After facing two of the top offenses in the area, the Rudder football team will get defensive as it travels to play district-leading Rockdale at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Tiger Stadium.

Rockdale's defense is giving up an average of 9.3 points per game, and the Tigers have won three games this season without scoring at least 10 points. Rockdale (6-0, 2-0 District 24-3A) is giving up 163.2 yards of total offense per game, which is impressive considering it has already played the top offensive team in the Brazos Valley in Cameron.

Rockdale has given up fewer points than all but three of the 3A schools from Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and Austin (Center, 8.2 points; Lyford, 7.2; and Prosper, 4.4). Only Prosper is allowing fewer yards per game than Rockdale (151.6), but it's clear the Tigers have one of the best defenses in the state.

"Defensively, they're big and fast," Rudder coach C.M. Pier said. "They don't have a lot of body weight. They're tall people, they've got a lot of height. They're a well-coached football team.

"You can tell the kids are well in tune with the scheme [Rockdale coach Jeff] Miller is running over there. They've got big No. 77 [Logan David], he's a real force. They've got a linebacker who's really good and their secondary is really solid."

Defensive tackle David leads the Rockdale defense. The 6-foot-4, 300 pound senior runs a 4.95-second 40-yard dash, according to Rivals.com. David leads the team in tackles with 43, which is impressive coming from the interior of the defensive line. The Tigers' defense has also given up just 126 passing yards this season, in part because of the height on the defensive line.

"They've got that one end who's 6-foot-6 [LaRaven Clark]," Pier said. "A guy like that can cause problems in the passing game. We've got to get their hands down. Especially on the high school level, that presents a different kind of challenge if you're trying to throw the ball."

Half of Rockdale's games may have been won with fewer than 10 points, but Rockdale won the other three with a combined 137 points. Facing Cameron to open District 24-3A play, Rockdale got into a shootout and won 41-21. The Tigers beat Rouse 54-0.

Rockdale is led offensively by Daniel Brooks, who has 430 rushing yards and six touchdown on just 33 carries, which translates into a 13.0 yards-per-carry average. Running back Greg Chelf has 57 carries for 362 yards, which gives the Tigers two legitimate threats on the ground. The combo makes the perfect backfield for a team that tries to confuse opponents.

"They're a lot like Navasota in that they're going to throw a lot of sets at you," Pier said. "A lot of different sets, different looks. They do a lot of different things offensively. They're a big screen team. All that stuff, if you're not in the right position, causes you some real problems. They're a real challenge."

Rudder (2-3, 0-2) is coming off a 42-6 loss to Caldwell last week and faces its third straight district opponent picked to finish in the top three. One of the problems with the Rangers in district play has been a lack of execution, which is something Pier stressed to his team this week.

"We didn't play well [last week]," Pier said. "Up to this point, that was our worst game execution-wise. We've been working on fixing those all week. We didn't play well on the offensive line and we didn't play well on the defensive line. We've got some people banged up, but that's no excuse. Against good football teams, you've got to execute. You can't just play hard, you have to do things right and you have to do them fast."

RUDDER FOOTBALL

* Friday's game: Rudder (2-3, 0-2 District 24-3A) at Rockdale (6-0, 2-0), 7:30 p.m.

* Radio: KNDE's (95.1 FM) HD-3 station and online at www.rudderrangers.com