Griffin Johnson (22) of MHS looks to avoid Westland tacklers. The Monarchs will host Hilliard Darby for Homecoming on Friday. For more preview information, tune into the Journal-Tribune podcast on Spotify. (Journal-Tribune photo by Chad Williamson)
Marysville High School’s football team hasn’t been challenged much during the first portion of the 2021 season.
The Monarchs have been downright stingy on defense as opponents have scored a grand total of 19 points through four games.
The offense for the 4-0 squad as been explosive and is averaging a little more than 30 points per contest.
The biggest challenge of the season to date, however, will come to Marysville’s stadium for Homecoming on Friday night.
The 4-1 Panthers of Hilliard Darby will begin the second half of the regular season on the MHS turf.
Monarch head coach Brent Johnson knows which Darby player upon whom his squad must concentrate.
“Every thing they do runs through Horvath (quarterback Blake),” said the MHS boss.
The Panthers will run the midline veer, which is an option offense that is not used by many high school teams.
It’s an offense that saw its hey day on the collegiate level in the 1970s and 1980s.
Horvath doesn’t go to the air very often. He’s completed 13 passes in just 29 attempts for 243 yards.
When it comes to moving the ball on the ground, however, the senior signal-caller is the real deal.
He leads Darby’s ground attack with 723 yards on 103 carries.
Horvath is averaging seven yards per attempt and has scored nine touchdowns.
The only Panther running back who is remotely close to Horvath’s numbers is James Hakes.
He’s carried the ball 86 times and gained 336 yards.
Darby’s playmakers will operate behind a line that gets off the ball very quickly and provides solid blocking in the option offense.
With the veer on the horizon, the Monarch defense must play assignment football.
“We will have to be very disciplined with our eyes,” said Johnson. “We’ve been good with that so far this season, but this is just another challenge.”
While Hilliard Darby hangs its hat on the midline veer, it’s not the only thing of which the MHS defense will have to be wary.
“They threw the ball 18 times against us last year (a 31-28 setback for the Monarchs),” said Johnson. “They can run a very good play-action passing game, so we can’t go to sleep on that.”
The Panthers have shown explosiveness at times this season.
They scored 84 during a three-week span that included victories over Hilliard Bradley, Westerville South and Hilliard Davidson.
The Panthers will employ a 44 defense with cover three in the secondary.
“They run well to the football,” said Johnson.
The coach said the Monarch offensive line will have to move Darby laterally, in order for the MHS playmakers to successfully advance the ball north and south.
The key to winning the contest and remaining unbeaten will be to win first downs on both sides of the ball.
Johnson said the Monarchs will have to keep moving the sticks on offense and also get the Panthers into second or third-and-long situations.
Last Friday’s 34-6 triumph over Westland produced better numbers in areas that had been problematic for the team earlier in the season.
“We fumbled the ball only once last week and didn’t lose possession,” said Johnson.
That, he said, was better than the eight fumbles (six lost) the previous three weeks.
“Still, we have to take care of the football against a very good team like Hilliard Darby,” said the coach.
The Monarchs also cut down their penalties during the Westland contest.
They were flagged just three times for 25 yards.
“That was better,” said Johnson. “It allowed us to get into a better rhythm with our running game.”
The Monarchs finished with 217 total yards of offense against Westland.
All of the yardage came on the ground as MHS did not attempt a pass.
“We didn’t throw the ball because we didn’t need to,” said Johnson.
“However, I think we will have to put the ball in the air more against Darby.”
A win over the Panthers would go a long way toward solidifying Marysville’s No. 1 spot in Region 2 of Division I.
Johnson knows his team will have to get out to a fast start the first five minutes of both halves.
By that, he means the Monarchs will have to play a more physical game and keep things clean as far as penalties and turnovers.
“It’s going to be a 48-minute game,” he said. “Both teams are going to have good and bad things happen for them.
“The guys know this is a big game,” said Johnson. “There’s a buzz around town, but we can’t afford to get too high or too low.
“We just have to remain on a even keel and take care of our business.”