Jim Walker
jim.walker@irontontribune.com

Mirror, mirror on the locker room wall, can you tell which team is which?
Other than the color of their uniforms, there isn’t much difference between the Chesapeake Panthers and Coal Grove Hornets.
Both teams have similar personnel and run similar offenses and defenses. They’ll try to make the distinction of which team is better when they meet in an Ohio Valley Conference game on Friday.
“They run a lot of the same stuff we run. It’ll be like looking in a mirror at times,” said Panthers’ coach Andy Clark.
“But like any game, it’ll come down to who plays well on the offensive and defensive lines. They have some speed on both sides of the ball. They have good skilled personnel.”
Chesapeake (3-1, 0-1) is coming off a 34-21 loss at Gallipolis while Coal Grove (3-1, 1-0) rolled past South Point 43-0.
“The two times we’ve played (at Gallipolis) we haven’t played well. It’s hard to know how well we’ll play at Coal Grove this week,” said Clark.
Coal Grove moved Cory Borders to quarterback last week, shifted speedy Nate Harmon from quarterback to tailback and made a third move with tailback Kyle Sites (5-8, 160) going to wingback.
“We made some moves to make us a better football team. We were doing all right, but we made some moves to be even better. The kids understand the team concept,” said Hornets’ coach Evan Ferguson.
The moves give the Hornets mover overall speed in the backfield and size with fullback Kimo Baldwin (6-1, 230) and Harmon (6-2 185).
“They have less experience at quarterback but they have a really good tailback. And with Sites still running the ball they have a lot of good skilled players to defend,” said Clark.
Chesapeake lost speedy running back Cecil Fletcher to an injury for the rest of the season but quarterback Austin Browning made up for his loss by running for 224 yards last week including a 64-yard scoring run.
Ferguson said the Panthers still have good skilled players but he is also concerned with their interior line.
“Their line has some good kids. They’re big and they block people. They ran the football. We have to play our technique and play assignment football,” said Ferguson.
Both teams have the ability to score which puts the pressure on the defenses.
Clark noted the Hornets don’t have the big, physical defensive line they are known for traditionally, but he said they are still a good unit.
“Defensively they’re small but quick. They get to the ball and they play hard,” said Clark.
Ferguson said the key is a problem that has haunted them: turnovers.
“The number one thing is not to turn the football over. We also have to make sure we stay determined. We’re pretty similar in how we match up with them. We just to make sure we stay determined,” said Ferguson.
“It’ll be exciting. This game means a lot toward the league and the playoffs.”
Kickoff is 7 p.m.