Print
E-mail
Comment
Rate
Atlantic looking to assemble offensive proficiency as Winterset arrives at Trojan Bowl
Click image to enlarge  |
| Atlantic junior linebacker Chet Meneely (20) and senior defensive back Jordan Mullen (33) bring down a Harlan ball carrier during last week's 42-0 loss to the No. 3 ranked Cyclones. Photo by Drew Herron |
| Share This Story: |
  
|
Trojans enter fourth week of season still tinkering to rebuild offense after Week 1 loss of starting quarterback
By Drew Herron
NT Sports Editor
ATLANTIC—Three games into the season; it’s safe to say that events have not often fallen in the Trojans’ favor.
On the opening drive of the season three weeks ago against Clarinda, the team lost their starting quarterback Jacob Hartwig (a three-year starter and team captain) to a fractured collarbone. From there, the chaos of subtracting the centerpiece of their offense has proven a difficult task to set right, and the Trojans enter week two of the district schedule with an 0-3 record and still in search of their first offensive touchdown of the season.
A 13-3 road loss to Denison followed the loss to Clarinda before last week’s 42-0 shutout loss at No. 3 ranked Harlan sank the Trojans’ collective spirit a litter further.
But before you assume the program is overwhelmed with frustration and doubt, recognize there appears to be plenty of light at the end of the tunnel and plenty of season left to turn things around.
“We’ve made some personnel changes and we’ve changed our offense a little bit,” Trojans head coach Gaylord Schelling said this week. “We haven’t been blocking very well, there’s been one guy here or there that makes a mistake and we get caught up. I think we’ve got that shored up finally and we’re looking a lot better.”
Last week’s loss dropped Atlantic to 0-1 in district play, but the benefit is that Harlan is now behind them and the schedule is a little more conducive towards success.
The first step is Friday night’s home meeting with 1-2 Winterset, who is coming off a 19-0 victory over Clarke.
For Winterset head coach Zach Sweeney, whose district-opening victory arrived by defeating Clarke, a team coached by his brother Ryan, it feels good to turn the tide of 0-2 and start the district run with a 1-0 mark.
But looking across to this week’s opposition, Sweeney feels he’s in for a dogfight on the road against a team with wounded pride.
“Atlantic has a strong tradition, especially on defense, and they look to be very tough in that area again,” he said. “We expect a hard-fought game.”
Winterset’s woes have not been as distinct as that of Atlantic’s, spread out rather than concentrated into a continuous inability to move the ball on offense. Quite the contrary, the Huskies come into Friday night’s contest with two of the district’s top four rushers as running backs Alexx Murphy and Travis Scheffers each enter with close to 300 yards apiece, and the Huskies run a wishbone formation about 50 percent of the time in an attempt to utilize their top two backs.
Both are averaging around six yards per carry and have combined for 575 yards on the ground so far, making them the district’s third and fourth leading rushers.
Keying in on them will prove central to the Trojans’ defensive effort.
“They’re more of a run team and they have a lot of speed in that area,” Schelling said. “Knowing where those two guys are is going to be important.”
One problem Atlantic has faced thus far is an ability to convert first downs and sustain drives; a lapse that has demanded more of their defense with the Trojans’ offense watching from the sidelines.
Chipping away at Atlantic is one approach Sweeney hopes to utilize.
“Every time we touch the ball, we need to try to wear them down a little more, because they’ve got some tremendous playmakers on defense,” Sweeney said. “It’s no secret; we’re going to rely heavily on Scheffers and Murphy.”
“They’re not conservative, but they’re a team that’s not going to beat themselves,” Schelling said.
Atlantic conversely hasn’t been able to get the ground game going consistently as the top two rushers on the season (Chet Meneely with 81 yards on 30 carries and Rich Nichols with 52 yards on 25 carries) average less than three yards per touch.
As the offense settles into sync with Zach Christianson and Parker Hoye filling in for Hartwig, the passing game has been slow to warm, though it did enjoy some success in Week 2 at Denison where Jordan Mullen and Jacey Hoegh each hauled in three catches apiece for a combined 131 yards.
With the inability to run well known, Winterset knows the Trojans will do whatever they can to move the ball downfield, even if they aren’t sure what to expect. Having been burnt in the defensive backfield in losses over the first two weeks, that’s a concern for the Huskies.
“Coming off of last week’s soggy conditions, we don’t know if Atlantic might try to pull out something new or try to throw,” Sweeney said. “We’ve been susceptible to the pass in the past couple weeks, so it’s important to us to get to their quarterback and try and put them in a lot of third and long situations.”
No matter how it’s done, the Trojans need to get some kind of offense going if they hope to get turn the tide of a so-far disappointing season.
“We need to score points,” Schelling said. “We haven’t scored an offensive touchdown yet. But I think we’ll be better; our quarterbacks are getting a handle on our offense.”
