MHS’ Chase Kilgore (34) picks up yardage last week against Big Walnut. The Monarchs will travel to Dublin Coffman on Friday. (Journal-Tribue photo by Chad Williamson)
The Marysville High School varsity football team will kick off the second half of the 2019 regular season with perhaps its toughest task of the campaign on Friday.
The Monarchs will take a 4-1 record on the road to face the state-ranked (No. 10 in Division I) Shamrocks of Dublin Coffman (4-1).
Coffman will run a spread offense that features an empty backfield and 2 x 2 and 3 x 1 receiver looks.
“Even though they’ll put a lot of receivers out there, they still want to be able to run the ball,” said MHS head coach Brent Johnson. “They’ve got a good receiver in Michael Drennan, but they also have solid running backs in Moussa Diallo and Bryon Threats.”
“Their skill position players are very good athletes,” said Johnson. “They are well-coached and technically, they are very good.”
The Monarch boss said Coffman’s offensive line is gap-sound. However, he feels his defensive line will match up well in the trenches.
“We have played very aggressively all season on the defensive line,” said Johnson. “We will have to take away their running game by playing the same way.
“That’s our first objective each week and that is going to be critical against Coffman.”
The Shamrocks will employ a shade 50 defense that will walk up a player to defend against the Monarchs’ perimeter game.
“They are a good ‘reading’ team and that’s who they are,” said Johnson. “They are a very disciplined defensive unit and each player knows his role.”
The Monarch head coach said Friday night’s game will not be a time to play with finesse.
“We want to be very physical with Coffman,” said Johnson. “They are very good defensively in space, but if we make it a physical game, I think that’s going to be an advantage for us.”
One thing Johnson stressed about his offense for the upcoming contest will be patience.
“We have to stay on schedule and move the chains,” he said. “We have to realize that three-and-four yard runs will be good for us as we attempt to wear them down and shorten yardage situations for us.”
Johnson also said his defensive unit must throw the Shamrocks off their offensive schedule.
“We have to get our defensive unit off the field on third down,” he said.
Johnson, whose team is ranked fifth in Region II of the Division I computer ratings, said it will be vital to begin the second-half of the regular season on a strong note.
“For the past three years, we’ve worked to make Dublin Coffman a meaningful game,” he said. “It’s very important that we start the second portion of the season strong.
“We are excited to be playing Dublin Coffman this week,” said Johnson. “This is the type of game that will show us where we are as a team.”
Still, the coach said the Monarchs can’t afford to look very far down the road.
“We just want to go 1-0 this week,” he said.