Waverly vs. Westfall is here
Waverly and Westfall fire it up tonight
http://www.chillicothegazette.com/apps/ ... /711100332
By LANCE CRANMER
Assistant Local Editor
The site, the crowd, the hype, the countless number of factors that make up high school football ... none of them matter tonight.
All that really matters is the game: Westfall vs. Waverly.
"Once the lights are on, the ball is kicked and we're playing between those white lines, nothing else matters after that," Tigers coach Rusty Wright said Friday night on the eve of his program's biggest game ever. "It's such an honor to be in the second round of the playoffs. Getting to the second round, that's an accomplishment that goes way beyond worrying about wherever you play."
The location of tonight's Division IV second round game caused some controversy early in the week after the OHSAA chose Teays Valley's Viking Stadium - a short 15 minute drive from Westfall - as the neutral location.
With a week gone by and plenty of time to let the initial feelings come and pass, Wright would just as happily board a plane to South America as head to Ashville just for another night on the field.
"It's too big of an honor to worry about that," he said.
Heading into the 7 p.m. meeting with the undefeated Mustangs, Wright's concerns lie with his own team.
"If we were just a little more healthy I'd feel a little better," he said. "We have the same problem we've had. Our backfield is banged up."
Second string back Caleb Rowland is out tonight after suffering an injury in last week's 27-21 win over Belmont Union Local.
Starting running back Kevin Malone who rushed for 600 yards and scored 12 touchdowns as a sophomore this year is being considered a game-time decision for the Tigers.
"He was having a good game last week and was running real well," Wright said. "He got tackled and a guy fell on the back of his ankle."
Malone participated in practice, jogging on the injured ankle, but is not certain to play. If he does not, Ryan Robertson and Ramone Conley will get the bulk of the carries.
Mustangs' coach Scott Keller has had to deal with injuries all season, but says right now his team is healthy.
"We're 100 percent ready to go," he said. "After seven or eight weeks, every game we were missing one or two starters. Finally we've got everybody on the roster healthy and ready to go."
Keller, Westfall's offensive mastermind behind a team that averaged 42 points a game during the regular season, is more focused on his defense tonight and how it will handle facing quarterback Trevor Walls.
"The thing you have to do, you can't play the same coverage all game," Keller said. "He'll pick you apart. You've got to show him six or seven coverages. We're going to run all the fronts and coverages we've got. We'll show them our entire playbook. Everything you can show out of a 4-3 defense. If you can get to him or get him confused, it can throw off timing for passes."
In a similar way, the Tigers must find a way to slow down Westfall's top offensive threat, 6-foot-4 receiver Jack Gose, who caught 44 balls for 915 yards and eight scores this year.
"With a big tall receiver, you've got to battle him," Wright said. "We've got to do that Saturday night and make sure he doesn't catch the ball. But they're a very good team. You don't get to be fifth-ranked in the state by accident."
Keller hopes that Gose is a major factor in the game, whether it be by making plays or simply drawing attention.
"That's one thing we feel we have an advantage on. Jack is a great athlete and on the other side, Ty Cobb is 6-3 and also a great athlete," he said. "Both of their corners are around 5-9, so they are giving up some inches. If you're going to double one of those guys, that could be leaving (Seth) Hardin or (Bryant) Gibson or (Ben) Cline open. Those guys are hard to cover one-on-one. Two big outside receivers allow us to do a lot."
http://www.chillicothegazette.com/apps/ ... /711100332
By LANCE CRANMER
Assistant Local Editor
The site, the crowd, the hype, the countless number of factors that make up high school football ... none of them matter tonight.
All that really matters is the game: Westfall vs. Waverly.
"Once the lights are on, the ball is kicked and we're playing between those white lines, nothing else matters after that," Tigers coach Rusty Wright said Friday night on the eve of his program's biggest game ever. "It's such an honor to be in the second round of the playoffs. Getting to the second round, that's an accomplishment that goes way beyond worrying about wherever you play."
