 | Central, North try to maintain focusposted by OCF Administration, Group AdministratorWednesday, October 5th 2011 @ 10:02 PM |
(This Week Sports.com) As the league races continue to take shape in high school football, teams also are beginning to position themselves for possible postseason berths. Here is a look at Week 7 matchups for Central and North:
Gahanna (4-2, 2-1) at Pickerington North (5-1, 2-1)
A pair of teams affected by turnovers last week will meet Friday, Oct. 7, when Pickerington North plays host to Gahanna.
During the Panthers’ 41-6 victory over Reynoldsburg on Sept. 30, they forced three turnovers in the first half and four in the game, converting the miscues into 21 points.
The Lions were on the other end in their 28-7 loss Sept. 30 to Pickerington Central, as two interceptions turned into 14 points for the Tigers. Gahanna also struggled on special teams.
North has won the last two meetings, 21-20 a year ago and 33-0 in 2009. Gahanna won 31-28 in overtime in 2008.
“(The Panthers are) really a very, very good team,” Lions coach John Snoad said. “They’ve got a lot of weapons and they’re really talented in the backfield. Our game plan was working to perfection (against Central) but we didn’t handle a snap on a field goal and Roger Lewis took a kickoff back (98 yards) for a touchdown. We were trying to shorten the game and we couldn’t get a first down, and we lost special teams.”
The Lions also were hindered by injuries during the game to two running backs, hurting their depth.
Since getting off to a 2-0 start, Gahanna has split its last four games and is 4-2 overall and 2-1 in the OCC-Ohio Division. It remains the Lions’ best start since they opened the 2007 season 6-1 and eventually made the Division I, Region 3 playoffs.
Quarterback Tyler Grassman leads the Lions’ offense after moving to the position during a 31-14 opening win over DeSales on Aug. 26. He was 7-for-13 passing with a 7-yard touchdown to Peyton Ross against Central.
North is 5-1 and 2-1, with its only loss coming to Central 24-21 on Sept. 23.
Against Reynoldsburg, Godwin Igwebuike rushed for 135 yards and one touchdown and returned an interception for a score. Running back Alston Robertson rushed 14 times for 79 yards and one touchdown and quarterback Zach Olszewski passed for 100 yards with a pair of touchdowns to Jake Butt.
Pat Elflein (DL), Tabeal Radney (DB) and Butt (DL) have led a Panthers defense that is giving up an average of 11.3 points.
“We’ve got to stabilize the Gahanna defensive front,” North coach Tom Phillips said. “Gahanna has excellent speed and defensive pressure. They come at you, so we’ve got to come off the ball and execute. They are sound.”
—Jarrod Ulrey
Pickerington Central (3-2, 3-0) at Groveport (3-3, 1-2)
Groveport will look to avenge last year’s 45-7 loss to Pickerington Central when the Cruisers play host to the Tigers in an OCC-Ohio Division game on Friday, Oct. 7.
On Sept. 30, Central beat Gahanna 28-7 for its third consecutive winÊto improve to 3-2 overall and 3-0 in the OCC-Ohio.
Also that night, Groveport defeated Newark 40-7 to snap a two-game losing streak andÊimprove to 3-3 and 1-2.
Groveport’s spread offense will try to put together a balanced attack against the Tigers’ multiple-front defense.
Quarterback Shane Denny has thrown for more than 800 yards and his favorite target is Wyatt Hikins.
Tailback Melvin Smith has rushed for 848 yards on 90 carries, including four touchdowns against Newark.
Central’s defense will crowd the line of scrimmage and blitz nearly every down.
After averaging just 10.5 points over its first two contests, Central’s offense has averaged 24.3 points during its current three-game winning streak.
Against Gahanna, running back Billy Eakins rushed for 108 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries, while quarterback Nick Jensen-Clagg threw a 32-yard touchdown pass to Jake Raymond and Roger Lewis returned a kickoff 98 yards for a score.
Jensen-Clagg is 55-for-98 for 754 yards for the season.
Groveport’s defense, which is led by senior end Vince Waymon and senior safety Ryan Jones, gave up an average of 30 points per game before holding winless Newark to seven, and those came late in the fourth quarter.
“We play Groveport at Groveport, and whenever we play over there, it always seems to come down to the fourth quarter,” Central coach Jay Sharrett said. “I know coach (Tim) Brown will have his guys ready to go.”
—Aaron Blankenship
