Sports
Tri-Valley And Tecumseh Set For Playoff Rematch
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Friday night in Dresden, the Tecumseh Arrows will seek revenge against Tri-Valley in Week 1 of the playoffs in hopes of avenging last year’s first-round loss to the Scotties.
The matchup will be all too familiar as both teams return their key players, but the Arrows are hoping for a different result than their 48-30 loss last year. Tri-Valley stuffed the stat sheet with 407 rushing yards compared to Tecumseh’s 186. The Arrows had a much more balanced attack, throwing for 171 passing yards.
Tri-Valley Head Coach Justin Buttermore doesn’t expect to dominate on the ground the way they did last year.
“Last year they dropped a lot of guys in coverage and we were able to run the ball with great success,” Buttermore said. “This year, I suspect that they’re going to try to take away the run a lot more and we may have to throw the ball a little bit more.”
The Scotties aren’t the only team that can run the ball as they please. Tecumseh has an array of backs that will propose a challenge for Tri-Valley.
“They have a fullback in the Wing-T that rushed for about 1,200 yards, a wingback that rushed for about 700 yards, and a slot back that rushed for 400 yards,” Buttermore said. “They really distribute the ball quite effectively to all those different guys and you really don’t know where it’s going at any given time.
Stopping the dynamic Tecumseh rushing attack starts with winning the battle in the trenches for the Scotties.
“Their offensive line outplayed our front seven last year,” said Buttermore. “We were shooting motions instead of reading our keys and as a result we were out of position defensively.”
Tecumseh is sure to be a tough test for Tri-Valley, but playing in a friendly atmosphere will be beneficial for the Scotties.
“We’re happy to be at home Week 11,” said Buttermore. “Like any playoff game we’re going to have to play well to win.”