(Neola) Tri-Center caught a lot of people’s attention with their 14-0 win over Treynor last week. The Trojans will try to keep the momentum going against Missouri Valley. Both teams enter the contest at 1-1. Coach Ryan Schroder feels his team matches up well with the Big Reds and says the teams have a lot of similarities.
A simplified game plan paid big dividends for Tri-Center last Friday night. “We got together as a staff and decided we wanted to simplify things a little bit and get back to the fundamentals of football. We wanted to be able to run the ball a little bit and more importantly load the box on defense up front and try and shut them down. They are a great running team with kids that are pretty strong. We wanted to get up there and be physical with them and that’s what we did and we came out on top.” They held Treynor to just 60 yards rushing and the Cardinals went only 7/19 through the air for 56 yards.
Brecken Freeberg has been the go to back for the Trojans with 33 carries for 137 yards and two scores on the season. Defensively he has 38 stops which is over three times as many as anyone else on the team. “He never comes off the field. He does everything we ask and he’s been a monster on defense and carrying the ball for us. We put Michael Turner at quarterback and moved Jaxon Johnson to tight and and he’s playing defensive end. He’s been great. His energy and leadership has been second to none. He’s a big reason why we are where we are right now. Basically that senior class across the board.”
Schroder says the moved Jaxon Johnson away from his quarterback spot because of the value he brings on defense. “We needed Jaxon Johnson on defense. He’s just a threat. He’s an athletic kid and big and strong and moves really good. We needed him to be able to play defense. That was the biggest reason we made the change. Michael doesn’t have the arm that Jaxon has, but he’s getting better and he’s really good with his feet. We wanted to get that dual threat back a little bit.”
Schroder says playing a couple of 1A teams in non-district play should be beneficial as they move forward in Class A, District 8.
Tri-Center coach Ryan Schroder:
