STRONG RACE – Indian Creek’s Justin Vergona hit the bullseye against Cambridge in Week 1 and will hope to help Creek get off to a 2-0 start when they host East Liverpool on Friday night. – Mike Hughes
WINTERSVILLE – The Indian Creek football team answered some questions last week against Cambridge and the Redskins will look to continue their winning streak this week.
Indian Creek’s Friday night meeting with Buckeye 8 North Division rival East Liverpool is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Kettlewell Stadium.
The Redskins are coming off a win this week, while the Potters are looking for their first win of the season.
Indian Creek opened the season last week with a 41-13 home win over Cambridge.
“I think we answered some questions,” said Indian Creek (1-0) head coach Andrew Connor. “The first was how we would handle adversity. A couple of times our defense was put in bad situations and I think we handled the challenge great.”
“It was important for us to be able to deal with sudden change situations. In the first half we tried on the fourth try and didn’t manage it. In the second quarter we lost the ball and the defense was able to stop it. That was very important.
“The second question was how we would handle the physical game up front. Our guys up front did a great job. Our defenders did a great job blocking and running. We were able to give a lot of guys room to maneuver and it worked out well.”
East Liverpool, on the other hand, comes into this week’s game with the momentum of last week’s 20-13 loss to Carrollton at Patterson Field.
This season, the Potters are once again led by outstanding quarterback Gavin Wright.
Wright completed 20 of 32 passes for 240 yards with one touchdown and one interception in his team’s loss to Carrollton. Wright also ran for a 1-yard touchdown to open the scoring last week.
“Last year he hurt us with two really long passes,” Connor said of Wright. “I think that was the difference in the game. We know him very well. He’s going to be the focal point of our defense.”
For the blue and whites, Blake Adkins recorded six catches for 134 yards, including a 65-yard touchdown in the second quarter.
Carrollton limited East Liverpool to just 31 yards on 20 rushing attempts en route to the win.
“They play a lot of RPOs,” Connor said of the Potters. “They can read what the defense is giving them. We have to be smart about it. We can’t allow big plays. They look for the big plays. They’re a big offense. They’re very fast. They can change the game in a hurry.”
The Columbiana County boys allowed 250 yards of offense last week. The Warriors ran for 169 yards on 38 attempts and threw for 81 yards.
“What we showed the guys on film is that their front four engage the linemen really well and their two inside linebackers run downhill quickly,” Connor said. “They’re good in the running game.”
“We want to run the football. We want to be able to interfere with the pass. We want to be able to throw and run the football.
“I thought Ian Starkey did a great job in his first start at quarterback. He made some great plays. He managed our passing game. I expect him to get better every week.”
East Liverpool’s speed in the second leg is a concern for Indian Creek.
“They do such a good job with special teams,” Connor said. “They can turn the field over really quickly. They do a good job with their coverage. They’re very quick in the return game. Last week they were close to breaking a couple of kick returns.”
“We place great value on special teams. We will continue to work on that.”
Both teams have strong attacking lines.
“We’re about even,” Connor said. “They have a strong offensive line, and we have a strong offensive line. Defensively, it’s the same. I’d say we’re about even.”
The Redskins need to take care of the football to win their second game of the season.
“We can’t lose any turnovers,” Connor said. “We had a few last week. We have to avoid those. We have to stay in front of the lines. We have to be able to run the ball. We can’t allow any big plays on defense.”
East Liverpool defeated Indian Creek 27-7 at home last season.
