LINDEN – Marengo Academy head coach Robby James admittedly knows very little about Glenwood, his team’s opponent for the week. However, following last week’s game against AISA’s No. 6 team, Patrician Academy, the first-year Longhorn coach feels like he knows more about his own.

“After last week’s game, we got a look at ourselves in a live situation,” James said. The Longhorns’ slight numbers have prevented the coaching staff from seeing the team in an 11-on-11 situation in practice. The Saints, in their 30-21 win, provided James with the answers he sought.

“We’re working on our defense to try and shore it up and get our assignments a little better,” James said. “We’re always working on conditioning because we don’t have many kids.”

The Longhorns showed a moderately effective rushing attack in the season opener, getting 140 of their 206 total yards on the ground. Junior quarterback Matt Wallace also had flashes of brilliance in the game, finding tight end Wood Collins in the end zone twice.

The Longhorns may open up the playbook more against Glenwood after having run only six different plays against Patrician. Doing so may prove vital as James expects to see a number of looks out of the Glenwood defensive unit.

“Defensively they run a 3-5 and do a lot of stunting out of it,” James said. “They’re a pretty aggressive bunch.”

The Gators lost their first game of the season 21-6 last Friday night against Georgia’s Brookwood Academy.

“They’re a pretty young team,” James said. “They’ve got about two seniors and 40 kids. They’re always well coached.”

Defensively, the Longhorns will be charged with limiting a Gator offense that utilizes more of a classic look.

“They run an old offense you haven’t seen in a long time. It’s kind of like a Notre Dame box,” James said. “Hopefully we can keep them out of the end zone a little more than we did last week.”