Jimmies go on the road to Midland looking to right the ship
Sep. 23—JAMESTOWN — The University of Jamestown has not defeated a ranked opponent since October 2004 but will try to change that at 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 24, when they go to No. 19-ranked Midland University's Heedum Field.
"We have to just to come together as a team and play more of a four-quarter game and not starting out slow," wide receiver Javon Bowie-Monteiro said. "We gotta come out fast and stay fast throughout the whole game."
The Jimmies are coming off a 48-3 loss to Northwestern on Saturday, Sept. 17. The Warriors are coming off a 20-7 victory over Mount Marty on Saturday.
The Jimmies and Warriors have played each other four times with the Warriors owning a 4-0 record. The Warriors have outscored the Jimmies 165-91 in that time.
The Jimmies' loss to the Red Raiders is their second consecutive loss after starting the season 2-0.
"That's the way that my brain works, we forget about last week, and we move on, we learn from it, we grow from it," Jimmies head coach Brian Mistro said. "The things we learn from it, we need to trust ourselves, trust our teammates and trust what we've been coached to do and if we can do that, I think we're going to put ourselves in a better position."
The Warriors' ground game and Jimmies' run defense will be prominently displayed as the Jimmies are giving up 202 rushing yards per game and the Warriors are collecting 243.5 rushing yards per contest.
"We want to make sure we stop the run and get them to throw the ball and hopefully get the ball in the air and make some turnovers happen," Mistro said. "They're still talented on the edge and they're a good football team for a reason. It's being able to stop the run, we want to force them to throw the ball and make them one dimensional."
The Warriors are running a two-quarterback system this year, with starter Garrison Beach getting the majority of the snaps and completing 59.3 percent of his passes for 245 yards and five touchdowns and two interceptions. The backup quarterback is River Walker, who has completed 40 percent of his 29 passes for 119 yards and one touchdown and two interceptions.
Despite the need to prepare for both quarterbacks, Mistro said the team will not be change its entire game plan for either of them, depending on which one plays more.
"They're two different skillsets a little bit, (Walker) runs the ball a little bit better than I think (Beach) does and I think (Beach) probably throws the ball a little bit better than (Walker) does, but to be honest with you I think they're both really good quarterbacks," Mistro said.
This season, the Warriors are throwing for 91 yards per game, relying heavily on their aforementioned running attack. On the defensive side of the ball, the Jimmies are giving up 237.5 passing yards per game.
"We just need to stop the power," linebacker Ezra Belingheri said. "We need to close those gaps well this week and our middle (linebackers) need to ball out mostly, we have some special things going in. So, hopefully, we'll be able to stop the run and our (defensive backs) can work and get their stuff done in the second level."
The Jimmies will look to get their offense going against a defense that gives up 136 passing yards per game and one of the players that will help them do that is Bowie-Monteiro who is tied for second on the team for receptions with 12 and has 116 yards and three touchdowns. Bowie-Monteiro said the key to getting the passing attack going is to figure out their weaknesses and exploit them.
