This is a big, big week for the Marysville High School football team.
The Monarchs will finally be able to open the 2021 regular season.
The campaign was supposed to have kicked off last Saturday afternoon with a home game against Cleveland Collinwood.
That contest was canceled a week earlier due to a lack of players on the Cleveland school’s roster.
Instead, the Monarchs used last week as another round of practice sessions to gear up for this Friday’s home game against Lancaster.
MHS head coach Brent Johnson said the Monarchs and Golden Gales will see mirror images of each other when the 7 p.m. kickoff rolls around.
“They look a lot like us,” said Johnson. “They also run the Wing T offense and use the same 4-3 defense.”
Lancaster has two solid running backs in Brysten Poe and Nasir Robinson.
The Gales also have a senior quarterback in Alex Miller.
“They’ve got some good looking runners in their backfield,” said Johnson. “Their interior line is also very good with their pad levels.”
The Monarch boss said Lancaster’s skill players are very quick in getting to open spots in the field.
“We are going to have to be good with our eyes and read our keys,” he said. “Our defense will need to beat them to spots on the field.”
When it comes to a match-up of similar defenses, Johnson asks the question, “Can we do it better than they can?”
The Monarch coach said the Golden Gales are extremely aggressive on the defensive side of the football and rally to it very quickly.
Downs and yardage are going to play a vital role in the outcome of Friday’s game.
“First downs on both sides of the ball are going to be a key,” said Johnson. “We have to keep the sticks moving and stay on our offensive schedule.
“Our defense will need to get Lancaster into as many second and third-and-long situations as we can.”
Although the Golden Gales lost their opening contest of the season to Pickerington North (23-10) last week, Johnson knows the Fairfield County team is game-tested.
That’s something this year’s Monarch team isn’t, although, through no fault of its own.
“Lancaster has had its special teams, in particular, through game situations and we haven’t,” said Johnson. “That’s an advantage for them.
“Our advantage is we were able to have a great week in practice,” he said.
“I know the guys are going to be ‘ramped’ because it’s our first game of the regular season,” said Johnson. “They’re going to have to keep their emotions in check and just go out and play football.”
The Monarchs will also have to take extra precautions in the days leading up to kickoff.
“It’s going to be miserably hot all week and on Friday night as well,” said Johnson. “The guys are going to have to eat properly and keep hydrated all through the week.”