Skip to main content

Indians ready to tame Blue Lions

Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
   It may be homecoming for the Hillsboro Indians this week, but there will be no dancing in this classic South Central Ohio League matchup this Friday as the Washington Blue Lions visit Richards Memorial Field.
   Both teams enter their second SCOL game with overall records of 3-1, but the Blue Lions have the only league win of the two teams, as they defeated the Madison Plains Golden Eagles last week by a score of 7-3.
   If both teams stay true to form this week, expect a physical game from both sides.
   "From what I have seen on films Washington is a very well coached team," Hillsboro head coach Brian Spicer said. "They are like us in not having a lot of superstar players, but they play well as a unit. They execute well both offensively and defensively, and they are able to make plays."
   The Blue Lions use more of a pro-style offense, but will throw in some unbalanced looks, along with using sets with tight ends, split backs and two back sets.
   "They are a tail back oriented team," Spicer said. Their running back (Ben Parks) can run. They give (Parks) the ball as much as they can. I would say he has at least 30 carries per game."
   Last week against the Golden Eagles Parks rushed for the only touchdown of the game (19 yards), and against the Adena Warriors, in week two, the junior carried the ball 16 times for 239 yards and three touchdowns. In the same game against AHS he caught a 55-yard TD. To date, in four games, Parks has totaled 659 yards on 93 carries, adding eight total touchdowns.
   At the quarterback position the Blue Lions look toward Collin Farmer. Farmer passed for 111 yards and three interceptions against M-P last week, and for the year has tallied 427 yards in the air.
   "In the system (Washington) runs you have to have a smart quarterback," Spicer said. "He (Farmer) does a good job and is effective at what he does. He has good play fakes and he becomes their second running back. We have to keep our eye on him."
   First-year Washington head coach Corey Dye said he was pleased where his team was at after four weeks, still having a shot to battle for the SCOL top prize.
   "Our kids recovered after our week one loss and we have played in two really close games," Dye said. "We are headed in the right direction."
   Dye also spoke of the Indians' offense and how productive they've been all season.
   "Hillsboro has a lot of weapons. Aric Carroll throws well and Airic Steagall is a good, strong runner. He is also a good receiver. Dawson Barreras is another good receiver that we have to account for," Dye said. "I am impressed with their offensive line. They are big and their secondary gets to the football."
   As for the Blue Lion defense, Spicer said WSHS is primarily a 40 team, but will use different looks.
   "Their base will look like a 4-3 or 4-4. They use zone and in a way are similar to us," Spicer said. "They like to catch teams off guard and don't give up big plays.
   "They like to create problems and have a solid defensive line. Their nose guard hurts teams and disrupts."
   Dye said his Lions and the Indians are similar in personal.
   "Their linemen are bigger than us, but we are identical in a lot of ways," Dye said. "I expect a good, old-fashioned SCOL game. We have to play our best game to win."
   Spicer also stated he expects a very tough game from the visiting Blue Lion team.
   "They are well coached and I know they will be well prepared," Spicer said. "We have to play better than last week and I expect a dog fight of a game. We will have to earn this win."
   With homecoming festivities this week, Spicer said he likes the atmosphere of this type of football game.
   "I always thought homecoming games were neat," he said. "Twenty-five years ago there used to be dances every Friday or Saturday after games and I feel the whole experience adds to the goodness of the game. It give the kids something more to play for."   
[[In-content Ad]]

Add new comment

This is not for publication.
This is not for publication.

Plain text

  • No HTML tags allowed.
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
  • Web page addresses and email addresses turn into links automatically.
Article comments are not posted immediately to the Web site. Each submission must be approved by the Web site editor, who may edit content for appropriateness. There may be a delay of 24-48 hours for any submission while the web site editor reviews and approves it. Note: All information on this form is required. Your telephone number and email address is for our use only, and will not be attached to your comment.