The location of tonight's Division IV second round game caused some controversy early in the week after the OHSAA chose Teays Valley's Viking Stadium - a short 15 minute drive from Westfall - as the neutral location.
With a week gone by and plenty of time to let the initial feelings come and pass, Wright would just as happily board a plane to South America as head to Ashville just for another night on the field.
"It's too big of an honor to worry about that," he said.
Heading into the 7 p.m. meeting with the undefeated Mustangs, Wright's concerns lie with his own team.
"If we were just a little more healthy I'd feel a little better," he said. "We have the same problem we've had. Our backfield is banged up."
Second string back Caleb Rowland is out tonight after suffering an injury in last week's 27-21 win over Belmont Union Local.
Starting running back Kevin Malone who rushed for 600 yards and scored 12 touchdowns as a sophomore this year is being considered a game-time decision for the Tigers.
"He was having a good game last week and was running real well," Wright said. "He got tackled and a guy fell on the back of his ankle."
Malone participated in practice, jogging on the injured ankle, but is not certain to play. If he does not, Ryan Robertson and Ramone Conley will get the bulk of the carries.
Mustangs' coach Scott Keller has had to deal with injuries all season, but says right now his team is healthy.
"We're 100 percent ready to go," he said. "After seven or eight weeks, every game we were missing one or two starters. Finally we've got everybody on the roster healthy and ready to go."
Keller, Westfall's offensive mastermind behind a team that averaged 42 points a game during the regular season, is more focused on his defense tonight and how it will handle facing quarterback Trevor Walls.
"The thing you have to do, you can't play the same coverage all game," Keller said. "He'll pick you apart. You've got to show him six or seven coverages. We're going to run all the fronts and coverages we've got. We'll show them our entire playbook. Everything you can show out of a 4-3 defense. If you can get to him or get him confused, it can throw off timing for passes."
In a similar way, the Tigers must find a way to slow down Westfall's top offensive threat, 6-foot-4 receiver Jack Gose, who caught 44 balls for 915 yards and eight scores this year.
"With a big tall receiver, you've got to battle him," Wright said. "We've got to do that Saturday night and make sure he doesn't catch the ball. But they're a very good team. You don't get to be fifth-ranked in the state by accident."
Keller hopes that Gose is a major factor in the game, whether it be by making plays or simply drawing attention.
"That's one thing we feel we have an advantage on. Jack is a great athlete and on the other side, Ty Cobb is 6-3 and also a great athlete," he said. "Both of their corners are around 5-9, so they are giving up some inches. If you're going to double one of those guys, that could be leaving (Seth) Hardin or (Bryant) Gibson or (Ben) Cline open. Those guys are hard to cover one-on-one. Two big outside receivers allow us to do a lot."
Hillsboro had a beautiful facility. Except for a few empty seats, Circleville had its side filled up. Nice following by the county. Field was in good shape for November, the hill surrounding the field made for an intimate setting. The food was good and the press box was nice. They get a plus grade for me in hosting future playoff games.
Outsider wrote:I heard they were going to have this game at the Horse Shoe, but something else is going on there today, some small team called the Buckeyes are playing and Waverly fans were crying it was to close to Westfall.
Sorry, you're wrong,that would have been Great because our biggest concern was enough seating for the fans. Go Tigers!
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discgolfer
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Burg_Grad_77
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yabbadabbadoo
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cavalierfan95 wrote:im going to put my 2 cents in this.if you want somewhere close look at adena or greenfield there both under an hour to get there.
athens is too far away and jackson is nice but you can do better than jackson.
keep it old school and play at a county school with REAL grass.
thats why i said greenfield or adena.if you dont belive me look it up yourself!
ohsaa dont have a clue what there doing when it comes to pairing up sites
for playoffs
they just want it to be in a big town so more people will make that drive.
They never had. Especially when it comes to Southeastern Ohio
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yabbadabbadoo
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