Sat Nov 21 2009
It's finally time.
The Western Hills football team will hit the field for the first time this season Friday night at Grant County. The Wolverines are hoping that a new year and a few changes will be just what they need to make up for last season (1-10).
The game kicks off at 7:30 p.m. in Dry Ridge.
WHHS got its open week the first week of the season for the second season in a row. The Wolverines spent their time wisely preparing for the Braves. Head coach Don Miller knew what to expect from Grant County and its long-time coach Mike Davis.
Davis even admitted nothing much has changed.
"We're not changing anything from what we did last year," Davis said. "We run a spread-style offense and a multiple front defense."
That scheme worked well for the Braves in Week 1 as they rolled past an overmatched Pendleton County 28-13.
Last season, Grant County made short work of Western Hills 35-14. Miller is hoping that a new offensive scheme will help put points on the board.
The Wolverines installed a Jet-style offense during the preseason. The Jet offense has roots in the classic single wing offense and utilizes motion before the snap that allows an offense to run the same play or similar plays from multiple formations. This keeps the defense off guard and unable to load up on one side of the line or the other.
"Defensively, Coach Davis is running a 3-5," Miller said. "So we'll see a lot twist games, a lot of blitzing off the outside and some from the inside. They'll bring at least two (linebackers) each time.
"We have pushed our offensive line to keep their heads up and make sure that they're seeing what's coming at them," he added. "We're not going to get away from what (we do). The last two scrimmages we've done well. We're really going to try and push to the outside with the Jet setup first and really make them work on running and see if they can cover it."
Miller said that everyone on the offense plays a role in making the offense work, but of course the most important piece is the quarterback.
Junior Dylan Curry will again led the offense for the Wolverines. Miller said Curry's most important attribute on the field has to be his brain.
"(He needs to avoid) pushing the ball and putting it in the wrong spots and being smart," Miller said. "He's going to have to make good, sound decisions."
After that, it comes down to the skill players to make things happen: Darius Reed, Josh Preston, Josh Bell and Chris Pugh.
"The ones we have running the Jet have to do a good job of selling it and making good fakes," Miller said. "Darius, Preston, Bell and Pugh, those guys that are our inside slots, those are the ones that will really have to step up."
Davis has seen the improvements that the Wolverines have made since last season.
"We think in all honesty that Western Hills is going to be a much better opponent than Pendleton County," Davis said. "We have to prepare well because this by no means is the same Western Hills team we played last year.
"They have a really good quarterback and we have to make sure we know what he's doing at all times," he added. "They have a great passing attack. We are making certain that we do a good job on our pass coverage.
"We can't really know how well we're playing with just one game under our belts. I think we're OK but they're a pretty good passing team. With their new offense, we have to make sure we keep them contained."
Offensively, Grant County runs the spread offense and uses the option. Senior quarterback Joe Sodden leads the way for the Braves. Last season Sodden threw for 1,191 yards with 93 completions and 11 touchdowns. He also threw 19 interceptions. Sodden was second on the team in rushing with 397 yards on 65 carries and two touchdowns.
"He's an athlete," Davis said of Sodden. "He's an athlete that plays quarterback. He can run, throw...quite frankly it's a shame I don't have another quarterback because he's probably the best receiver I've got. He's a special athlete."
The Braves lost their leading rusher Randy Morris to graduation - 520 yards on 104 carries with three touchdowns.
Running backs Rex Benson and Dillon Pelphrey as well as receiver Justin Mertz will also be players to watch on the Braves' offense.
"The big thing is going to be our defensive lines," Miller said. "They run a lot of different formations offensively with similar plays.
"Defensively we have to do a good job," he added. "Their quarterback Joe Sodden threw for over a 1,000 (yards last season) and ran quite a bit. He's the one that everything is going to go through. If we can try to shut him down then we'll have a good chance of winning the game."
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