Sports
PREVIEW: Fresh Off Playoff Appearance, John Glenn Looking For More
By: Brad Friedman
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Editor's Note: Over the next two weeks our reporters will be bringing you team previews for each team in the SEOAL, TVC-Ohio, TVC-Hocking, and our West Virginia teams. We continue in the MVL, where physical football is the name of the game.
The John Glenn Little Muskies recently took part in a scrimmage against Carrolton Warriors–the first organized inter-squad action that the Little Muskies have seen in 2014–and head coach John Kelley noticed something was lacking.
“We need to get back to what is important, which is being fundamental and sound,” Kelley said.
Kelley, who is entering his 20th season at John Glenn, keyed in on the fundamentals because John Glenn’s game plan on both sides of the ball will be simple: execute and play hard. No mystery, no gimmicks, just showing up and putting in the work.
Offensively, the wing-T offense has been what the Little Muskies have hung their hats on. The offensive scheme will have two-to-three halfbacks in the backfield at any given time. The offense thrives on misdirection runs and play-action rollouts, but depends heavily on offensive linemen executing their assignments. Interior lineman have to be quick out of their stances and even quicker when pulling to the other side of the line.
To put it simply: understanding the fundamentals is the only way that John Glenn will find success. The Little Muskies found success with the wing-T last season when they averaged 29.8 points per contest per season, and scored 30-plus points in four games.
On the other side of the ball, John Glenn returns leading tackler Tanner Morton. In addition to toting the rock on offense, Kelley expects the senior linebacker to lead a defense that allowed only 14.8 points per game last season and gave up fewer than 13 points on seven different games.
The Little Muskies utilized a 3-4 defense last season and Kelley noted that loading the line and controlling the line of scrimmage will be a key part of their system this season.
Playmakers on both sides of the ball will have their hands full during a four-week stretch in which John Glenn takes on the MVL’s top three teams from last season – Tri-Valley, Philo and Maysville – beginning with a week five matchup against Philo.
Kelley emphasized that his team will not be shying away from the challenge of playing against the conference’s elite.
“It will be a challenge, but we like challenges. That’s why these guys do this,” Kelley said. “They’re competitive and you want to beat the top dogs. That will be our mission.”
John Glenn will open up its 2014 campaign on Aug. 29 with a home game against the Barnesville Shamrocks.
'Gridiron Glory' returns on Friday, Aug. 22 at 11:30 p.m. on WOUB. You can follow the show on Twitter @gridironglory, like the Gridiron Glory page on Facebook, and follow along on Instagram @woubsports. You can also join the conversation throughout the season by using the hashtag #GridGlory.