Week 4 Football Preview: Tigers open SCOL with Red Raiders
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
GREENFIELD - Just like one season ago, the McClain Tigers have started the year undefeated with three straight wins. But this year is different as the Tigers are starting to mold together a complete team on both offense and defense.
Their task at hand this week will test all aspects of the Tigers with the London Red Raiders storming into Highland County this Friday at McClain Field to start the South Central Ohio League season.
LHS, who are 6-1 against MHS since the SCOL reformed in 2003, comes into the SCOL slate of games standing at 1-2 overall, with losses to Urbana and West Jefferson. The Red Raiders defeated Hamilton Twp. in week two for their lone win this year.
"This is a big game for us," MHS head coach Randy Closson said. "They are a great rival for us and are by far our biggest challenge up to this point of the season. This game is a big opportunity for us as a team."
Though the Red Raiders have been playing without senior starting quarterback Jeff Yates, who has missed games due to injury, the Red Raiders have many other weapons who possess not only top-notch skills, but have speed and lots of it.
Two of their running backs are quality players in junior Jake Burns (5-9, 170) and senior Justin Hoosier (5-8, 165). Last week against a good West Jefferson team, Burns rushed for 175 yards on 16 carries as the offense tallied 295 net yards with 182 via rush and 113 with the passage game. Against Hamilton Twp., Burns had 25 carries for 137 yards, and in the season opener, the junior running back had 18 carries for 89 yards.
"Their two backs are extremely fast and they both have a lot of experience at the varsity level," Closson said. "We have to take good angles and keep them bottled up."
The Tigers have a top-notch runner of their own in Zach Matracia. This year, Matracia has 486 yards on the ground on 48 carries.
New at the quarterback position in place of Yates is junior Dylan Follrod (6-2, 200) who had the aforementioned 113 yards passing on 8 of 14 through the air.
"Their quarterback is a good player," Closson said. "Yates may be a touch faster, but Follrod rushes well, and he can pass the football, too. They are a very solid running team with a passing game to work off of that."
Closson said their is no real comparison to the speed the Red Raiders have this season in teams they played, but if had to pick one compared to their physicality on defense he said he'd go with Adena.
"Speed-wise, they are much faster than Adena, but Adena was a physical team and so is London," he said. "It's really tough to compare them to other teams we've played as London is the strongest team we've seen up to this point."
The first three weeks for the Tigers have been positive with wins over Adena, Unioto and Paint Valley, all of the Scioto Valley Conference, but Closson said the three week non-league slate of games was a good way for his team to develop.
"The first three games gave us a chance to develop and it gave Jordan (Goble) a chance to gain experience under center," Closson said. "We've gained a lot of consistency by running the football and we've been able to play solid defense."
Speaking of the Tigers' defense, they have allowed just 28 points this season, with 15 points coming in the first game of the year.
"We've just had good, solid defense and it honestly has been a great team effort," Closson said. "We have no glaring weakness and we are solid up front and we keep growing each game.
"We've been very aggressive on defense and that comes down to the kids. They are getting to the ball carrier, but the London offensive line and blockers do a good job of keeping their blocks. This will be a great test for us."
One variable the Tigers have solved this season is replacing players due to injury as Closson said that comes down to the numbers of the program.
"With the way we've been able to replace players with injuries during games, that comes down to our numbers," he said. "Instead of moving players around where they have to learn three or four positions, we have guys getting reps and doing their best, and that is all we can ask for."
The Red Raiders and Tigers kickoff at 7:30 p.m. Friday night at McClain Field.[[In-content Ad]]
Their task at hand this week will test all aspects of the Tigers with the London Red Raiders storming into Highland County this Friday at McClain Field to start the South Central Ohio League season.
LHS, who are 6-1 against MHS since the SCOL reformed in 2003, comes into the SCOL slate of games standing at 1-2 overall, with losses to Urbana and West Jefferson. The Red Raiders defeated Hamilton Twp. in week two for their lone win this year.
"This is a big game for us," MHS head coach Randy Closson said. "They are a great rival for us and are by far our biggest challenge up to this point of the season. This game is a big opportunity for us as a team."
Though the Red Raiders have been playing without senior starting quarterback Jeff Yates, who has missed games due to injury, the Red Raiders have many other weapons who possess not only top-notch skills, but have speed and lots of it.
Two of their running backs are quality players in junior Jake Burns (5-9, 170) and senior Justin Hoosier (5-8, 165). Last week against a good West Jefferson team, Burns rushed for 175 yards on 16 carries as the offense tallied 295 net yards with 182 via rush and 113 with the passage game. Against Hamilton Twp., Burns had 25 carries for 137 yards, and in the season opener, the junior running back had 18 carries for 89 yards.
"Their two backs are extremely fast and they both have a lot of experience at the varsity level," Closson said. "We have to take good angles and keep them bottled up."
The Tigers have a top-notch runner of their own in Zach Matracia. This year, Matracia has 486 yards on the ground on 48 carries.
New at the quarterback position in place of Yates is junior Dylan Follrod (6-2, 200) who had the aforementioned 113 yards passing on 8 of 14 through the air.
"Their quarterback is a good player," Closson said. "Yates may be a touch faster, but Follrod rushes well, and he can pass the football, too. They are a very solid running team with a passing game to work off of that."
Closson said their is no real comparison to the speed the Red Raiders have this season in teams they played, but if had to pick one compared to their physicality on defense he said he'd go with Adena.
"Speed-wise, they are much faster than Adena, but Adena was a physical team and so is London," he said. "It's really tough to compare them to other teams we've played as London is the strongest team we've seen up to this point."
The first three weeks for the Tigers have been positive with wins over Adena, Unioto and Paint Valley, all of the Scioto Valley Conference, but Closson said the three week non-league slate of games was a good way for his team to develop.
"The first three games gave us a chance to develop and it gave Jordan (Goble) a chance to gain experience under center," Closson said. "We've gained a lot of consistency by running the football and we've been able to play solid defense."
Speaking of the Tigers' defense, they have allowed just 28 points this season, with 15 points coming in the first game of the year.
"We've just had good, solid defense and it honestly has been a great team effort," Closson said. "We have no glaring weakness and we are solid up front and we keep growing each game.
"We've been very aggressive on defense and that comes down to the kids. They are getting to the ball carrier, but the London offensive line and blockers do a good job of keeping their blocks. This will be a great test for us."
One variable the Tigers have solved this season is replacing players due to injury as Closson said that comes down to the numbers of the program.
"With the way we've been able to replace players with injuries during games, that comes down to our numbers," he said. "Instead of moving players around where they have to learn three or four positions, we have guys getting reps and doing their best, and that is all we can ask for."
The Red Raiders and Tigers kickoff at 7:30 p.m. Friday night at McClain Field.[[In-content Ad]]