Unbeaten Shamrocks Host Fast-Improving Shadyside
Photo by Kim North Trending
WHEELING - The Shadyside Tigers are seeking to climb to .500 this Friday, but they'll have to hurdle a tall task in the Barnesville Shamrocks, who themselves are pursuing a 6-0 start to their season.
The two teams meet on the newly laid-down turf at Shamrock Stadium in a game that Shadyside head coach Michael Kernik sees as being all about aggressiveness.
"We talk about how we match up against other teams, this or that, but it boils down to being physical and aggressive," Kernik said. "Football's not a hard game to figure out. If you are more physical and more intense than the person across from you, then you've got a chance. That's what we try to drill into our kids every day."
The Tigers are coming off a 37-16 win over Barnesville (PA), a contest where Shadyside flashing their scoring potential, scoring 31 points in the third quarter to blow away their opponents.
With Kernik in his second year manning the helm, that potential is steadily becoming more of an actuality.
"They're in year two now with coach Kernik, and from what we've seen it looks like they're getting more comfortable with his system and style, especially on offense," Barnesville head coach Blake Allen said. "They've got a great quarterback, and really good athletes. On the film, they're getting more comfortable, they have the passing concepts, their quarterback's a dual threat. Then on defense, more athletes, a lot of team speed, they move around, get to the ball well, good speed there."
That quarterback for Shadyside is senior Ben Wach, who has been starting for the Tigers for three years now. Wach has established a track record of high-octane performances, like accounting for three total touchdowns in a 26-0 win over Buckeye Local, and piling up 176 yards and three touchdowns on the ground while throwing for 161 yards and two more scores through the air in week one against Martins Ferry.
"The thing with Benny, he's such a good leader because he's so calm all the time," Kernik said about his quarterback. "Nothing rattles him, he has control of his emotions every time. Every time he steps on the field he gives you 1000% of what he has, and the kids see that and rally around that. It's really nice to have a leader out there on the field like that."
For the Shamrocks, they've been a dynamic team through their season-long win streak, certainly so on the ground where multiple players have had big games for Barnesville, including senior Taison Star, who scored three touchdowns against Buckeye Local, and freshman Trey Tolliver, who rushed for 248 yards and three touchdowns against Bellaire in a game where Starr was injured.
"Trey's a kid who we noticed right away in camp, that'd he be capable of helping us right away," Allen said. "He's very physical for his age, works extremely hard, and he's starting to pick up on the offense more and more. We knew he was capable, and he got the call pretty early when Taison went down, and he stepped up. But it's not only him, we have several backs, a lot of guys who we can get the ball to and make the defense defend the whole field."
Defense has also been an area of strength for the Shamrocks, who have not allowed more than 14 points all season, and have tallied two shutouts. They are coming off a 35-7 win over River.
Play in the trenches has been big for Barnesville, and both sides expect the interior to be a factor Friday.
"I think it always starts up front," Allen said. "We unfortunately had a couple guys banged up front, so we've got some new guys starting. That's probably going to be a key. We've had some good success early on and it's started with the guys up front, we've won the line of scrimmage. A couple guys out, we're looking for other guys to step in and not miss a beat."
"Barnesville is what they have been for the last few years," Kernik said. "They are a very physical team, they have a lot of talent, and they are very well-coached. They do all the fundamentals, they do everything very physically and very fast. They're a hard-hitting, fundamentally sound, well-coached football team."
Where does handing the 'Rocks their first loss of the season start? Kernik is emphasizing avoiding self-inflicted wounds.
"The same thing we tell them every week- we have to play a clean game where we're focused and we're minimizing penalties," the Tigers head man said. "We have to play with high intensity, high aggressiveness and be very physical. When we do those things, we're just fine, and we're definitely going to need that against Barnesville because I guarantee they're going to be physical, aggressive and we're going to have to match that."
Barnesville, who beat the Tigers 38-0 last year but were defeated by Shadyside 35-14 the year before, likewise want to make sure they're not their own worst enemy when their 7 p.m. kickoff comes around on Friday.
"We've got a pretty veteran team, a lot of guys back who started last year," Allen said. "We're really just focused on not beating ourselves. We're a veteran team, we should all know what we're doing, we should know our assignments. We really try to stress no penalties, don't get behind the sticks, no negative plays, don't put yourself in a bad position. We had a few too many penalties last week, that's something we have to address."