gave up 136 passing yards (and Hickory Ridge’s only TD), the Wonders took away the Ragin’ Bulls’ ground game, holding them to a season-low minus-29 yards rushing.

Still, according to defensive coordinator Noah Lyon, Brown’s defense can play even better.

“We didn’t break but one time, but we’re still not where we need to be,” Lyon said. “We would mess up some, then make a big play. We’ve got to get past that — we’ve got to get to where we don’t mess up and give up a big play. But if we can make a big play every now and then, that’d be fine.”

The Wonders’ defense will face another pass-oriented team in Porter Ridge (3-6, 2-3), which snapped a five-game losing streak by beating Parkwood 9-7 on Monday night.

“We’re probably going to face this the next couple weeks,” Lyon said. “They run it some, too. … When you do things that get more people looking for the pass, that’s when they like to run it.”

And Brown’s offense will go up against another defense that will stack the line in an attempt to shut down its rushing game.

“They’re sound fundamentally,” Hagler said. “They’ll put eight people in the box. They’re not going to beat themselves — they’re going to make you beat them. They’ve been getting a little bit better every game.

“We’re going to challenge our receivers in practice, to run good routes and catch the ball when it’s thrown to them. Jamill’s got to do a good job reading the defense, and up front we’ve got to be able to protect him because they’re going to commit to stopping the run.”