‘Landers face same path in round two Hope for different outcome
Published 8:35 am Friday, November 9, 2018
This year’s playoff trail is very familiar to the Cloudland Highlanders.
Just like last year, the Highlanders topped Midway in the first round last week.
And also like last season, Cloudland will host the Coalfield Yellowjackets in round 2 tonight.
In 2017, Cloudland lost 48-8 to Coalfield, and are hoping for a way better outcome this time around.
“We got blocked in that path pretty bad,” said Cloudland head coach Mike Lunsford. “I don’t know about them (the Cloudland players), but I do know about me. I would like to get past them. I know I’m hungry to win this game, and we need to win this game.”
Lunsford went on to say the Highlanders expect a tough showing from Coalfield, which topped Jellico 56-14 last week in the first round of the playoffs.
“They like to run the ball,” said Lunsford. “They have some really good runners and some big guys up front. Everything, sort of, goes around No. 21 (Peyton McKinney). He is a really good player. He likes to scramble when they go to the spread. He is a tough hard-nosed kid.
“They will be a lot bigger than us up front,” added Lunsford. “Which that is nothing new. Everybody we have played has been bigger than us up front.”
Last week, the Highlanders topped Midway 36-22 behind a whopper of a game from senior Jordan Coffey who rushed the ball for 273 yards while recording five touchdowns. Coffey’s performance was complemented by more than 60 yards rushing by Josh Blair.
Due to bad field conditions in Roan Mountain, tonight’s game is being played at Happy Valley High School. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.