The Lincoln Parish Journal caught up to Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame writer Robin Fambrough to give us her thoughts on this year’s Zachary Broncos, Saturday’s opponent for the Ruston Bearcats in the Nonselect Division I state title game.
Zachary is the No. 6 seed and is 11-1 on the season, including a 31-28 overtime win over Dutchtown in the semifinals.
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LPJ: What makes this year’s Zachary team so tough?
Fambrough: They have four state titles since 2015. I mean, it’s because they’re Zachary. They do a lot of the same things. It’s a stable program. All the kids grow up in the program. They go through a junior Bronco program that’s been in place for a long time. They believe they can win. And they they’re not complacent about it, but they they have a lot of confidence. When they came back out Saturday after that game was stopped because of weather Friday night, even though they were down 28 to 13, they were very confident.”
LPJ: How did Zachary overcome a 28-13 deficit to defeat Dutchtown? (The game was suspended with 1:23 to play in the third quarter on Friday night due to weather and resumed Saturday).
Fambrough: “They made some adjustments that did make a difference to me. The Wildcat (that Dutchtown ran Friday night) was not as effective. And as soon as they kind of got something going and started rolling with it, you could see the confidence and it was just a little bit of a different ballgame.”
LPJ: Tell us about their 6-foot-7-inch wide receiver Trey’dez Green.
Fambrough: He is very good. This is his first year at Zachary. He was at East Feliciana High School previously. He plays wide receiver. He is 6-7, 235-pounds. He can run well and he is extremely athletic. He was a difference maker in the quarterfinal against Destrehan. He’s all those things. You don’t see too many 6-foot-7, 235-pound guys who can make plays like he does in the middle of the field. And he was an all state basketball player last year. He is a commitment to LSU for football. He did not catch a pass in the semifinal. And that’s one of those things you do. You make a choice. They threw some deep routes to him and didn’t quite connect. And they were a couple of chances were they had him double covered. But it opened up things for their second receiver, Tyson George, who is their leading receiver yardage wise.”
LPJ: Zachary uses a two-quarterback system. Are the two quarterbacks similar in style?
Fambrough: They’re kind of similar. One runs better than the other. Hudson Spangler is the one that has the most passing yards. He has over 1,600 now. The other kid, Caleb Gonzalez, has 916 yards passing. They combined for 29 touchdown passes. They have some nice targets to throw to. They knew it was going to be a different year after the graduation of Eli Holstein, who signed with Alabama. I’ve seen Spangler play most of one game and I’ve seen both of them play a good bit. They’re both very capable. Friday night it was Caleb Gonzalez who had the long pass play to Tyson George, which was actually more of a screen pass where he cut out and just breaks down the field.”
LPJ: What does Zachary like to do defensively?
Fambrough: They do a lot with speed. I mean, they have some guys up front but they do a lot with speed. They do a lot with speed and they they want to try to make you uncomfortable. They want those guys up front to hold things and then let somebody else come in behind and make a play. And that’s a lot of what happened, especially on Saturday and then even on Friday (against Dutchtown). Their leader in tackles is Luke Wilson, who’s a (UL-Lafayette) commitment. He can also play receiver. He was more involved in the passing game last year. He’s more involved on defense this year. He’s got 66 tackles and 10 pass breakups and two interceptions. One of their linebackers. Cam Peterson, has 99 tackles. He’s got 11 quarterback hurries and three forced fumbles and couple of pass breakups. Stetson Bell is at 51 tackles. Another kid named Michael Septs has 92 tackles. All those kids play in the middle and move around a lot. So they’re very active.
