SPENCERVILLE-After a tough month of September where the Bearcats went 1-3, Spencerville still has plenty to play for in week 7 of the football season for homecoming against the Allen East Mustangs.
Allen East is coming off a 38-13 loss last week against Columbus Grove.
“Last week vs Columbus Grove we were able to create multiple turnovers which was a positive,” said Allen East head coach Joel Billings. “That being said, we did not capitalize on them through points which held us back from competing in the game. Defensively we are looking for improvements on the basics fundamentals: eye discipline, pursuit and tackling. Offensively we are looking to establish a more consistent run game and compliment it with passing.”
Consistency has been an issue for both teams coming into Friday night as both teams sit at 3-3 overall and control their own destiny for a playoff spot.
What has been the mainstay for the Mustangs has been quarterback Keagan Jones. Jones has completed 35 of 66 passes for 494 yards with four touchdowns and four interceptions and Billings has liked what he has seen from Jones this season.
“Keagan Jones has settled in well at Quarterback, he does a good job of keeping his eyes down the field and extending plays and has shown solid accuracy,” said Billings.
Spencerville will look to turn their season around on Friday as the Bearcats will have three of their last four games at Memorial Field.
Spencerville found themselves down 35-0 last week at Fort Loramie but found some success in the second half as they out scored the Redskins 21-14 but fell 49-21 last week.
“Last week was another tough game for us,” said Spencerville head coach Kyle Koenig. “We knew Fort Loramie was going to be physical up front and it challenged us. We did not get off to a good start, but I was pleased with how the guys responded out of halftime to get a couple of scores and to show they were still competing and hopefully we can build off of our second half and continue it this Friday.”
The three prong attack of Will Sensabaugh, Grady Smith, and Kolton Grigsby will look to bounce back after a tough week on the ground last week. Zach Looser also came back to the backfield last week and scored for the Bearcats.
Taking care of the football will be key on Friday as Allen East comes in as the number one ranked team in the NWC with 8 turnovers forced and that’s something Koenig has talked about with the team.
“We just put a lot of focus this week on keeping our minds right,” said Koenig. “I think because we know how difficult the league is that when we give up a big play or something does not go our way, it is easy to lose patience or to lose confidence. We have been talking all week about taking things one play at a time and putting forth our best effort to whatever our job is on that play. So, with Homecoming and everything this week it’s just been a mindset of staying focused on your job and doing it with maximum effort each and every play.”
It’s a special week this week in Spencerville as it’s homecoming night for the Bearcats.
This game could help both teams in the playoff chase as the Bearcats sit as a 9 seed right now in the Division 6 region 22 playoffs while Allen East sits at 15 in the same region of the playoffs.
“It is always nice to be fighting for playoff spots going into October,” said Koenig. “I think our guys realize that and know that it is going to be a battle every week if we want to reach that next part of the season.”
Spencerville must play good football if they want to go back over .500 on Friday.
“Allen East does a lot of things well,” concluded Koenig. “They can run the ball effectively, they can throw when they want to, they just have a solid team all around. They are tough kids up front so it is going to be a challenge this week. We need to get off to a better start this week. We have had slow starts for all our losses this year and must get off to a better start. Allen East is going to try and take vertical shots throughout the game, and we need to be ready for them o the backend of our defense. Lastly, control the line of scrimmage. If we can control the clock and run the ball and protect Carder when we throw it, it will put us in a good position to win.”
Homecoming festivities will begin with the rescheduled homecoming parade set for 5:30pm on Friday. The pregame homecoming festivities start at 6:30pm followed by kickoff at 7pm.
As always 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 with the pregame show at 6:30pm followed by kickoff at 7pm.
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