Alexander @ Elba – Saturday, 1:30 pm – Elba High School
Key Players
- Steele Truax (Elba)
- Mike Shanley (Elba)
- John Hochmuth (Elba)
- Jake Wozniak (Alexander)
- Tristan Aldinger (Alexander)
| BataviasBest.org
Friday, October 17, 2014
In this match up of 4-2 teams, the Trojans and Lancers will square off in an epic battle that is sure to provide 48 full minutes of entertainment tomorrow afternoon.
The Lancers come into this one off of what was perhaps their most emotional victory of the 2014 season, as they hosted their first ever night game at Byron-Bergen High School just last week. Carrying over that type of excitement over a week’s time can certainly be difficult, but it seems Elba is up for the task and will provide their fans with another great effort against Alexander. However, the Trojans have also played spirited football as of late, and will give the Lancers all they can handle come game time.
Speaking with Alexander head coach Tim Sawyer this past week, he believes the two sides have plenty in common.
“After watching a lot of film on Elba – BB,” he began, “I have to say that we have very similar qualities. First, they are strong defensively and very aggressive, and will even use 6 man fronts and at times bring an inside LB. Second, they are a Pro I and multiple set football team offensively, which thrives on running the football and they try to beat you with a well-designed play action passing game. Thirdly, we both have 4-2 records.”
In addition to his observations while comparing the two sides, Sawyer also mentioned a few keys for his team going into Saturday.
“We need to minimize our mistakes and do the little things right in order to beat these good teams,” he said. “We also need to do the little things like being disciplined with our blocking rules, getting off the ball, staying engaged with our blocks, and changing up snap counts to slow the defense down. In order to be successful, we need to be effective with our play sequence and try to keep E/B-B off balance. I hope that we can possess the ball most of the game and keep their offense off the field and I would also like to win the turnover battle. Our kicking game needs to be solid as well, and we need to minimize our penalties. Defensively we need to have each player perform their task so that our defensive unit as a whole can flourish. I also hope we can control the LOS defensively – that would be huge. Now if we do all those things right that would be the formula for success on the field. However, E/B-B will be working to do those exact things to us so this should be a really fun game in what is quite an equal match-up.”
In my personal view, to put it plainly, I believe this game will come down to each side’s respective running game and whether or not they are able to find success.
Although both the Lancers and Trojans have shown the ability to hit the open receiver downfield at times this season, a lack of consistency in the passing game for each team has led both to adopt a run-heavy approach over the course of their schedule. With Elba possessing two bruising runners in Steele Truax and Mike Shanley, and while Alexander also has several quality backs of their own (Wozniak, Aldinger, Laird, etc.), expect this one to be a ball-control type of a ballgame which will end with the more successful rushing attack winning the game.
I also expect Alexander’s kicker Zach Shilvock to play a part in the outcome and nail a field goal late in the game for his team.
After communicating with each coaching staff as well as the players for either team, I believe I have gained enough of an understanding to pick a winner here. After careful consideration, and hours of deliberation (not really), I have decided on the Trojans. Give me the Green and Gold in a tight, low-scoring contest.
Prediction: Alexander 10 Elba 6
Who do you think will win?
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