Bye week boost, a fast-and-furious offense, and more.
Montgomery (3-3) at Phillipsburg (3-2), Mid-State 38 Delaware Division football, Friday, 7 p.m.
Flying high. Phillipsburg entered its bye week on a high note after a 42-14 demolition of Watchung Hills. “That win boosted everyone,” junior two-way lineman Nick Josselyn said. “Morale is up. You can see it in practice, we’re running to the ball and the tempo is way up.”
Bye week boost. Phillipsburg will get a couple of players back from injury, to be sure, but the main benefit of a week without a game comes from sharpening skills. “I look at the bye week as a time to get better at little things,” Stateliner coach Frank Duffy said. “The practices are shorter to keep legs fresh, with longer individual periods since we’re not preparing for a team. We try to teach and get better at basic skills. The way we put it during the bye week was that our main opponent is us.”
Tempo hot topic. The Cougars pose a unique challenge to Phillipsburg, as coach Zoran Milich runs a no-huddle spread offense that is pretty much the polar opposite of what the Stateliners do. “Coaches have been saying this week is all about tempo,” Josselyn said. “We have to be conditioned, or else. They are going to try and tire us out. I don’t think they can tire us out.” Offenses like Montgomery’s can be extremely hard to handle if they get rolling but extremely easy to send to the sideline when not. A fast start by the Stateliner defense – and ball control by the P’burg offense – will be critical. Also, very physical lines can scramble the spread, and guess who has one of those?
Simulating the spread. Duffy faced a challenge in practice this week to simulate the Cougar offense. “We had two scout teams this week, and as soon as one was done we brought next one so there was no down time and we could approximate the pace we are going to see,” he said. “We have to make their offense earn what they get. If they get things going they are tough to stop. We’re looking at them running 80 plays, maybe; usually it’s 50 or so. We have to get them (behind the chains) on early downs.”
Center center of attention. Montgomery’s defense is also unusual – a 5-2 alignment with “big safeties”, as Duffy said, that is very aggressive against the run, P’burg’s bread and butter. “The biggest change is that they cover the center, and it’s always more challenging for the center when they’re covered up,” Duffy said. “When they send pressure it’s more of a challenge to pick up.” Fortunately, Phillipsburg has the rugged and tested veteran senior Robert Melise snapping the ball.
Playoff eliminator? Phillipsburg is currently No. 7 in the North 2 Group 4 power point standings with 50. Montgomery stands 10th at 44. The Cougars need the win to stay alive – and the Stateliners could sure use it, too.
Brad Wilson may be reached at bwilson@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @bradwsports. Find Lehigh Valley high school sports on Facebook.