Sports
Alexander, Meigs to Battle for TVC-Ohio Crown
By: Patrick Klinger
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The Meigs Marauders (6-3, 4-1) are trying to do something they have not done in 17 years: win a share of the TVC-Ohio title.
After snapping its two game skid last week with a 50-38 win at Wellston, head coach Mike Bartrum thinks the team can carry its momentum home in a high-stakes showdown with the Alexander Spartans (8-1, 5-0).
“We have to stay schematically sound this week,” Bartrum said. “If we do not, a great team like Alexander will be able to exploit that.”
The Marauders have been anything but sound over the last three weeks, defensively speaking. The Marauders have allowed an average of 44 points per contest over that stretch and with Mason Chapman, who registered five touchdowns on Friday, and company coming to tow, the tall task of containing Alexander awaits.
“It is going to be tough,” Bartrum said. “Up front, we have to play downhill. We have to hit him on their side of the line of scrimmage and gang-tackle.”
Chapman garners a significant amount of attention, but the offensive unit as a whole is a threat. The Spartans have scored fewer than 21 points in a game just once this season, but Alexander head coach Alex Penrod insisted there is room to grow, so long as the Spartans play smart football.
The same applies to Alexander’s defense, which has yet to allow more than two touchdowns in a game. However, the unit will have its hands full against the likes of quarterback Cody Bartum and running back Kaileb Sheets.
“Meigs has a very talented offense,” Penrod said. “We are going to have to stay aggressive and control the line of scrimmage.”
Penrod conceded that Bartrum and Sheets will make plays, but that it doesn’t mean Meigs cannot become one-dimensional.
In addition to X’s and O’s, non-tangible factors will play
“They need to be leaders,” Bartrum said. “Whether we are up by 20 or down by 20, it does not matter. They need to help elevate our other guys.”
For Meigs, this is its chance to put the Marauders name on the TVC-Ohio trophy. It is a big game, without question, but Bartrum does not want his players to get lost in the noise.
“It has been a long time,” Bartrum said. “But, it is all relative. We just have to take it one play at a time to become champions.”
The circumstances are a bit different for Alexander, who clinched its share of the crown in week eight. However, Penrod preached to his group that in this case, they should be selfish. He explained how winning a conference title has been a six-step process, recounting each of its five TVC-Ohio wins.
This is the final step.
“We are focused on the job at hand,” Penrod said.