By RYAN WALKER

For The Tribune

HUNTINGTON – New faces mixed with a new plan are bringing new problems for opponents.

With a struggling offense, the Huntington Hammer acquired new offensive weapons, shifted positions, and changed up their offense. As a result, their efforts paid off as the Hammer shocked the Saginaw Sting 38-37 last Sunday in the Ultimate Indoor Football League.

The Hammer will use that same combination Friday when they host the Eastern Kentucky Drillers in a battle to stay in first place.

In their first two games of the season, the Huntington Hammer offense struggled for the most part. The offense was averaging 128 yards per game and had only scored five touchdowns total in the two-game stretch.

That was until this past Sunday in Saginaw, when the offense generated 236 total yards and manufactured 6 offensive touchdowns. As a result of this offensive output, accompanied by the top defense in the league, the Hammer shocked the previously undefeated Sting, to climb back into a four-way tie for first place.

Hammer head coach Josh Resignalo shifted his quarterback Martevious Young from under center to the shotgun in order to give the rookie a better chance to be a more effective playmaker.

“We got rolling offensively,” said Resignalo. “We put Martevious in the shotgun, because it was something he would be more comfortable with like when he was at Southern Miss.”

Young was more than comfortable, as he turned in his best performance of the season going 12 of 33 for 141 passing yards, 10 rushes for 60 yards and totaled 4 touchdowns for the game.

Not only was the rookie quarterback a major factor in the win, but also was his supporting cast.

Newly acquired wide receivers, T.R. Dues and LaRoi Johnson provided excellent targets for Young.

Johnson, had three catches for 35, which included a key reception to keep a drive alive by bringing a pass back into play that appeared to be sailing into the stands.

Dues, who was the team’s offensive MVP of the game, hauled in six passes for 81 yards and two touchdowns.

“T.R. was the offensive MVP for our team,” said Resignalo. “He played a factor in giving us a little more explosiveness we had been missing.”

The Hammer (2-1) face the Drillers at the Big Sandy Superstore Arena in a rematch of a meeting three weeks ago when the Hammer fell to the Drillers 37-26 in Pikeville, Ky.

The Drillers are lead behind their quarterback Allan Holland, who’s averaging nearly 230 yards passing a game and wide receiver Aric Evans, who has totaled 11 receiving touchdowns in three games.

Holland proved effective in the last meeting as he threw for four touchdowns and threw for 252 yards on the game.

Another Driller player, who might be familiar to the Ironton area, is defensive back/return man David Jones. Jones, the former Belfry standout, has become a special teams threat in the league resulting in being named Special Teams Player of the Week in week one.

“We have to play our game and not worry about what they do,” said Resignalo. “I believe that if we play Hammer football they way I feel we can, we’ll be a hard team to beat at home.”

Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m.