Hornets, Panthers in key OVC tilt

Published 12:10 am Thursday, September 20, 2018

Jim Walker
jim.walker@irontontribune.com

The Battle for the Little Brown Jug is big, but winning the Ohio Valley Conference game is bigger.
And lots more important.
The Coal Grove Hornets visit the Chesapeake Panthers in a pivotal league game on Friday.
Coal Grove is 3-1 and 1-0 in the league while Chesapeake is 2-2 after a loss to Gallipolis last week. A win makes things easier in the race for the Hornets while a win for the Panthers will keep them out of dire straits.
The Hornets — defending OVC champions — boast a bevy of offensive weapons led by quarterback Nate Harmon, running backs Kyle Sites and Austin Stapleton, and receivers Aaron Music, Evan Holmes and Jalen McKenzie.
“Chesapeake, I think, is a really good ball club. They’ve been dealing with injuries. At our level with not having a lot of kids, hard to deal with,” said Hornets’ coach Evan Ferguson.
“They have one of best athletes in the conference in Austin Browning. He’s dangerous anytime he touches ball.”
Chesapeake coach Andy Clark said defending the Hornets’ wide-open offense is a concern.
“They spread you out on defense and throw the ball and try to use their athletes. And they’re good at that,” said Clark. “We’ve got to contain Harmon and Stapleton runs hard.”
Besides Browning, the Panthers have Carson Nida, Will Todd, Kamren Harless and Donald Richendollar who can play quarterback.
Ferguson said Browning has only played quarterback so far this season after moving back and forth from that position and running back last year. Ferguson expects Browning to play quarterback but would not be shocked to see him at another position.
“He’s an athlete. They can put him at any position to let him thrive. Coach Clark does a great job getting his guys where they need to be. I’m sure they’ll have a good game,” said Ferguson.
Clark said the Panthers must find a way to score against the Hornets’ defense.
“Defensively, they’re not that big but they have a lot of speed. They’re fast on defense.”
Ferguson said the game hinges on three things.
“It’ll come down to turnovers and if we just execute and eliminate mistakes,” said Ferguson. “We’ve been starting slow. We need to start fast.”
Clark agreed with Ferguson.
“We just have to have some consistency. We can’t hope for big plays all the time. We have to have some drives. They have some skill to make up for their youth,” said Clark. “We have to execute.”
Kickoff is 7 p.m.

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