Prep Football: On The Road Again
hrough nine games last season, the West Frankfort football team won two.
Through three games of the season this year, West Frankfort has won … two.
The Redbirds have already matched their win total from a year ago, knocking off Pinckneyville (21-14) and Sparta (43-6). The lone loss for the Redbirds was the season opener when they fell to Anna-Jonesboro 12-6.
In comparison through three weeks, Pinckneyville and Sparta are a combined 0-6, while A-J is sitting high at 3-0.
Harrisburg head coach Al Way hopes Friday night isn't the evening where WF can get over the hump.
"They're obviously much better than last year," Way said. "They are big and physical and they have two running backs and a quarterback that really run hard and break tackles. They are a possession type football team. Their line is real big and they're going to run right at you and if you don't play good defense, you never get the ball back."
The Bulldogs (1-2) have been teetering back and forth to start the season. After being shut out at home against Mt. Carmel, Harrisburg flexed its muscle in a convincing win over Du Quoin. Last week, Harrisburg regressed late in their game at Boonville, Ind., before falling 29-22.
So, to right the ship and get some continuity going as the Bulldogs open up Southern Illinois River-to-River Ohio Division play, Way knows it's time to get things right.
"It's just a matter of us bouncing back and correcting our mistakes. Overall, I thought the offensive line blocked very well (at Boonville). I thought our running backs ran hard. We just simply couldn't overcome any adversity. There were some penalties thrown that were very questionable, but you have to be able to overcome that."
Harrisburg will look to do that against a Redbird club that has given up the fewest amount of points of any conference team at 32. On the flip side, they've scored the second most of any Ohio team at 70. Only Benton has scored more at 84.
Way knows defense will be key in another road game for the Bulldogs and would like a carbon copy of the Du Quoin performance.
"We just didn't play with the same intensity and tackle as well as we did against Du Quoin," Way said of Harrisburg's performance at Boonville, Ind.
"Boonville's back was very good, no doubt," Way added. "We played very bad pass defense in certain situations. We were either too far off receivers, let them out of a 3rd-and-30 situation, which you just can't let happen. Up front, we just didn't play as well as we did against Du Quoin. Our down lineman very seldom made any tackles. (Jordan) Bartok getting hurt in the first quarter hurt us. We've got two all-conference linebackers in Blake Drue and Jordan Bartok who are basically sitting on the sidelines right now."
Drue is out for the season after tearing his ACL in the Week 1 loss against Mt. Carmel. Bartok saw limited action Friday at Boonville, Ind., with hip pointers.
As good as the Harrisburg ground game has been this season, rushing for 758 yards on 163 total carries, the passing game has been equally as bad.
Isaiah Saulsberry has gone 10-for-36 with three picks and 93 yards in the air. It's a stat Way knows has to get better in order for his team to be more than just one dimensional.
"Of course our passing game right now … you can't put the blame on any one person. We'll miss a receiver or we'll make a great throw and drop it or our pass blocking will break down and Isaiah has somebody right in his face when he's trying to throw. It's just a combination of those three things. We have to get that straightened out because there do come times in a game when you have to be able to throw the football."
Michael Dann covers prep and college sports for the Harrisburg Daily Register and Eldorado Daily Journal. Follow him on Twitter: @spydieshooter.