SPENCERVILLE-Coming off of a 45-7 loss to Columbus Grove, the Spencerville Bearcats trail won’t get any easier when they visit state-ranked Bluffton on Friday.
“We just really put an emphasis on us having to get better,” said Spencerville head coach Kyle Koenig. “We didn’t play a very clean game last week. We had fumbles and penalties that really hurt us throughout the night. We just really put a focus on us and how can we fix the things we need to fix.”
Columbus Grove put their foot on the gas last week going up 14-0 less than a minute into the game and head coach Kyle Koenig knows this week will have to be better if they want to upset Bluffton.
“Bluffton is very talented and physical and it’s going to be a big challenge this week and our guys know that,” said Koenig. “Again, though we just need to get better at what we do. Cleaning up our mistakes from last week and taking care of the football.”
The Pirates come in giving up just 17 points in their four wins this season. It’s something Bluffton head coach Jeff Richards is expected from his team this season.
“Complimentary football is something we emphasize daily,” said Richards. “We want our offense to score points, take care of the football, and not put the defense in a bad situation. On defense we want to limit big plays, and try to force turnovers. On special teams we want to set the offense up with good field position, and give the opposing offense the worst possible field position.”
Bluffton has found a new nucleus of players this season after graduation of seniors from last season but some still remain for the Pirates. Tayte Giesige has taken the reigns of the quarterback position while Landon Worcester returns after leading the league in rushing last season.
However the Pirates have added to the running back room as Parker Lovell has gotten more of the carries this season as he has ran 476 which is currently good for third in the NWC in rushing and Giesige is dual threat with the arm and legs.
Richards has complimented his team for being able to play different guys on both sides of the ball.
“We brought back a number of key contributors from last year’s squad, so it helps having good experienced players,” said Richards. “We also had some players step into new roles where they have flourished. A lot of our new starters were backups who got a lot of experience last year. I think that experience paid off early in the schedule where many times you find teams trying to find out what kinds of players they have.”
As for Spencerville the Bearcats seemed to find a groove late in the first half last week and it came in the hands of Kolton Grigsby. The freshman had his first 100 yard game of his career last week by having 110 yards on 25 carries.
The Bearcats know that they will have to get first downs and put some points on the board to slow down the high-powered offense of the Pirates.
“Bluffton has great team speed and they are physical up front,” added Koenig. “They have weapons all around the field and it’ll take a full team effort getting to the football to be able to stop them. Defensively they are like us and play aggressive and have linebackers that will cause chaos.”
Despite the loss last week the Ohio state ranked polls did give the Bearcats a vote as it will be a battle of state ranked squads on Friday.
Richards knows that the Pirates must play fundamentally sound football to win on Friday.
“Spencerville is a good team that has success running the football,” concluded Richards. “They have multiple backs who have the ability to break big runs at any point. I believe that they have a solid offensive and defensive line who play with a high motor. Their quarterback also has a big arm and can run well. We will need to play very fundamentally sound and limit breakdowns to find success.”
Meanwhile the Bearcats hope to refocus on Friday after a good week of practice.
“We need to find a way to control the line of scrimmage and the clock,” concluded Koenig. “Being able to establish our run game and keep their explosive weapons on the sideline will be a big help for us. We need to take care of the football. We cannot have the turnovers like we had last week and give them extra opportunities especially with the athletes they have. Finally, we need to find a way to get some takeaways. Giving us some extra opportunities to run our stuff and work the clock like we like to do and hopefully capitalize with some scores.”
If you can’t make it to the game tune in to Zsports 3 as Nate Stidham and Shane Falke will have all the action live from Harmon field with the pregame show at 6:30 followed by kickoff at 7pm.
B-rockblythe.org 