November 13, 2009

Dallas Jackson
Rivals High Senior Analyst

MORE: Weekend Watch: Rivalry and revenge | Top 100 Hoops teams

As the playoffs heat up across the country RivalsHigh is in constant contact with the coaches of the nation's best teams.

With any number of topics being discussed - both on and off the record - our relationships with coaches are one of the biggest assets in our coverage of high school football.

Here are some tidbits from our conversations this week:

Richard Taylor: Head Coach of the No. 9 Centennial (AZ) Coyotes on his running game
	"Sometimes you like to run to open the pass, and sometimes you like to run to close the game. We are in a good spot with Anthony Hughes. He gets faster and quicker as the games go on. Right now he is tearing it up, 297-yards and five touchdowns last week and 301-yards and four touchdowns the week before. The run game is so important this time of the year and he will be the key for us in the playoffs."
Les Hamilton: Head Coach of Alta (UT) Hawks on the game against No. 96 Bingham
	"We are very excited about the game (against Bingham). It is a semi-final game but we really think these are the two best teams in the state. Last time we played them we kicked their butt for a half and then the second half they kicked our butts. We have wanted to have another chance at them since September."
Dale Mueller: Head Coach of the No. 15 Highlands (KY) Bluebirds on the depth he has
	"We are banged up pretty good right now. Austin Collinsworth has a broken thumb and has missed a few games. We lost our quarterback, Will Bardo, for the year and have been really lucky to have Patrick Towles there to step up and play for us. We probably have 10 kids who could be a solid runningback for us too. We are very lucky to have those guys. The depth of this team is great and the work ethic of each class stands on the shoulders of the class before them."
Tim Detillier: Head coach of the No. 16 Lutcher (LA) Bulldogs on the strength of 4A
	"There is no way in the world I would have thought we would be 10-0 at this point of the season with the schedule we had to play. The non-conference schedule was one of the strongest we have played, plus reclassification made 4A even better this year. We had a few really good 3A teams move up and that improved our depth and a few 5A teams moved down. The class is as strong as I can ever remember and is probably the best in the state of Louisiana. I have to compliment my kids and my coaches for picking it up this year."
Terry Smith: Head Coach of the No. 19 Gateway (PA) Gators comparing this team to 2008
	"We have not done anything differently this year. We still work hard in practice. But this year we are not as star heavy. Last year guys would look to Dorian (Bell) and Corey (Brown) to make plays and this year there are so many kids contributing. We don't have as many Division I players but we have more good high school football players. We are still plugging along and staying focused."
Chad Morris: head coach of the No. 25 Lake Travis (TX) Cavaliers on the playoffs
	"We expect to make a run at the title again this year. We have to go through some good teams and probably Longview again. That would be a great end for us. I wouldn't want to add another game for a combined title at the end of the season. It is already a 16 game schedule, that is an NFL type season for these kids."

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