Jonathan Alder’s Nolan Larison (52) and Dylan Boysel (4) pursue Marion Harding’s quarterback in this file photo. The Pioneers will travel to Indian Lake this evening.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller)
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A pair of teams vying for playoff berths will meet in Logan County tonight.
The Jonathan Alder Pioneers (3-1) are ranked fourth in Region 16 of Division IV, while the Lakers (3-1) are eighth in Region 18 of Division V.
Indian Lake will line up in the spread offense with a solid balance between the run and pass, according to JA coach Brett Glass.
The Lakers’ offense is led by quarterback Clay Jacobs, who is adept at getting the ball into the hands of wide receiver Collin Coburn.
When Indian Lake stays on the ground, its top man out of the backfield is Connor Dixon.
“They look as though they want to first establish their inside running game,” said Glass. “Their offensive line is not huge, but they’re bigger than us. However, that’s everybody that we play.”
Glass said the key to Alder’s defensive success tonight will be in not giving up big plays.
“We made Benjamin Logan one-dimensional last week, but we also gave up 300 yards passing,” he said. “Most of that came on only three plays, so we can’t allow Indian Lake to make those type of plays this week.”
The Alder boss said most of his squad’s secondary woes were technique-based.
“Our defensive backs had their eyes in the wrong spots,” he said. “We’re continuing to work on that.
“We know we have to stop the run, but also know that our secondary will again be tested.”
The Lakers employ a 3-4 defensive front that is strong in stopping the ground game, which is the Pioneers’ bread-and-butter.
With that in mind, Alder may have to go more to the aerial attack tonight.
“We leaned on our running backs more against Benjamin Logan,” said Glass. “This week, we will have to take what Indian Lake’s defense gives us.
“We have to control the line of scrimmage and be as balanced as we can be.”
Glass said he would grade his squad a “B” heading into tonight’s midway point of the 2017 season.
“Our passing game is much improved over last year,” he said. “That’s to be expected when you have a senior quarterback (Preston Eisnaugle) and two senior wide receivers (Bryan Blacka and Connor Potts).
“We just have to develop more consistency on both sides of the ball and hope that we are an “A” team at the end of the regular season.”