Game of the Week Preview: Tornadoes Seek to Take Down Goliath in Glouster
By: Jake Motta
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The Southern Tornadoes (5-3) travel to Glouster on Friday to take on the undefeated Trimble Tomcats (8-0). This is going to be a very physical game due to the way Trimble’s front seven succeeds against the run thanks to defensive standout Sawyer Koons. Southern, being a run heavy team thanks to Senior running back Trey McNickle, is going to try to establish their presence at the line against Trimble.
Trey has run for 1,185 yards on 121 carries and 16 rushing touchdowns, he has been a huge part of Southern’s offense and ability to put points on the board. This week he is going to be running into the heart of one of the most efficient defenses in southeast Ohio. Trimble’s defense, as previously mentioned, is lead by senior Sawyer Koons who has 67 tackles, eight tackles for loss, four forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries, and two interceptions. The Tomcats have only given up six points all season. They have played extremely well defending the rushing and passing game and nobody has figured out how to put up points on this team.
Trimble’s defense isn’t the only reason they are winning games, the offense has been virtually unstoppable all year. Conner Wright is having an amazing season for Trimble, rushing for 1,126 yards on 116 carries and to complement those stats he has 20 rushing touchdowns. Nobody has been able to stop him as he is averaging almost 10 yards a carry. Cam Kittle leads the offense at the quarterback position, he has rushed for 494 yards and seven touchdowns, as well as passing for 700 yards and throwing seven touchdowns with only one interception.
Expect Southern to try and run some play action and misdirection plays in order to slow the push of Trimble’s front seven and potentially open up running lanes for Trey McNickle later in the game. Southern will need to establish a presence at the line of scrimmage on defense in order to stop Trimble’s run game and get them out of their traditional offense. Trimble is going to need to key in on McNickle and make sure that they don’t let him start running because once he breaks away nobody is going to catch him.
Southern is coming in off of a loss to Waterford so they will be looking to bounce back and get a huge win. They are currently 4-0 on the road, and they are going to try to maintain that perfect record on Friday night. Trimble is coming off a week without having played a game as Federal Hocking forfeited the rest of their schedule, so they have had an extra week to prepare to take on the Tornadoes. Both teams are going to try to play fast and physical, and on Friday night we will see which team prevails on the Gridiron.