The Freddies have an opportunity to ruin the Trojans’ perfect season. The Trojans (5-0, 4-0) moved up to No. 9 in the latest state poll in Division VI.
Fredericktown has played teams tough in the first half this season, only to get beaten in the second half.
“That’s what we’ve been stressing,” Centerburg coach Andy Colella told the Mount Vernon News. “The more you let teams hang around, the more confidence you’re going to give them.”
On Sept. 25, Centerburg put five touchdowns on the board and defeated Cardington-Lincoln 35-6. The Trojans only had possession of the football for a little over 12-and-a-half minutes of the game.
“Getting the ball out to our playmakers as fast as possible,” Colella said. “Being efficient on offense. I think we did a pretty good job of those things last week. On defense, we need to stop the run. Sometimes this year, we have struggled getting our defense off the field.”
Last week, Centerburg’s defense managed to get themselves off the field, grabbing three interceptions. For their part, the Trojans offense found the red zone with running back Donnell Marshall gaining over 15 yards per carry to lead an offense that moved the ball 8 yards per play against the Pirates. The Trojans also have John Sheasby, Tyler Johnson and Trey Kendrick to run the ball.
Quarterback Jack Gregory was 10-for-18 throwing for 135 yards last Friday. Teammate Alex Johnson averaged over 15 yards per catch against Cardington. Sheasby, Johnson and Jarred Rings all topped five yards per catch.
The young Freddies (1-4, 1-4) want to hang onto the football, but they don’t have the Trojans’ explosiveness.
“The thing with Centerburg is that they have so much team speed,” Fredericktown coach Will Hartley told the News. “They’re going to be the fastest team that we see.”
The Freddies will need to control the football. But dominating the time of possession battle isn’t enough, as Cardington discovered last Friday.
Fredericktown needs to put the ball in the end zone, and they’ll depend on running backs Jeremiah McKinley (243 yards in 2020) and Steven Tumbleson (249 yards). Quarterback Ben Mast is 43-for-76 for 397 yards in 2020. He'll be looking for Kaid Carpenter and Mason Finnell, who each have over 100 yards receiving this season.
“The biggest thing is that we fail to finish drives,” Hartley said. “A lot of the time, we move the ball well between the 30s. But we stall out quite a bit instead of scoring. We have to control the ball, control the clock and keep that explosive Centerburg offense off the field.”
