| BataviasBest.org
Thursday, September 11, 2014
Week 1 was full of a number of breakout performances on the individual and team level. While Attica, Elba, and Oakfield picked up key victories to open the season, this week Pembroke, Notre Dame, Holley and Alexander all find themselves on the outside looking in.
Beginning the weekend will be a pair of Friday night match ups, as Pembroke will host Attica, and Alexander hosts Notre Dame. With the Blue Devils coming to town, it will be of the utmost importance for the Dragons to improve upon their 7-point performance from a week ago.
Scoring just one touchdown against Elba, Pembroke’s offense was unable to keep it going following a solid touchdown run from Dakota Swimline to open the game. Although they were able to get the ball to the big-play RB/WR several times last week, Pembroke will have to extend that effort in order to find the end zone at a higher rate.
Last night, Attica head coach Rob Cusmano commented on the talent Swimline and the entire Pembroke backfield possesses.
“Neurohr is good and Swimline scares me if he gets in the open field,” said Cusmano. “They are very good athletes. We will need to control them (on Friday night) but if we do we should be alright.”
Hoping to overcome the Blue Devils’ effort this weekend, Swimline specifically spoke about his and Neurohr’s ability to work with their offensive line as the key to their success.
“I think the game will be decided by how the offensive line does against their defensive line,” said Swimline.
In need of good play from the guys up front, Pembroke will have to put up points against Attica.
After a 42-0 performance against the Holley Hawks in Week 1, the Blue Devils have shown that they can light up the scoreboard on any given day. Leading the strong offensive attack against the Hawks were RB Jake Strzelec and QB Damien Marchetti. Strzelec finished last week with 188 yards on 22 carries and a score and will present Pembroke’s defense with a tough challenge come Friday night.
Showing the ability to break through the first level on any given down a week ago, the Pembroke linebackers will be called upon to bring extra effort on Friday in hopes of stopping Strzelec before he penetrates the secondary. If they are unable to do so, the Attica running back will have his way with smaller safeties and corner backs which will allow him to break off big runs all day long.
To go with the success from Strzelec, Marchetti also experienced a big game last Saturday afternoon, completing 3 passes for 3 TDs. The Pembroke secondary, while primarily focused on tackling in the open field, will also need to keep an eye out for Attica’s gunslinger if they hope to contain the Blue Devils.
In other Friday night action, Alexander and Notre Dame will meet each other as they both search for their first win of the young season.
The Irish lost on a last minute fumble as they were approaching a go-ahead touchdown last week. The Irish relied on a heavy ground attack versus OA on Saturday, with Peter Daversa leading the team with 18 carries for 76 yards, while also scoring a key touchdown. Jack Sutherland, a nice compliment to Daversa, carried the ball 15 times for 37 yards in a solid effort. Alexander will have to key on both of the ND backs if they hope to shut down a talented offense who had an opportunity to win the game a week ago.
The Trojans’ Week 1 opponent, CG Finney, possessed plenty of athleticism at the running back position which is something that will have prepared Alexander for this week. Their defense put up a fight, but found it difficult to stop a surprising Finney squad. Hopefully for Alexander, they can continue their strong play up front and improve the results going forward.
Complimenting a fantastic slate on Friday night is a couple of good games on Saturday afternoon, as Elba hosts Holley, and OA heads to Nichols. The Lancers picked up a big win last week and hope to make it two straight against Holley, who is looking to rebound after a tough loss.
“Our line and backs did a nice job last week in gaining some tough yards,” said Elba head coach Mike Cintorino about his squad’s Week 1 performance. They are a young line still but are beginning to grasp the scheme. As they further learn the nuances of the scheme they will continue to get better, and with the help of veteran backs, hopefully we can keep the ball rolling.”
Speaking of prime options out of the backfield, Elba possesses one of the best in the league in Mike Shanley, who Cintorino was also excited about.
“What Michael does on the field for us is only the tip of the iceberg,” he said about his RB. “He is one of the best leaders on and off the field that I have had the opportunity to coach. He continually leads by example everyday. This is his third year with us and he’s sat behind some very good running backs, so it was nice to see him finally get to have that moment and help his team on the field as well as off.”
The daunting task of stopping Shanley will be presented to a young Holley defense who hope to control the big running back. As for the Elba defense, their head coach commented on how their ability to adapt will help them going forward.
“Well I think we have a long way to go on both sides of the ball, but coach O’Geen always has his defense ready to play and in the right position,” said Cintorino. “Again, we have some guys stepping in that have never started before this year, and others who are in new positions. Once they become more comfortable in their new roles they will continue to get better.”
Also hoping to get better following a let down offensively in the second half of their opening game, Oakfield heads to Nichols in search of win number two. In order to defeat Nichols, the Hornets will have to reproduce the strong defensive effort they put forth last week.
(Sidenote: Although some media outlets had the Hornets beating Notre Dame for the first time in twenty years, OA in fact beat the Irish last in 2008.)
“I was very proud of our defense and it won us the game during the second half,” said Oakfield head coach Brian Palone last night. “They played as a team and pursued the ball.”
OA running back Ryan Emery agreed with Palone on his statement that defense won them the ballgame.
“I felt good about our defensive effort last week,” said Emery. “Always room for improvement but I was happy with all the big plays we were able to make on the defensive side. It won us the game in the end.”
As far as this week is concerned, defense will again be key for the Hornets according to Palone.
“They (Nichols) look on film to have some very good players. We have to read our keys on defense and swarm to the ball,” said the head coach. Oakfield must bring their best effort onto the road once again for the second straight week, as they hop on the bus and travel about an hour away for this one.
With all four contests presenting the possibility of high drama in the coming days, this weekend is sure to get the GR League shaken up. Stay tuned tomorrow for my Week 2 predictions.
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