Brogan Green (8) of Fairbanks attempts to avoid a tackle by Triad’s Luke Reveal during a game from earlier this season. The Panthers will close out the regular campaign at Northeastern on Friday. (Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller)
The Fairbanks Panthers are itching to get back on the winning track.
FHS put together a four-game winning streak during the middle portion of the season.
The Panthers (5-4), however, have dropped their last two games to state-ranked Mechanicsburg and West Jefferson.
Fairbanks will close out the regular season on Friday with a game at Springfield Northeastern (6-3).
FHS and the Jets are tied for second place in the Ohio Heritage Conference North Division with matching 2-2 records.
Mechanicsburg and West Jefferson are tied at the top of the division at 4-0.
Those two teams will meet in Mechanicsburg on Friday to decide North Division supremacy.
The Jets operate at times out of the spread offense with one back and four receivers.
They’ve also shown some tight end-wingback sets.
Northeastern’s offense runs through quarterback Cade Houseman.
He’s ranked second in the conference to West Jefferson’s Tyler Buescher in passing yardage with 1,591.
Houseman is also the conference’s third-leading rusher with 1,047 yards.
“Dual threat quarterbacks like that always present a challenge for your defense,” said Panther head coach Patrick Cotter.
Houseman, however, isn’t the Jets’ only offensive weapon.
Hunter Albright is a running back who has the opportunity to eclipse the 1,000-yard mark.
He’s carried the ball 103 times for 911 yards and scored seven touchdowns.
Houseman has two standout receivers in Dylan Haggy and Colton Moone.
They’ve combined for 64 receptions and nearly 900 yards and nine TDs.
Cotter described those skill position players as “solid athletes who do good things.”
The coach said his defensive unit will have to read its keys and get eyes in the right spots against the Jets’ multiple skilled athletes.
“However, that’s basically what we’ve done all season,” said Cotter. “With the exception of the second half against Mechanicsburg, we’ve handled everything teams have thrown at us.”
Through nine games, the Panthers have just surrendered 127 points.
Of that total, 42 came from Mechanicsburg.
“We gave up 19 points last week to West Jefferson,” said Cotter. “That’s their lowest point total in one-and-a-half years.”
Northeastern will employ defensive alignments anywhere from a 4-2-5 to a 4-3.
“They may also show us a little five front (to stop the running game),” said Cotter.
“It’s not a complicated defense, but they play very aggressively,” he said. “We are going to have to get hats on people in order to open things up for our running backs.”
Brogan Green and Riordin Stauffer lead a Panther ground attack that has rushed for more than 2,000 yards this season.
Green has picked up 752 yards on 96 carries, while Stauffer has carried the ball 77 times for 688.
Stauffer has taken the pigskin into the end zone 12 times and Green has rushed for five scores.
Cotter said the Panthers need to continue to do what they’ve done all season.
“We ran the ball well against West Jefferson,” he said. “We just have to finish drives.
“We want to win this game and put ourselves in position for a playoff spot and continue the season.”
The Panthers are tenth in Region 24 of Division VI this season.
The top 16 teams in the region after the final week of the regular season will qualify for the playoffs.