Monarch running back Ryan Kern picks up yardage against Hilliard Bradley last Friday. MHS will travel to Hilliard Darby this week. (Journal-Tribune photo by Chad Williamson)
The Marysville Monarchs will face an offense that isn’t used that often these days in high school football.
Much like former Ohio Capital Conference rival Hilliard Davidson, the Panthers of Hilliard Darby will employ the midline veer.
It’s an option offense that was popular with college teams in the 1970s and 1980s.
“They run their veer behind a physical offensive line,” said Marysville head coach Brent Johnson.
The Panthers, who will host Friday evening’s game, are led by quarterback Blake Horvath and All-Ohio fullback Connor Jones.
“Both of them run well and we have to stop their ground game,” said Johnson.
Defending against an option team is assignment football.
“We’re going to have to be disciplined on defense,” said the Monarch boss.
Johnson said the Monarchs will particularly have to control the line of scrimmage to stop the Panthers’ clock control, ground-churning offense.
Darby will use a 4-4 defensive alignment with a cover 3 in the secondary.
“Their linebackers run downhill and flow to the ball well,” said Johnson. “They’ve also got some good size up-front.”
The Monarch coach said he likes his squad’s gap schemes which should be able to open holes for its own ground game.
Ryan Kern and Gabe Powers combined for 175 of Marysville’s 260 net rushing yards last week during a 17-0 triumph over Hilliard Bradley.
Johnson also said he liked how new starting quarterback Ethan Musel managed the game.
“We only threw three times, but we could have thrown more,” said Johnson. “There were times when Ethan made very good decisions by pulling down the ball and picking up yardage on his own.”
Johnson also said the MHS offensive line will have to be as sound as the Monarch defensive front.
“We have to control the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball,” he said.
“Defensively, we have to limit their number of plays and get their time-controlling offense off the field,” said the Monarch coach.
“We have to do the same thing on offense and move the chains,” he noted. “First downs on both sides of the ball are going to be important to us.”
Johnson said the Monarch offense must pick up steam against the Panthers.
“We have to be quicker with our offense and we need to see better pad level than last week,” he said. “Those are the areas we want to see the biggest improvement during our second game of the season.”
Johnson indicated the Monarchs were a bit rough in both categories, simply because they only had one preseason scrimmage.
The Monarch boss also said his team had to become accustomed to an eerily-quiet stadium.
Fans are limited in attendance this season due to the coronavirus.
“We experienced that last Friday,” said Johnson. “Now, it’s not going to be unfamiliar to us.”