SU's Gibbs set for pass-happy Bishops

By Jeremy Stafford -- jstafford@nvdaily.com

WINCHESTER -- Shenandoah strong safety Larry Gibbs leads the USA South with six interceptions. Traveling to conference-leading N.C. Wesleyan on Saturday, Gibbs will have plenty of opportunities to add to his total.

The Battling Bishops (6-2, 5-0 USA South) sport the best passing offense in the conference and average 34.8 points per game.

Quarterback Bo Jordan has passed for 2,258 yards and 15 touchdowns this season, and wideout Orlando Webb has caught 45 passes for 814 yards and seven touchdowns -- proof enough that the Bishops aren't likely to shy away from the Hornets' secondary, which ranks best in the USA South against the pass.

"I really believe that they're not scared," Gibbs said. "Their offense is very potent, they're not scared to throw it up, get the ball in the air."

Who wouldn't be afraid to throw passes to the 6-foot, 180-pound Webb, who Gibbs said runs incredibly precise routes. Add to the mix his physicality and good hands, and it's no wonder Webb ranks as one of the league's best receivers.

There is a weakness in the Bishops' passing game, though: Despite Jordan being a "deadly accurate" passer, according to Gibbs, he doesn't have an especially strong arm. Thus, Shenandoah (1-7, 0-5 USA South) expects to see a lot of shallow crossing routes, which favor Jordan's ability to finesse the ball to his receivers.

It also favors ball-hawking defensive backs like Gibbs and Alex Barnett.

"Everyone has to stay in their designed zone," Gibbs said. "[The receivers are] going to cross across the middle of the field, and you just have to stay backside because you can pick [Jordan] off that way -- because that's what he's waiting for, for everything to clear."

In essence, patience will surely be a virtue for the Hornets' defense on Saturday.

FOR THE RECORD: SU quarterback Vern Lunsford passed for a season-high 232 yards last week in a 24-22 loss to Averett. Slowly but surely, Lunsford has come to own nearly every significant passing record at Shenandoah.

Lunsford ranks first in career pass attempts (480), pass completions (247), passing yards (3,146) and passing touchdowns (18).

But Lunsford isn't the only Hornet cracking the record books this year. In his first season at tailback, Keone Kyle's per-game average of 132.4 rushing yards is well above Anthony Frates' career average of 76 yards per game. Granted, Kyle has played in only seven games as a Hornet, and so his numbers are somewhat inflated, but it's hard to imagine his numbers falling too much considering the season he's having.

BEST SERVED COLD: A season ago, Shenandoah found itself down 19-0 to N.C. Wesleyan at halftime, only to score four touchdowns in the second half to claw back into the game.

The problem was, as the Hornets inched closer, the Bishops pulled further away, scoring 21 points in the final quarter to win 47-28.

With an offensive line that has spent nearly two seasons playing together, right guard Sean McKenzie has no reason to think the Hornets won't be able to post even more points on the Bishops this weekend.

"We had a great practice yesterday," he said. "We're planning on having a better one today to see how much we can improve.

"I definitely believe we can [score points on them] again, except this time we're going to win."