10-7 FOOTBALL PREVIEW

Alright…..alright…..alright already. Apparently a lot of you would like to get my take on Friday night football games. While flattered, having enough time to do this kinda of thing is RARE! But today I’m ahead of the schedule, and will try to start providing a FOOTBALL PREVIEW from here on out.

Again…this is MY take only…no one else. I’m just responding to the requests. So here we go…..

Football Games:
MAX GOW: Jimtown @ Bremen.
This will be an interesting match-up tonight. Jimtown coming in at 5-2 (3-1 NIC South)…Bremen also 5-2 (including the forfeit win) (3-2 NIC South)

A Bremen win tonight, catapults them into 2nd place in the NIC South. That motivation alone should spark the Lions. But the Jimmies 210 pts heading into week 8 is an accomplishment that hasn’t been done since 2012. Jimtown is a balanced offensive machine. SR-QB-Sam Pawlak is a 60% passer, with good reason. His 4 WR’s are talented and get into open space very well. BUT…he’s also prone to getting picked off. ASMOF…he’s a -3 in TD’s to INT’s ratio. This year, like many others, Jimtown’s running game is pretty stellar. SR-Kenny Kern is the “real” deal running the football. His name will be called a lot, as he is about 120 rushing yards away from 1,000 for the season.

Bremen comes off a nice OT win over SB Washington last week.  This year has been different for the Senior QB-Matt Box, b/c 1st year Head Coach Jordan Leeper is running the ball more to make the offensive attack more balanced. Even though the passing numbers are down this season for Box, he’s starting to run himself.   Keep in mind, he dropped 15 lbs over the summer, which might be a correlation with the successful running numbers he has going into tonight. SR-Evan Martin is having a great Senior season.
He does about everything for the Lions, he runs, catches and kicks. Martin has turned into a PLAYMAKER!

KEYS:
1.) Bremen needs to slow down Kern, which means those 5 LB’s
on defense HAVE to take care gaps and assignments. If the
“D” fails on the littlest details against Jimtown’s offense, it will
be a long night for the Lions.

2.) Bremen has to STOP giving up the BIG PLAY. Every game this
year, the Lions have had opponents in 1st & long, 2nd & long,
3rd long and even 4th and long….and given up the BIG PLAY
to keep the opponents drive alive. Bremen found out against
teams like Plymouth, Mishawaka Marian, and New Prairie
those GOOD teams will make you pay. Oh BTW, it been those
teams Bremen has lost to this season (except Plymouth, the
forfeit game). NO BIG PLAYS TONIGHT, if the Lions want to
win.

3.) Jimtown is aggressive on Defense. They will come after Box.
Interesting enough, I feel Jimtown’s secondary may be the
best tacklers out of the whole bunch. They almost have HALF
of Jimtown’s tackles this season. So Box has to be smart
throwing the football. I also feel, based on film, the Jimmies
2nd & 3rd level athletes get a little to “nosey” b/c of their
aggressiveness. If Matt Box studied film this week, he will
recognize what Jimtown is trying to do defensively. He just
needs to “read & react”.

Now I plenty more on tonights game. But you will need to listen in tonight at 6pm EST for the Hunter Transit Pre-Game Show to find out more on MAX 98.3 and MAX983.net...or TUNE-IN app and type..WYMR.

 

PLYMOUTH @ GOSHEN: The Rockies suffered a tough loss last week at Concord, no doubt. The current offense has been good but not good enough with the talent set Coach John Barron has. Don’t be surprised, if Coach B makes some changes in how they are doing things on the offensive side of the ball. It’s worked before, if they choose to do something different.

Goshen is starting to get some respect finally in the NLC. Kyle Park is in his 3rd Coaching the Red Hawks. Recent success has seen them control clock with a sound running game. Senior-QB’s-Clayton Detwiler and Charlie Collins are athletic QB’s. They both know when to run and throw, and can make things happen. Which makes them tough to defend against.

Goshen is similar to Plymouth in the fact that you have two athletic QB’s that can run and pass. The major difference is, Goshen’s tandum has more game experience.

Frankly, this game comes down to how bad Plymouth wants to win a football game. FOCUS is the name of the game. The Plymouth Coaching staff has provided a detailed Scouting Report on the Red Hawks. A coaching staff that prepares more for a game than quite a few opponents staff, I might add.

KEY
1.) Execution. Plain and simple. It comes down to the kids
doing what the Coaches prepared them to do.
2.) QB’s-Filson (or Johnson) need to step back and enjoy being a
QB on this offense. Don’t tense up if things turn south for
spell. It will work out if you do your job at your position and
trust the man next to you.
3.) Defensively, Plymouth cannot get to impatient going after the
Goshen QB’s. Like I said, their both athletic and can get out
of trouble. Smart Linebacker play will be absolutely crucial to
tonight’s Plymouth win.

 

 

NORTH JUDSON at #12–LAVILLE
The #12-1A Lancers will be ready for this match-up tonight. NJ is a run team this year, they have already collected 1,381 rushing yards on the season, with 11 TD’s from it. There is no passing game for the Blue Jays, except the 18 yards they have this season.

