WARDSVILLE, Mo. - It's a game that has the potential to wear out the guy working the scoreboard.
When the Eldon Mustangs come to Wardsville tonight for their game with the Blair Oaks Falcons, two high-octane offenses will lock horns.
Through the first two games of the season, Blair Oaks is outscoring its opponents by an average of 45-19 and Eldon is outscoring its foes 42-36. Needless to say, any defensive stops could go a long way toward deciding this one.
"Our mentality defensively is to make the offense drive the length of the field, so we are constantly emphasizing to the kids the importance of eliminating or minimizing big plays," Blair Oaks head coach Terry Walker said. "Even if you're going to give up a big play, we try to emphasize the importance of not giving up a big play that is a scoring play.
"I firmly believe that at the high-school level, if you force a team to kick field goals, you're going to be pretty successful."
Avoiding turnovers will also be key, as the Mustangs found out last week. Eldon turned the ball over six times in the first half in a 66-46 loss at Hogan Prep.
"When you watch the Hogan game, the turnovers are what jump out immediately," Walker said. "That kind of shaped the outcome of the game before either team had an opportunity to get comfortable.
"But the other thing that jumps out at you is Hogan's speed. Speed covers a lot of limitations on the football field. Quite honestly, we have some guys that can run, but we don't have guys that are as fast as Hogan's, so we're going to have to execute and be fundamentally sound."
The Mustangs boast a varied offensive attack that already has four different players with more than 100 rushing yards each. Leading the way is senior Levi Shinn, who has carried the ball 23 times for 216 yards (9.4 avg.) with three touchdowns.
Also for the Mustangs, freshman Isaiah Merida has 13 carries for 155 yards (11.9 avg.) and one touchdown, sophomore Trenton Kidwell has 27 carries for 122 yards (4.5 avg.) with three touchdowns, and junior quarterback Nick Hendrix has 12 carries for 114 yards (9.5 avg.) and one touchdown.
"When you watch Eldon on film, they certainly have a very big offensive line," Walker said. "Not only are they big, but they understand how to use their size when coming off the ball. ... Certainly we've got to be able to stand up to the offensive pressure that they're going to put on us through their running game."
Hendrix has also completed 9-of-19 passes for 137 yards with four touchdowns and three interceptions.
It's all part of a varied offensive attack for the Mustangs.
"What they've been doing different this year as opposed to past years is it looks like they've got a couple options in their offensive sets, they do have a triple option, they do have a double option," Walker said. "They still have the buck sweep, the boot pass, a couple trip sets they'll run out of and a couple things they'll do out of the pro formation.
"So we're going to prepare for what we think their top five or six plays are and try to hit the other plays as we can. But we want to be able to try and minimize their strengths to the max extent."
With 10 returning starters on offense, it's a veteran group.
"What stands out is just the physicality of how they come off the ball and how they attack the defense," Walker said. "We've got to do a good job of meeting their charge with our charge and we've got to maintain some gap integrity."
Eldon also returns 10 starters from last year on the defensive side of the ball. That experience may account for the biggest impression the defense made on Walker.
"They appear to be very well coached," he said. "I just start by looking at the kids' stances. Some of the teams you watch, the players are in a different stance on every play. Watching Eldon, you can tell the kids have been drilled and disciplined.
"Then you watch their first couple steps and see how they react to how the play develops. They're very aggressive, it appears that they pride themselves on being very physical. Those are the things that jump out at me, the intangibles that make a quality defense."
Shinn leads the team in tackles with 13 from his safety spot, while cornerback Cole Hedrick is close behind with 12, including 31/2 tackles for loss. Kidwell has 10 tackles for his linebacker spot.
"Defensively, they're a team that likes to run downhill and get after you," Walker said. "I feel pretty confident that we'll probably see quite a bit of blitzing out of them. Then it's going to be a function of, can we do our assignments and then can we execute in the face of the defensive pressure that they give us. If we do that, then I think we'll be fine."
With much expected of Eldon this season due to its wealth of returning players, this has been a date circled on many calendars since the schedule came out.
"We're not going to make it out to be anything more than what it is," Walker said. "It's Game 3 and Game 3 is not going to determine the outcome of our season. Certainly it will be a good measuring stick, but we know at the end of the year, we're going to be a much better team than we are in Game 3. And Eldon can say the same thing."
Blair Oaks hosts Eldon - Updates on Twitter: @tony_hawley and @EldonMustang. Listen live online: lakeradio.com
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