NorthWood, Harding Preparing To Rumble
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
This is one of those "Clash of the Titans" games.
NorthWood, ranked No.7, vs. No. 9 Fort Wayne Harding. Both teams are familiar with playing deep into the playoffs. NorthWood, of course, fell in the semi-state last year, while Harding lost in the sectional championship. However, the Hawks are 35-12 in four years under head coach Steve Cooley, including a record of 9-3 this year.
Both teams are similar.
The offenses are explosive. NorthWood is averaging more than 32 points per game in the playoffs, while Harding is averaging a cool 55 points per game in the postseason. The Panthers are led by junior running back Aaron Huber, who went over 1,000 yards on the season on Friday in the 28-0 sectional championship win over Northridge. Harding has two great runners in Alan Ganaway and Sean Casey. Both went over 200 yards on the ground and scored a combined seven touchdowns in the 62-34 win over Norwell on Friday.
On the other side of the football, both defenses are criticized. NorthWood shut out Northridge last week, but has allowed 20 points or more five times this season. Harding allowed 27 points to Western in the sectional opener and then allowed 34 in that win over Norwell last week.
So it would seem logical that a shootout would be inevitable. But both coaches are hoping that is not the case.
"I hope it doesn't become a track meet where we're talking about trying to score 40 points to win," NorthWood coach Rich Dodson said. "We've got to slow them down a little bit, make them use some clock to score themselves. We don't want to give up the big plays consistently, and that's what's happened in the last few games like at Norwell. They gave up a lot of big running plays and we can't afford to do that."
"I hope (it's not a shootout)," Harding coach Steve Cooley said. "I hope we play well defensively. I hope our defense shows up and comes to play. That's our emphasis all week long. If they do, we'll have a chance. If not, we may be turning our stuff in on Monday."
As always, the focus offensively could sit squarely on the shoulders of NorthWood sophomore quarterback Charlie Roeder. Being a sophomore, it seems as if Roeder may be easily rattled, but that is not necessarily the case.
"They're probably working on blitzing him and stuff like that, but other teams have too," Dodson said. "Charlie's going to have to read the blitz and dump it off to the people that become open when they do blitz. It they rattle Charlie, that's something that I haven't been able to do. He's gone through 12 football games now, and I just don't see Charlie breaking down or not performing like I think he can."
"Changing just to rattle (Roeder) is not the answer," Cooley said. "They do a lot of three-step drops and they do a lot of sprint-outs and that's hard to get to. You can't even tell that kid is a sophomore. He makes great decisions. He's a hard-nosed runner on the option."
Both coaches heap praises on the other team. They know what they are up against in a top-10 power.
"They're very good," Cooley said. "They're very well coached, they're well disciplined, they play extremely hard, they won't quit regardless of the score. Their defense pursues very well and they are all over the field. Offensively, Huber is outstanding. He's a weapon in the backfield whether they're in the I or split-backs or whatever. Anytime you play a team that can control the football and run the option like they can, you better be prepared."
"They're very athletic," Dodson said. "They've got some outstanding athletes. They're an outstanding football team and they have some big linemen. Their line is kind of reminiscent of Goshen's line in terms of the two big kids that Goshen had. Then, they've got some outstanding athletes in the backfield. I don't know if we can really stop (their running backs). I don't think we're going to be able to keep them out of the endzone for the whole football game."
Both teams will be at almost full strength for the football game. For the first time in three weeks, Harding will have its complete defense intact. NorthWood will be without fullback Chad Knisely, who fractured his leg and is out for the year, but will have sophomore Jason Brenneman in his place.
NorthWood will be at Harding on Friday at 7:30 p.m. [[In-content Ad]]
This is one of those "Clash of the Titans" games.
NorthWood, ranked No.7, vs. No. 9 Fort Wayne Harding. Both teams are familiar with playing deep into the playoffs. NorthWood, of course, fell in the semi-state last year, while Harding lost in the sectional championship. However, the Hawks are 35-12 in four years under head coach Steve Cooley, including a record of 9-3 this year.
Both teams are similar.
The offenses are explosive. NorthWood is averaging more than 32 points per game in the playoffs, while Harding is averaging a cool 55 points per game in the postseason. The Panthers are led by junior running back Aaron Huber, who went over 1,000 yards on the season on Friday in the 28-0 sectional championship win over Northridge. Harding has two great runners in Alan Ganaway and Sean Casey. Both went over 200 yards on the ground and scored a combined seven touchdowns in the 62-34 win over Norwell on Friday.
On the other side of the football, both defenses are criticized. NorthWood shut out Northridge last week, but has allowed 20 points or more five times this season. Harding allowed 27 points to Western in the sectional opener and then allowed 34 in that win over Norwell last week.
So it would seem logical that a shootout would be inevitable. But both coaches are hoping that is not the case.
"I hope it doesn't become a track meet where we're talking about trying to score 40 points to win," NorthWood coach Rich Dodson said. "We've got to slow them down a little bit, make them use some clock to score themselves. We don't want to give up the big plays consistently, and that's what's happened in the last few games like at Norwell. They gave up a lot of big running plays and we can't afford to do that."
"I hope (it's not a shootout)," Harding coach Steve Cooley said. "I hope we play well defensively. I hope our defense shows up and comes to play. That's our emphasis all week long. If they do, we'll have a chance. If not, we may be turning our stuff in on Monday."
As always, the focus offensively could sit squarely on the shoulders of NorthWood sophomore quarterback Charlie Roeder. Being a sophomore, it seems as if Roeder may be easily rattled, but that is not necessarily the case.
"They're probably working on blitzing him and stuff like that, but other teams have too," Dodson said. "Charlie's going to have to read the blitz and dump it off to the people that become open when they do blitz. It they rattle Charlie, that's something that I haven't been able to do. He's gone through 12 football games now, and I just don't see Charlie breaking down or not performing like I think he can."
"Changing just to rattle (Roeder) is not the answer," Cooley said. "They do a lot of three-step drops and they do a lot of sprint-outs and that's hard to get to. You can't even tell that kid is a sophomore. He makes great decisions. He's a hard-nosed runner on the option."
Both coaches heap praises on the other team. They know what they are up against in a top-10 power.
"They're very good," Cooley said. "They're very well coached, they're well disciplined, they play extremely hard, they won't quit regardless of the score. Their defense pursues very well and they are all over the field. Offensively, Huber is outstanding. He's a weapon in the backfield whether they're in the I or split-backs or whatever. Anytime you play a team that can control the football and run the option like they can, you better be prepared."
"They're very athletic," Dodson said. "They've got some outstanding athletes. They're an outstanding football team and they have some big linemen. Their line is kind of reminiscent of Goshen's line in terms of the two big kids that Goshen had. Then, they've got some outstanding athletes in the backfield. I don't know if we can really stop (their running backs). I don't think we're going to be able to keep them out of the endzone for the whole football game."
Both teams will be at almost full strength for the football game. For the first time in three weeks, Harding will have its complete defense intact. NorthWood will be without fullback Chad Knisely, who fractured his leg and is out for the year, but will have sophomore Jason Brenneman in his place.
NorthWood will be at Harding on Friday at 7:30 p.m. [[In-content Ad]]