Linemen from Jonathan Alder and Bellefontaine battle each other on the Chieftains’ turf field in this file photo. The Pioneers will play their first home regular-season game on their new turf field against Marion Harding on Friday.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller)
The first home regular-season football game to be played on turf in Jonathan Alder High School history is just a day away.
The Pioneers, who will take a 1-0 record into Friday evening’s game, will host Marion Harding, which stands at 0-1 for the season.
JA opened the campaign with a 24-16 victory at Philo, while Harding dropped a 15-14 verdict against Mt. Vernon.
“We’re pretty excited about playing the first official game on our new turf field,” said head coach Brett Glass. “It’s exciting for the guys and the community.”
Alder will encounter a Presidents squad that likes to put the ball in the air.
Harding is led by quarterback Alex Blevins and receivers Trae Davis and Skyler Honaker.
“Blevins has a good arm, but he can also run with the ball,” said the JA head coach.
“Both of their receivers are decent and they like to stretch the field as much as they can.”
The Jonathan Alder boss said the Harding offensive line is strong and keeps Blevins “pretty clean.
“They also open up the running game,” he said.
Glass noted that his defensive unit’s first priority will be to keep Harding from putting up yardage with a ground attack.
“We have to stop the run and make them one dimensional,” he said. “After that, we’re going to have to stop big plays when they go to the air.”
The Presidents’ 50 defense is designed to halt what the Pioneers first like to establish… the running game.
“They appear to be pretty good stopping the run up the middle,” said Glass. “We’re still going to have to gain yardage that way, but I think we’ve got the quickness to also get out on the perimeter.”
Football coaches have historically said they hope to see the biggest improvement in their teams between weeks one and two of the regular season.
With that in mind, where does Glass hope to see the biggest jump for his squad?
“We just need to clean up some mistakes we saw last Friday at Philo,” he said. “Those are in the areas of pass coverage and some spots on our offensive line.”
“We didn’t have a lot of mental mistakes last week, so we liked to see that.”