Week 4 Football Preview: Indians welcome defending champions
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
HILLSBORO — The Hillsboro Indians are about to step in no-man's land on Friday night at Richards Memorial Field.
The Indians are coming off a tough 44-7 loss to the Wilmington Hurricane where their lone score was by Christian Cundiff in the second half. HHS trailed 42-0 at halftime.
What is up next for the Indians (0-3) is a Clinton-Massie team that has two straight losses, something that hasn't happened to the five-time defending South Central Ohio League champions since the '01 season. Those two losses have been by a combined 16 points. The losses were to Waynesville (17-2) and Jonathan Alder (29-28).
Massie is one of five teams in the SCOL entering league play with an overall record of 1-2 overall. Hillsboro is 0-3 with losses to Wilmington, Goshen and Western Brown by a combined score of 51-121.
"Our best preparation for this week was playing Wilmington last week," Hillsboro head coach Brian Spicer said. "We can't simulate the size and strength of a Clinton-Massie, but Wilmington was bigger and stronger than us.
"Massie brings the same level of play … even more, so we are up against a bigger team this week. We told the kids after last week's game, and I think have to realize they are going to get beat up on Friday nights. They have to use that experience in each game from here on out."
Last week, the Falcons (1-2) had two touchdowns, each from Bayle Wolf and Wyatt Running. Wolf had a touchdown for a run and one on a 60-yard fumble recovery and run. Running's scores were both runs. For the season (after three games), Wolf leads the Falcons with 241 rushing yards.
In their game against the Hurricane, the Indians allowed first-half touchdowns as short as one yard and as long as 70 yards. In all, they gave up six first-half touchdown runs to the Hurricane and for the game allowed 123 yards passing and 325 yards rushing. The Hurricane net total for offensive yards ended up at 466.
"I think in the first half, we were shell-shocked," Spicer said. "The kids are doing everything we want them to do, so I couldn't ask for more from a young group like we have."
Also in the loss to Wilmington, HHS had just 56 yards of offense (58 rushing and -2 passing). Leading rushers for the Tribe were Christian Cundiff with 36 yards on 11 carries and Christian Wildey with 29 yards on 15 carries. Jerrod Dornbusch had one carry for 16 yards, and Chase Gilliland finished with six carries for 10 yards.
"Last week was a good practice for this week, there is no other way to explain it. We need to understand playing Massie won't be an easy task, so we just need to do it, learn from it and get better from it," Spicer said.
Learning and improving for the future are important for the Indians this season. They are learning about their mistakes through detailed film study and by asking questions in practice that in the long run will help them for future seasons.
"The big thing is we watch a lot of film," Spicer said. "We watch more film than in most years, but it is a way to show them how to fix their mistakes. What helps playing Wilmington is Wilmington has a similar defense, so we'll have similar blocking schemes.
"We need to put ourselves in a position to make plays, and after a half last week, they started to understand that."
Spicer said realistically, his team knows what they are up against.
"Clinton-Massie carries a mystique with them, and sometimes the kids think about that too much," Spicer said. "CM has a different level of play than any team. I tell then no matter the team we play, there are going to be bumps and bruises, so like every week, we'll come back on Monday and work them out.
"They realize they have to play hard, and they will survive. We had some good practices, no problem with the scouting report, and the kids are starting to make their own adjustments, so that is good to see. We just have to take that into Friday night."[[In-content Ad]]
The Indians are coming off a tough 44-7 loss to the Wilmington Hurricane where their lone score was by Christian Cundiff in the second half. HHS trailed 42-0 at halftime.
What is up next for the Indians (0-3) is a Clinton-Massie team that has two straight losses, something that hasn't happened to the five-time defending South Central Ohio League champions since the '01 season. Those two losses have been by a combined 16 points. The losses were to Waynesville (17-2) and Jonathan Alder (29-28).
Massie is one of five teams in the SCOL entering league play with an overall record of 1-2 overall. Hillsboro is 0-3 with losses to Wilmington, Goshen and Western Brown by a combined score of 51-121.
"Our best preparation for this week was playing Wilmington last week," Hillsboro head coach Brian Spicer said. "We can't simulate the size and strength of a Clinton-Massie, but Wilmington was bigger and stronger than us.
"Massie brings the same level of play … even more, so we are up against a bigger team this week. We told the kids after last week's game, and I think have to realize they are going to get beat up on Friday nights. They have to use that experience in each game from here on out."
Last week, the Falcons (1-2) had two touchdowns, each from Bayle Wolf and Wyatt Running. Wolf had a touchdown for a run and one on a 60-yard fumble recovery and run. Running's scores were both runs. For the season (after three games), Wolf leads the Falcons with 241 rushing yards.
In their game against the Hurricane, the Indians allowed first-half touchdowns as short as one yard and as long as 70 yards. In all, they gave up six first-half touchdown runs to the Hurricane and for the game allowed 123 yards passing and 325 yards rushing. The Hurricane net total for offensive yards ended up at 466.
"I think in the first half, we were shell-shocked," Spicer said. "The kids are doing everything we want them to do, so I couldn't ask for more from a young group like we have."
Also in the loss to Wilmington, HHS had just 56 yards of offense (58 rushing and -2 passing). Leading rushers for the Tribe were Christian Cundiff with 36 yards on 11 carries and Christian Wildey with 29 yards on 15 carries. Jerrod Dornbusch had one carry for 16 yards, and Chase Gilliland finished with six carries for 10 yards.
"Last week was a good practice for this week, there is no other way to explain it. We need to understand playing Massie won't be an easy task, so we just need to do it, learn from it and get better from it," Spicer said.
Learning and improving for the future are important for the Indians this season. They are learning about their mistakes through detailed film study and by asking questions in practice that in the long run will help them for future seasons.
"The big thing is we watch a lot of film," Spicer said. "We watch more film than in most years, but it is a way to show them how to fix their mistakes. What helps playing Wilmington is Wilmington has a similar defense, so we'll have similar blocking schemes.
"We need to put ourselves in a position to make plays, and after a half last week, they started to understand that."
Spicer said realistically, his team knows what they are up against.
"Clinton-Massie carries a mystique with them, and sometimes the kids think about that too much," Spicer said. "CM has a different level of play than any team. I tell then no matter the team we play, there are going to be bumps and bruises, so like every week, we'll come back on Monday and work them out.
"They realize they have to play hard, and they will survive. We had some good practices, no problem with the scouting report, and the kids are starting to make their own adjustments, so that is good to see. We just have to take that into Friday night."[[In-content Ad]]