Marysville High School quarterback Walker Heard looks over Hilliard Darby’s defense during last Friday’s preseason scrimmage. The Monarchs will open the 2017 regular season at Jonathan Alder on Friday.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller)
––––
The preseason is over and now, two neighboring football teams will kick off the 2017 campaign by facing each other.
The Marysville Monarchs will make the short trek down Route 736 to Plain City on Friday to take on the Jonathan Alder Pioneers.
Alder has been a team that has a long-time reputation for establishing the running game above all other options.
MHS coach Brent Johnson, though, has spotted a new wrinkle in the Pioneers’ game plan.
“On tape, we’ve seen more of a spread look from them, along with a two-back offense. It appears they want to balance their offense between the pass and the run.”
Johnson said that Alder quarterback Preston Eisnaugle is where the focus will be for the Monarch defense.
“He’s a good athlete and a dual threat with both his arm and feet,” said Johnson. “He throws a very good ball and has two good athletes (Bryan Blacka and Dalton Potts) who can catch the ball.
“We’ve got to contain Eisnaugle and get a lot of players to the football,” he said. “We’ve got to zone in on whatever they do with him.”
JA coach Brett Glass said he expects the Monarchs to blitz the linebackers from their 4-3 defensive alignment.
“From what we saw of their scrimmage with Hilliard Darby, they are very physical inside and they did a very good job of stopping Darby’s running game.”
Glass said during the preseason that his squad will always look first to establish its ground game. However, he knows the Pioneers can’t be one-dimensional.
“We will have to balance it out between the pass and run,” he said. “We are going to have to take what Marysville’s defense gives us and try to keep them on their heels.”
Johnson said the Monarchs will have to be strong in the trenches when trying to move the football against JA’s 4-4 alignment.
“We are going to need to play physical football for 48 minutes,” he said. “We have to stick to our process and try to balance things between our running and passing games.”
“(Running back) Tommy Rush is Marysville’s key offensive player,” said Glass. “Everybody knows about him, but they have another back (Tayden Jackson) who runs very well.”
Glass acknowledged that the Pioneers will be at a size disadvantage along the line.
“We’re not big up front,” he said. “We’re going to have to use our quickness and read our keys in order to stop Marysville.
“We are going to need good eye discipline against their misdirection plays in the Wing T.”
Johnson knows what the Monarchs will have to do to beat the Pioneers.
“We’ve got to get our defense off the field and create turnovers,” he said. “We also have to maximize our possessions and finish drives.”
Glass had similar thoughts about his team.
“Week No. 1 is all about eliminating turnovers and big mistakes,” he said. “Those types of mistakes are what typically hurt teams in the first week of the season.”