COLLINSVILLE — When Brock Clay replaced Stan McCain as head coach in 2017, the former West Lauderdale defensive coordinator not only brought with him a familiarity of the program, but also a decade’s worth of defensive experience.

So far, that experience has served the Knights well, as they captured the 2018 Region 5-4A crown last week behind a stingy defense that has allowed just nine points per game this year.

“It’s nothing credited to me; it’s a great staff and great kids who have bought into the game plan and the objective of what we’re trying to do,” Clay said during West Lauderdale’s practice Tuesday. “I’ve been here for 10 years, and we strived for goose eggs on the board every year, and I’m very proud of the way the defense has been playing.”

West Lauderdale (10-1, 5-0 Region 5-4A) welcomes Vancleave (5-5, 2-3 Region 8-4A) to the Kingdom Friday for the first round of the MHSAA Class 4A postseason.

Vancleave enters the playoffs on the heels of a 35-10 loss to East Central in last Friday’s regular-season finale. At .500 this year, the Bulldogs have nearly doubled their win output from 2017, when they went 3-7. Like Clay, Vancleave coach Lavon Capers transitioned from defensive coordinator to head coach four years ago, and he’s been at the school for 22 years.

Capers said he and Clay have exchanged film ahead of the postseason opener.

“They’re a well-coached football team, and they’re definitely going to be a tough task,” Capers said. “There’s not really any weak link there. They’re good on offense; the quarterback is really good. Their linemen and receivers do a great job. Defensively, I think they’ve only given up an average of nine or 10 points a game all year. We know we have a tough task in front of us.”

In looking at film on Vancleave, Clay spotted a few similarities.

“They’re a lot like us, as far as doing a lot of things right,” Clay said. “They play really hard, really physical football. The big thing that jumps out to you on film is they don’t miss tackles. When they get their hands on you, they get you down. They’re a very disciplined football team, which is very scary because that’s the way we’ve been able to win a lot of football games.”

One week after holding Northeast Lauderdale’s talented duo of Kam Hulin and Michael McClinton to a combined 137 yards and no touchdowns, West Lauderdale’s defense will attempt to replicate that effort against Vancleave running back C.J. Johnson.

Johnson has rushed for 1,152 yards and 14 touchdowns this year. He’s broken the 100-yard rushing threshold four times and has run for more than 200 yards on two occasions. Johnson gained only 11 yards rushing on six carries last week against East Central, but Capers said that’s because the Bulldogs shifted to a pass-oriented attack. Vancleave is averaging 261.6 yards rushing per game. 

Knights senior defensive lineman Luke Lott has tallied 60 total tackles this season, including six sacks. He said West Lauderdale’s success on defense is a byproduct of the repetitious nature of the defensive unit’s practices.

“Around here we work on being physical,” said Lott, who tallied nine tackles, including a sack, against Northeast Lauderdale. “Every day we’re in the chute, we’re hitting every single day head to head. I think that helps on the field because what you do on Tuesdays and Mondays and Wednesdays is what you do on Fridays.”

Friday’s playoff game marks the 15th time the Knights have reached the postseason, while Vancleave is making its 11th playoff appearance. With Phase 1 of the year behind them, West Lauderdale senior defensive back T.J. Hersey said the Knights expect to roll the momentum over to the postseason.

“I feel like the regular season helped us a lot, with preparing to be 1-0 each week,” Hersey said. “And we’re going to carry that into the playoffs.”

Kickoff is at 7 p.m. Friday at West Lauderdale.