Run game produces, but O-line loses yet another

by Keith Stewart
keith@newsprogress.com

Do you want the good news or the bad news first?

SOV’s home opener was in fact marked with the “W” this past Friday, as they defeated Meridian 14-8, evening up their record at 1-1.

As for the bad?

SOV lost yet another offensive/defensive lineman, their third of the year as well as their fourth senior in Brock Cook, who went down on Meridian’s first drive of the game, with an apparent knee injury and would later be taken to the hospital.

“They’re not encouraged. That’s another terrible break for that line,” said SOV head coach Charles Brown. “They’ve worked so hard. I hate to use the word unfair, but it is very unfair. The senior linemen are the ones who aren’t getting a good break on things.”

According to Brown in an update Monday, Cook appears to have a torn meniscus which will require surgery later on this week.

“Jed Wheeler came in for Brock, and he came in last week and played a little bit too and did a pretty good job, but we had to change up some things tonight to take advantage of what Jed brings us as opposed to what Brock brings us, so we had to call some plays a little differently and changed things up a little bit to try and get in there,” said Brown. “But give him credit, he stepped in and did the job.”

The defense would prevail Friday despite the missing lineman when on the following third and 12, SOV’s Joe Jeffers broke up a pass, which then lead to a Meridian punt.

Neither team’s offense would muster much of anything in the rest of the first.

In the second, the Redskin defense only ramped up its effort all the more.

On Meridian’s third drive on third and 1, the Hawks handed off to running back Hayden Morrow but was stopped short by Walker Byers, who quickly got past the line of scrimmage for the stop. Meridian would then go for it on fourth and a long 1, but once again, the SOV defense held strong, forcing a turnover on downs.

“The defense was spectacular,” said Brown. “They [Meridian] scored nothing on the defense. They filled their assignments very well. Whatever they got beat on, they fixed and created their own opportunities. You can’t say any more about the defense, they did great tonight.”

An almost identical situation would arise again in the third quarter, when on third and one, Meridian carried the ball, this time met by Travis Hanson for the stop. Morrow would get the hand off again on fourth and one, but to no avail. With 31.9 left in the quarter, Morrow would again carry on third and one, but Evan Barker’s tackle would not only stop the conversion, but drop the Hawks for a loss of five.

The only real offensive production that paid off for the Hawks came on special teams.

After SOV’s sophomore running back Jake Eaton ran the ball for 43 yards, setting up an eventual Nick Frerichs touchdown run, the Hawks responded with an 88-yard kickoff return for their own touchdown with 1:09 left in the second. Seizing the momentum, Meridian then converted for two-points, taking an 8-7 lead into the half.

But it would be Eaton again on the big carry to start the Redskin’s third quarter opening drive, serving as a welcomed and timely response for SOV.

On third and two, the sophomore hit his left gap thanks to the offensive line and carried the ball 52 yards for the touchdown. With the field goal from Devin Mosier good, SOV went up 14-8 with more than 10 minutes left in the third quarter.

“I was glad for him because he didn’t feel like he had a good game against Tuscola and felt pretty down, but he’s only a sophomore, and he’s learning the speed at the varsity level, and that’s not an easy thing to learn, but he battled hard,” said Brown of Eaton. “He continues to go at it.”

Little did either team, let alone their respective fans, realize is this would be all the scoring Friday’s game would see.

Despite the several three and outs, as well as turnovers given to and earned by SOV’s defense, the offense could not make use of the opportunities.

With 6:05 left in the game, the Redskins began what would be their last drive of the game. After picking up a first down following second and one, the Redskins found themselves on fourth and one with more than three minutes left, more than ample opportunity for the Hawks to put together a scoring drive.

Going for it, Frerichs pitched the ball to Jeffers, who picked up 16 yards for the first down.

But with the clock running down just as SOV wanted, they were hit with a dead ball foul with a little over a minute remaining, stopping the clock.

After being second and goal on the Meridian 5-yard line, the penalty set SOV back to third and 19. After no gain on a carry, a fourth and 19 pass attempt went incomplete.

With less than a minute to go, Meridian remarkably worked the ball down field with two straight pass completions, setting up a second and 10 situation on the SOV 43 with 1.5 seconds left. The hail mary attempt that followed would, however, fall flat to the ever stringent SOV defense as Levi Nadler broke it up, ending the game.

“A lot of people stepped up tonight,” said Brown. “It’s hard to single out one because there are a lot of people that gave everything they had tonight on both sides of the ball.

“It keeps you in the running. Their mission is the playoffs; they’re going to continue that and see how far they get. This team isn’t going to quit. They’ll just keep battling.”

For Meridian, the week two loss was its second straight, and they’ll inherit tough Tolono-Unity next week.

“Our kids played hard in the first half,” said Meridian coach Scott Davis. “We gave them a couple big plays, and that hurt us. Offensively, we couldn’t sustain drives. We were fortunate to get the kickoff return. But our kids played hard and fought to the end, but it wasn’t good enough tonight.”

For Brown and his boys, moving forward will focus on taking advantage of what the defense offers up.

“When the defense gives you the ball, you have to move the ball and put it in the end zone. That’s something we’re going to learn, something we’re going to battle until we learn it.”

And while praise be to the Redskin defense, they will need to not only repeat their effort but take it up several notches if SOV has any hopes of contending with the No. 1 team in class 2A, Maroa-Forsyth, this Friday. The Trojans are 2-0 on the season and come off a 43-14 win over St. Teresa.

“We’ll do the best we can to beat them. We’re going to draw up what we can do, fight and battle, and hopefully come out on top,” said Brown. “There is no reason to come out here and do all this work and figure you’re not going to win a game when you go out there and play. That’s ridiculous. You go out there with everything you’ve got and let the chips fall.”

Friday’s game is at 7 p.m. in Maroa.

Stats:

Rushing: J. Eaton 7-124; N. Frerichs 21-67; J. Jeffers 4-14; G. Sullivan 2-3; K. Bushert 1-1. 45-209

Passing: N. Frerichs 7-15-47

Receiving: S. Atchison 3-14; G. Sullivan 2-22; J. Jeffers 1-10; J. Eaton 1-1.

Tackling: W. Byers 11; L. Nadler 1-7.