Brayden Lewis (9) picks up yardage for the Monarchs against Olentangy. Marysville will travel to Dublin Coffman on Frday.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Chad Williamson)
––––
A Dublin Coffman team that likes to keep the ball on the ground will be the next opponent for the Marysville Monarchs.
The MHS squad will travel to Coffman for Friday’s 7 p.m. kickoff.
“Their quarterback (Marcus Ernst) and their running back (Gavin Sturdivent) are both very tough runners,” said Monarch head coach Brent Johnson. “They are a zone-read offensive team and their line is disciplined and solid with their blocks.”
The Shamrocks (3-2) will keep the ball on the ground approximately 70 percent of the time, according to the films that Johnson and his staff have studied.
“Since they are a zone-read team, our defense will have to be gap-sound,” said the Monarch boss. “It’s almost going to be like playing an option team. We will have to be disciplined with our zone reads and assignments and get off the field on third down.”
Coffman will employ a 50 defensive front as linebacker Jeslord Boateng, who is a 6-1, 213-pounder who is bound for Michigan State.
The Shamrocks will walk him up to the line to help stop the run.
“It’s a downhill defense,” said Johnson, whose squad will take a 2-3 record into the second half of the 2017 regular season. “They get to the ball very quickly in the box.
“We are a box-running team, so our offensive line is going to have to block through to the whistle,” he said.
Johnson said the Monarchs match up fairly well size-wise with the Shamrocks.
He also knows that the second half of the season will be challenging, with the likes of Coffman, Upper Arlington and Hilliard Davidson on the horizon.
“We want this to be a physical game and it’s all going to come down to execution,” said Johnson. “We play hard and physical and we’re close to winning some games. However, it comes down to the little things that have to improve,” he said. “We just have to keep working.”
The Monarchs will get a couple of starters back in the lineup on Friday.
Center Adam Hettel and running back Jarret Braun, who each missed last week’s game, will be back on the field against the Shamrocks.