Sports
Scotties and Ceramics Look to Rebound
< < Back toBoth the Tri-Valley Scotties and Crooksville Ceramics come into their matchup this week following tough and frustrating losses on the road. The Ceramics had momentum following a 53-0 victory over Miller in week three, but squandered it with a 50-0 loss to Sheridan. Crooksville only managed 112 yards on offense, including a measly 15 yards rushing.
Similarly, Tri-Valley had been rolling with two big victories over West Muskingum and Maysville, but fell to Dover 14-10. Head Coach Justin Buttermore is very unhappy with how his squad performed against the Tornadoes.
“We just did not have a good effort,” said Buttermore of the Scotties’ first loss of the season. “We gave away a lot of good opportunities.”
Buttermore went on to say the offensive line was terrible the entire game. Junior running back Austin Jones was limited to only 42 yards on 11 carries. At first glimpse, junior quarterback Nathan Strock’s rushing numbers might look impressive (117 yards), but Buttermore said it was because Strock was continuously forced to scramble due to poor protection. Strock also struggled in the passing game with 155 yards and two interceptions on 9/22 passing. The Scotties are ranked 16th in Division III in the most recent AP poll despite the loss.
For the Scotties to be successful versus the Ceramics, Buttermore says the offensive line must step up. Crooksville has pressured the Dawgs in the past and Buttermore expects much of the same this year. To combat the aggressive nature of the Ceramics, the Scotties are being aggressive themselves; working hard to fix the things that killed them against Dover.
“We would like to avoid hard contact practices,” said Buttermore. “But that’s what it’s going to take to improve.”
Both teams will come out aggressive in an attempt to rebound and get their season back on track.