WARDSVILLE, Mo. - Fresh off a game where they had to prepare for a team with a multitude of weapons, the Blair Oaks Falcons have one simple task this week: Stop Jeremy Eierman.
Only that may be easier said than done, as the Warsaw quarterback presents a unique challenge.
"We've told our kids there's three things we need to do this week - we've got to find Eierman, we've got to tackle Eierman and we've got to tackle Eierman," Blair Oaks coach Brad Drehle said with a laugh.
The last two might be the same thing, but that's because the 6-foot, 180-pound junior has breakaway speed and is tough to bring down.
"Not to take anything away from the rest of them, but he makes them go," Drehle said. "The ball goes through his hands on every snap and you've got to account for him on everything. Because if you don't, just one time, he can change the game. And if there's 100 snaps, he's going to touch it 100 times."
If the name sounds familiar, that's because Jeremy is following in the footsteps of his older brother, Johnny, as the Wildcats' signal-caller.
"Jeremy's probably a better passer than what his brother was," Drehle said. "He's not as big as Johnny was. They say he's faster, but I don't know. I know that night we went up there in 2009, Johnny made us look silly. We hope we can hold Jeremy to a little less than that."
That night Jeremy rushed for 329 yards and five touchdowns to go with 160 passing yards with two touchdown passes.
Drehle said this Eierman will lead a Warsaw attack that runs about 60 percent of the time.
"But the run number is skewed a little bit because Eierman scrambles out of there so much," Drehle said. "So it's going to be closer to 50-50, because a lot of those he turns into runs.
"The thing we've talked about this week is you can't let him get outside. But at the same time, you can't get upfield so fast that you allow him to jump underneath and then go."
When Warsaw goes to the air, Eierman will look to throw to juniors Bailey Jelinek (6-4, 175) and Joey Cooner (6-2, 175).
"We've talked about playing man coverage because we feel like we match up well as far as speed," Drehle said. "Their kids are bigger than us, but speed-wise, we can handle it.
"The scary part about going man is that you turn your back. When you turn your back to the line of scrimmage, Eierman has a chance to make a really big play. So we're going to have to mix coverages, mix looks, mix the pressure and do some things to make him uncomfortable back there."
So far this season, the defense has been up to a number of unique challenges, and has grown into a formidable force. The latest step was last week's win against state-ranked California, which had athletes all over the field.
"As far as meeting the challenges, the kids are young, and the biggest thing was them learning that they're able to do it," Drehle said. "We look at them and say, "OK, you guys are capable of doing this.' But it's different, me saying they're capable of it and them actually doing it. When they do go out and execute, they've got a little spring in their step, they've got a little confidence, which changes things."
They'll need to play well against a Warsaw squad that has scored in the 40s four different times. One other game they scored 34, and in the Wildcats' lowest-scoring game, where they had 19, Eierman left the game in the first half with an injury and didn't return.
The game could be a stat-keeper's nightmare, as it could feature a whopping number of plays.
"They're trying to go no-huddle, so between us going no-huddle and them doing it, there's going to be a lot of plays run," Drehle said. "It's going to be a little bit of a battle of attrition. It may be a game where in the middle of the third quarter, things begin to kick in.
"... If we can manage the beginning of the game and get into where our kids' experience and strength can overtake things, I think we'll be OK. But if we don't and we allow them to get out to a fast start at their place, who knows what happens?"
The Wildcats will operate out of a 4-2 or 4-3 hybrid-type of look on defense.
"They're going to try to bring some pressure," Drehle said. "They're really big up front, both offensively and defensively - they play a lot of them both ways."
Notes: Blair Oaks brings an overall mark of 5-1 into the 7 p.m. contest, and the Falcons are 4-0 and in the driver's seat in the Tri-County Conference. Warsaw is 4-2 overall and 2-2 in league play. ... The Wildcats opened the season with wins against Clinton (49-15), Cole Camp (49-25) and Versailles (40-16) before back-to-back losses to Eldon (62-19) and Hallsville (52-34). They bounced back last week with a win against Southern Boone (42-12).