RB-Drake Lewis is the man to key on for Laville. 543 yards rushing with 7 of the 11 TD’s already this year. BUT he isn’t the ONLY guy to key on the Jays ground game. Caden Peretti and Fletcher Greer have been the other part of that wishbone look which is tough to stop. They have a combined 583 yards on the ground themselves.

Laville looked real good last week against John Glenn. When Laville is on, the ground game is punching opponents in the mouth, early and often. SR-QB & CB, Adam Steinke is probably coming off his best performance against Glenn. He should be a
difference maker again. Speaking of difference makers….NEWS FLASH….Ethan Kertai is a pretty damn good RB! 1,084 yards rushing with 11 TD’s. Enough said!

KEYS
1.) This game will be PHYISCAL! North Judson wants to run,
to run, you have to be physical. And Lancer Boss,
Will Hostrawser doesn’t shy away from any good slobber-
knocker he and his boys can get into.
2.) Keep doing what your doing! Laville strikes early, so dominate
on your first possession.
3.) In a physical game like this, taking “breathers” will be essential.
2-way players will need to smart on the field. Wouldn’t be
surprised at all, if both teams dig into the benches early.

 

 

TRITON @ KNOX
Alright Trojans, here’s another test for you in a long line of tough opponents this season.  Knox is a real deal under Coach John Hendryx.  He has this program to a point where it hasn’t been in a long time.  They too, are hungry for a consistent winning program with the backing of their community finally.

The Redskins are coming off a tough loss to Pioneer last week, like everyone else it seems.  But the one positive take out of that game was they only allowed Pioneer one score in the second half.  Which tells me, there’s a reason why this Redskin team is 5-2.  The players are showing ownership in the program.

Knox has some skilled players.  Kooper Broeker is a athletic QB, he scrambles out of trouble and throws a good ball.  But he’s run first, pass second believe it or not.  Knox comes out of that double TE look which means more ammunition for the running game.  It’s there that Knox is effective.  SR-Ronnie Fisher is a solid back, he can make you look stupid if your not squared up on him.

But for Knox, their game is dependent on the LINE play on both sides of the ball.  They have an offensive line that averages 240lbs across, and a defensive front 4 that averages 235 lbs across.  These guys play physical for four quarters.  Their only losses were to state ranked Pioneer (recently) and to Laville.

Triton continues to search for their first win of the season.  No breaks for a team that is in dire need of an opponent similar to them skill-wise.   This team are trying to make their breaks during a ballgame, but the ‘ol attage “take one step forward, two steps back” applies here.  Little things like missed tackles, penalties, basically things that a team can control have been uncontrollable for Triton.

KEYS                                                                                                                                                            1.)  Triton needs to keep trying to improve on EVERY DOWN.  Not take a play off.                2.)  Slow down the running game of Knox.                                                                                          3.)  The Redskins are powerful up front.  Triton has to MATCH their PHYSICAL play.

 

CMA @ SB St. JOSEPH
Coach Andy Dorrel was proud of his teams win last Saturday against Indianapolis Howe. More so defensively than offensively. They didn’t let D1-prospect Tyler Pannell a chance to break the game wide open, like he’s accustomed to doing.

Jake Young was a monster for CMA last week. And will need to be tonight against the Indian Defense that will be keying on him. Michael Bocker threw the ball well last week, hopefully building his confidence up a little more.

KEYS:
1.) While you always need a balanced attack against tough defensive teams like SBSJ…you        also have to go with whats working too. Right now, the ground and pound game with
Jake is working.  BrianLoudermilk has been a nice “X” factor on JET plays, he can turn a     corner well.
2.) If the CMA defense plays like it can, this game could come to Danny Baker (Winnetka,         IL) making a play on Special Teams.
3.) It’s my understanding that Michael Bocker may have got  “dinged” up during practice           this week…but expected back.   IF NOT, Carson Bellman is next in line to run the                   offense.  The Bremen native is a good athlete and should do fine.

 

 

NEW PRAIRIE @ JOHN GLENN
I’m starting to feel for Coach Damon Groves of John Glenn. His schedule is ridiculous after Game 1 of the regular season. His Falcons have just ONE WIN going into tonight’s game against New Prairie.

The Glenn struggles are real simply because, weekly practices are
VERY good…but game time execution is inconsistent. The Falcons will have to win this game with their defense which has been a let down for most of the season. I honestly feel, the offense can move the ball against this NP defense. Pass blocking has been one positive for the Falcons.

KEYS
1.) Execute on offense. The O-LINE has to win battles in the
trenches against New Prairie. Unfortunately, that hasn’t
happened to a lot of teams NP has faced b/c they find ways to
pressure the QB consistently.

2.) Glenn Defensively, Stop the “bone” .

So there you go. I’ve run out time. I must go. I hope this feeds your Friday Football appetite. I hope I will be able to do more of these as we go on.