At first glance, a 2-6 record indicates a season of struggle.
A closer look at the Pymatuning Valley Lakers, though, reveals coach Neal Croston’s crew is 11 points away from being 4-4 headed into a Northeastern Athletic Conference clash against Southington on Friday night at Laker Stadium.
The past two weeks have been tough on the Lakers, having dropped a 15-12 verdict to visiting Grand Valley two weeks ago and a 19-13 decision at two-time defending NAC champion Ledgemont last week.
“We played one of our better defensive games, but on offense, we could not come away with points on our four red-zone trips in the second half,” Croston said of the game at Ledgemont. “The turnovers took away any chance of kicking field goals for three points.”
And while they were close, the Lakers (2-6, 1-2) could not quite break lose.
“We weren’t able to have some of those explosive runs, like we had only over the last couple of weeks,” Croston said, pointing to gains of 10 yards or more.
PV was held to nine first downs and 34 yards on 32 rushing attempts by the Ledgemont defense last week.
The Wildcats (3-5, 0-2) of second-year coach Ryan Slone have had their share of struggles, including playing every game away from home as their facility, Wildcat Acres, is not ready for game action. They play Grand Valley tough last week in a contest played at Hiram College, 14-6.
“They run the ball pretty well and look to make big plays in their play-action game,” Croston said.
The third-year PV coach mentioned running backs Brendan Baugher and Jordan Dickey and quarterback Austin Casper as the keys to the Wildcat attack.
“(Baugher and Dickey) lead them in their rushing attack,” he said. “(Casper) guides their offense and produces big plays in their play-action game.”
This will mark the 35th meeting between PV and Southington on the gridiron, the Lakers leading the all-time series, 24-10, including a 27-14 triumph last fall.
Has a three-pronged attack for his Lakers — who saw senior running back/linebacker Cody Ellis return last week after a six-week absence because of injury — to emerge victorious Friday night.
“Turnovers — we need to limit them for success,” he said. “The battle up front (for the) rushing advantage.
“And we need explosive plays in pass and run game.”
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