By Pete Chiodo
Sept. 5, 2008
September 04, 2008 11:57 pm
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Prior to the 2008 season, a informal polling of Region 2 coaches put either Eisenhower or Saegertown at the top of the list. And those two teams aren’t wasting any time figuring out which goes where as the Knights and the Panthers kick off the Region 2 schedule today at 7 p.m. at Saegertown’s Canon Memorial Field.
“We knew going into the season that we would have them early,” Saegertown coach Ken Achenbach said. “We knew that Week 2 would be a head-knocker And that makes it exciting. It is going to be fun playing at home, a real good atmosphere for football. This is why you tee it up and play.”
“Definitely exciting,” Eisenhower coach Jim Penley said. “It’s exciting because we’ve always had good games with Saegertown. Last year (Saegertown won 28-8), but even in that game it was 13-8 with, I think, seven minutes left in the fourth. The wheels kind of fell off the wagon for us. But up until about seven minutes left it was a whale of a game.”
In last year’s meeting against Eisenhower, Saegertown had two 100-yard rushers. Ian Price clocked 190 yards on 19 carries. Kyle Crum followed with 102.
Price is back, having already rushed for 100 yards in Saegertown’s 41-8 win over Conneaut Lake in Week 1. Yet, Crum has graduated, along with last year’s starting halfback Cody McCray and quarterback Zach Beatty.
However, Saegertown has reconfigured its backfield with some new faces and already the new skill unit is exhibiting the same kind of the chemistry that made it such a force a year ago.
“In a lot of ways we can have a similar approach to offensive football (as last year) by spreading it around,” Achenbach said. “We don’t want to depend on one person. It’s nice to have options.”
New fullback James Chest debuted with a 17-carry, 89-yard, two-touchdown performance against Conneaut Lake. New halfback Keenan Ellison carried the ball four times for 89 yards, while catching a pair of passes, including one for a touchdown.
New quarterback Aaron Stirling began 2008 by completing five of six passes for 60 yards and a score. He also ran in a two-point conversion.
“We were pleased with Aaron Stirling in his first start,” Achenbach said. “Keenan Ellison and Jimmy as well, did a nice job for their first varsity start. Those guys are capable.”
Of the two teams, Eisenhower returns the more experienced backfield. Yet, the Knights’ offense got off to a slow start in its season-opening 7-0 loss to Class AA Girard.
Eisenhower was held to just 160 yards of offense, split evenly in the air and on the ground. A number of things led to this. First, of course, was Girard’s defense. Secondly, the Knights were missing fullback David Osborne.
“He was injured,” Penley said. “And in our offense, the fullback is very important. He catches passes, he blocks a lot.”
Osborne, Penley noted, will be back for the Saegertown game.
Also slowing Ike’s attack last week is the fact that the team is still trying to adjust following the graduation of a pair of outstanding linemen in Mitch Straight and Matt Myschisin. Straight is at the University of Akron. Myschisin is a member of the Allegheny College football team.
“You have last year’s group of linemen who played together for three years,” Penley said. “(This year’s line) is a good, athletic group. But they are young.”
On the plus side for Ike, the team did have quite a night on defense.
“Defensively, we felt we played pretty well,” Penley said. “(Girard) got a good amount of rushing yards (239), but they did it on quite a few carries (61). And we didn’t let them into the end zone until the end of the game. And by that time we had four or five guys out of position because of injuries, cramps and stuff like that.”
Coach Achenbach isn’t considering last week’s game characteristic of Eisenhower’s offense. And with good reason. Last season, quarterback Cody Crosby led Region 2 with nearly 1,400 yards passing. And running back Ben Wilston had 1,069 yards rushing.
“We know they’re a good team,” Achenbach said. “Their quarterback is one of the best around. He’s a big, tall kid. He can throw the ball down field. They line him up in shotgun, empty the backfield, spread you with five receivers. And their tailback is a good player.
“We feel they are a solid team.”
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