Sports
Game Preview: Point Pleasant Looking To Go 4-0 Against Logan (WV) on Friday
By: Michael Drapcho
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Through the first three weeks of the 2014 season, it has been anything but a struggle for the Point Pleasant Knights (3-0), as they have dispensed of all three of their opponents in impressive fashion. With the Logan (WV) Wildcats (2-1) coming to town Friday, Point Pleasant will look to stay on track and pick up its fourth win this season.
It’s no secret that the Knights’ offense has been rolling through three games, as Point Pleasant is averaging 48 points per game. However, the backbone of this team is its defense.
“These kids are hard-nosed kids, and they like to hit,” Point Pleasant head coach Dave Darst said. “We bring that (defensive) mentality to our team.”
For the second straight week, Darst’s team will be tasked with slowing down an offense that is firing on all cylinders. In Week 3, Point Pleasant faced a Wayne offense that was averaging 30 points and 530 yards per-game. The Knights held the Pioneers to only seven offensive points and 141 yards of offense.
Unlike Wayne, though, Logan’s offensive strength is its passing attack. The Wildcats prefer to air it out, as 70 percent of their offensive play calls are passes. In his last two games, Logan quarterback Ryan Miller has thrown for a combined 723 yards and eight touchdowns.
Though Miller’s passing ability and athleticism could prove to be a challenge for the Knights defense, Darst is confident in his defense, as it has eight starters from the defense that defeated Miller and company twice last season.
Offensively, Point Pleasant will look to repeat its performances from previous weeks, where until last week, the Knights mainly relied on their ground attack.
But as Darst pointed out, Point Pleasant opened the offense up against Wayne, which produced favorable results for the Knights. In the third quarter, quarterback Aden Yates took a shot downfield and found John Peterson for a 57-yard touchdown.
Though that was the only big play that came out of the passing attack for Point Pleasant, it did give the Knights some offensive momentum, as the team scored three more touchdowns following Yates’ lone touchdown pass of the night.
With and strong running game, Darst believes that the versatility and ability to attack a defense through the air that his offense showed in its last game will be the offensive key against Logan.
The Knights and the Wildcats will hit the field at 7:30 p.m. on Friday.
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