The Fairbanks Panthers will kick off their 2021 football season at home on Friday.
The Panthers (4-3 in a shortened 2020 campaign) will host Cardington.
Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Panther head coach Patrick Cotter said his team will need to prepare for a variety of offensive looks.
“They will be in some 2 x2 with a Pistol,” he said. “However, we will also see some jet sweep, toss and iso.”
The Pirates prefer to keep the ball on the ground for approximately 70% of the time.
“They have an athletic quarterback who can also throw the ball, even though they want to keep in on the ground most of the time,” said Cotter. “They also have two wings who are athletic and can get out on the edges with the football.”
Since it is the first game of the season and with only a pair of preseason scrimmages under their belts, the Panthers will just have to react to what they see on the field against the Pirates.
“We know what Cardington will do at times, but there are times we won’t know they will do,” said the Panther coach. “Our guys should be able to make adjustments on the fly.”
The Pirates have shown a 44 defensive front with a cover three in the secondary.
It’s a defense Cotter’s Crew has faced on numerous times.
“Once again, if we follow all of our rules, we’ll be fine,” he said.
“The key to victory will be to play physically up front from the very start,” said the coach. “We’ll need to get our defense off the field on third down and keep moving the chains on offense.”