The dust has been knocked off, the kinks have been worked out and WE ARE READY for week three of HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL! This week, the Labette County Grizzlies will travel upstate to Osawatomie, KS as they are looking to get back on track after a physical week 2 loss at home against a very solid Andale team. Last week Labette consistently struggled to move the ball on offense, and they couldn’t stop the powerful downhill running attack provided by a one- two punch out of the Andale backfield. This week, however, the Grizzlies look to come out firing against an Osawatamie defense that has been lackluster thus far. After two games the Trojans have been outscored 86-42. Going against two run-heavy offenses Osawatomie has allowed a total of 609 yards rushing on 85 attempts for an average of 7.1 yards per carry. The pass defense hasn’t fared much better as they have given up 279 yards through the air on just 14 completions for an average just under 20 yards per attempt.
The lack of pass coverage looks to play right into the wheelhouse of this Labette County offense though, as Head Coach Sean Price and first year signal caller Easton Dean will look to spread the ball around to their deep core of receivers. Through just 2 games the Grizzlies have had 10 different players record an offensive grab. That number alone shows that there is no sweat in finding a target on Friday night, although, Dean will more than likely be throwing more passes than not in the direction of Owyn Back, Tanner Russell or Kale Irwin, as all three currently have a yard per catch of over 15 yards. Look for Coach Price to run a more balanced offense this week, and potentially break out a few draw plays to senior tailback T.J Mayhue who currently leads the team in all purpose yardage with a total of 200 yards from scrimmage, the majority coming from the ground game.
My Prediction:
Osawatomie keeps it close while trailing 14-7 at the half, but Labette will turn it on in the second half, eventually winning by a final score of 42-21.