Jones’ return boosts Plano’s hopes

Updated: October 26, 2011 7:13PM

Plano football coach Jim Green has won two state championships and on another occasion has taken his team on a long playoff run.

His formula to winning a title is simple and straightforward, and he hopes it again brings the Reapers (7-2) success when they open the Class 4A playoffs at home against Stillman Valley at 6 p.m. Saturday.

“We don’t say we need to take one game at a time, we talk about getting to 1-0, then we can worry about getting to 2-0 (and so on),” said Green, who is 65-33 in his career. “It’s just a five-game season. You have to forget about the (regular-season) records, study the film and be prepared, and that is what we are trying to do.”

The Reapers haven’t gone 1-0 and beyond since they won the second of their back-to-back 3A state titles in 2007. After making a jump in class the next year, they lost in the opening round the next two seasons — although Green does point out that both seasons Plano lost on the road to a team that eventually played for a title — and went 2-7 to miss the playoffs last year.

He feels that a tougher schedule and the move to the Large division of the Interstate Eight conference has made them more battle-ready for the postseason.

The backbone of Plano’s success is the Reapers’ option attack on offense, which this year features backs Joseph Jones, Alan Vega and Weslye Brown, to go along with a stingy defense. They expect to stay old-school on both sides of the ball, but at the same time Plano does not have a problem going to the air behind quarterback Trevor Rea, as the Reapers are 4-0 when he passes for more than 100 yards.

“We have not been afraid with Trevor back there,” Green said. “If we can get 100-125 yards each game from him, they can’t stack the box like they have in the past and that opens up the running game.”

The Reapers will also have a healthy Jones, as the Northwestern recruit gets the cast off his broken right hand. Jones, who averages 10.2 yards per carry and scored 15 touchdowns on 71 touches this year, will be turned loose and featured in a variety of looks.

Should the Reapers advance, they will most likely see conference foe Coal City in the second round, with Route 34 rival Sandwich in round three. Those two teams accounted for Plano’s losses on the season.

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