On the opening drive of the season three weeks ago against Clarinda, the team lost their starting quarterback Jacob Hartwig (a three-year starter and team captain) to a fractured collarbone. From there, the chaos of subtracting the centerpiece of their offense has proven a difficult task to set right, and the Trojans enter week two of the district schedule with an 0-3 record and still in search of their first offensive touchdown of the season.
A 13-3 road loss to Denison followed the loss to Clarinda before last week’s 42-0 shutout loss at No. 3 ranked Harlan sank the Trojans’ collective spirit a litter further.
But before you assume the program is overwhelmed with frustration and doubt, recognize there appears to be plenty of light at the end of the tunnel and plenty of season left to turn things around.
“We’ve made some personnel changes and we’ve changed our offense a little bit,” Trojans head coach Gaylord Schelling said this week. “We haven’t been blocking very well, there’s been one guy here or there that makes a mistake and we get caught up. I think we’ve got that shored up finally and we’re looking a lot better.”
Last week’s loss dropped Atlantic to 0-1 in district play, but the benefit is that Harlan is now behind them and the schedule is a little more conducive towards success.
ADVERTISEMENT |
For Winterset head coach Zach Sweeney, whose district-opening victory arrived by defeating Clarke, a team coached by his brother Ryan, it feels good to turn the tide of 0-2 and start the district run with a 1-0 mark.
But looking across to this week’s opposition, Sweeney feels he’s in for a dogfight on the road against a team with wounded pride.
“Atlantic has a strong tradition, especially on defense, and they look to be very tough in that area again,” he said. “We expect a hard-fought game.”
Winterset’s woes have not been as distinct as that of Atlantic’s, spread out rather than concentrated into a continuous inability to move the ball on offense. Quite the contrary, the Huskies come into Friday night’s contest with two of the district’s top four rushers as running backs Alexx Murphy and Travis Scheffers each enter with close to 300 yards apiece, and the Huskies run a wishbone formation about 50 percent of the time in an attempt to utilize their top two backs.
Both are averaging around six yards per carry and have combined for 575 yards on the ground so far, making them the district’s third and fourth leading rushers.
Keying in on them will prove central to the Trojans’ defensive effort.
“They’re more of a run team and they have a lot of speed in that area,” Schelling said. “Knowing where those two guys are is going to be important.”
One problem Atlantic has faced thus far is an ability to convert first downs and sustain drives; a lapse that has demanded more of their defense with the Trojans’ offense watching from the sidelines.
Chipping away at Atlantic is one approach Sweeney hopes to utilize.
“Every time we touch the ball, we need to try to wear them down a little more, because they’ve got some tremendous playmakers on defense,” Sweeney said. “It’s no secret; we’re going to rely heavily on Scheffers and Murphy.”
“They’re not conservative, but they’re a team that’s not going to beat themselves,” Schelling said.
Atlantic conversely hasn’t been able to get the ground game going consistently as the top two rushers on the season (Chet Meneely with 81 yards on 30 carries and Rich Nichols with 52 yards on 25 carries) average less than three yards per touch.
As the offense settles into sync with Zach Christianson and Parker Hoye filling in for Hartwig, the passing game has been slow to warm, though it did enjoy some success in Week 2 at Denison where Jordan Mullen and Jacey Hoegh each hauled in three catches apiece for a combined 131 yards.
With the inability to run well known, Winterset knows the Trojans will do whatever they can to move the ball downfield, even if they aren’t sure what to expect. Having been burnt in the defensive backfield in losses over the first two weeks, that’s a concern for the Huskies.
“Coming off of last week’s soggy conditions, we don’t know if Atlantic might try to pull out something new or try to throw,” Sweeney said. “We’ve been susceptible to the pass in the past couple weeks, so it’s important to us to get to their quarterback and try and put them in a lot of third and long situations.”
No matter how it’s done, the Trojans need to get some kind of offense going if they hope to get turn the tide of a so-far disappointing season.
“We need to score points,” Schelling said. “We haven’t scored an offensive touchdown yet. But I think we’ll be better; our quarterbacks are getting a handle on our offense.”
 |
||
| Cogent running game has No. 9 ranked Griswold working towards a playoff push |
Article Rating
Reader Comments
The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of atlanticnewstelegraph.com.
Submit a Comment
We encourage your feedback and dialog, all comments will be reviewed by our Web staff before appearing on the Web site.
Please note: We provide our story commenting feature in order to solicit feedback, debate and discussion on topics of local interest. Please keep in mind that civility is a necessary component of productive conversation. All blatantly inflammatory or otherwise inappropriate comments (i.e. vulgarity, marketing, etc.) are subject to rejection and/or removal. Comments will appear if and when they are approved. Thanks for reading, and thanks for participating.
