PLYMOUTH – It’s a sectional re-match at Plymouth on Friday as Russ Radtke and his New Prairie team come to the Rockpile in another Rockie matchup with a top 10 team, this one to decide the sectional championship.
After a loss at LaPorte to start the season the Cougars have run the table and recently have many thinking they might be the juggernaut they were a year ago.
“I’ve heard from several people that maybe they aren’t quite the team they were last year but frankly I’m having a lot of problems seeing any difference,” said Plymouth head coach John Barron. “Russ Radtke has won over 300 games for a reason. They are extremely disciplined, you know you’re in a football game and it’s a battle.”
“You have to beat them. They aren’t going to beat themselves. We are going to have to match their intensity. They are going to move the football. We have to be patient, we have to create turnovers, we have to create negative plays.”
A week ago New Prairie demolished Kankakee Valley while the Rockies had their hands full with an inspired St. Joe team.
“You want to be playing well obviously but the goal is to win and keep your season going,” said Barron. “They’re all big but when you get in the playoffs and you start whittling down – there are 16 left after (Friday night) it will be eight.
“I have no problem giving credit where credit is do, they (St. Joe) came down here and played like a team who had been there before. We didn’t play well to start again, and that’s really only a concern as to whether there is anything we’re doing to cause that.”
It also taught the Rockies a little about what kind of football team they have.
“We have some competitive kids,” said Barron. “Our defense for the first time showed a little bit of looking over their shoulder but when I look at film we just didn’t close on the back side and that resulted in some big plays. We were right where we should have been at the point of attack. Our kids are more resilient than I thought they were. We didn’t panic and that’s a big thing.”
While the passing game continues to develop, it is still the run that is the staple of the Rockie offense and something that the coach is looking for.
“We need some consistency in the running game but our consistent running game right now is with our quarterback,” said Barron. “I really thought that would be Taylor carrying that load but (quarterback Jack Barron) is making the reads teams are giving him. It also solidifies to me that we have to find ways to Drudge and Eveland in open space. Those two are really, really good.”
The key to Friday is simple to pinpoint but extremely difficult to execute.
“We have to find a way to make them punt the football,” said Barron. “That’s a lot easier said than done. When we get some breaks we have to take advantage of those.”
