(Griswold) The Griswold Tiger football team faces another tough task when they host East Mills on Friday.
Griswold is 0-2 with losses to Exira-EHK (61-22) and Bedford (70-6). Coach Chase Wallace reports taking care of the football will be a top priority this week. “It all starts with ball control. We can’t be turning the ball over and giving them easy possessions. We’ve struggled with that the first two weeks. Teams have gotten off to a hot start and we’ve put ourselves in a big hole.” Wallace adds, “We have to cut down on our penalties.
Coach Wallace says they were plagued by holding calls against Bedford, but they did make some steps in the right direction. “I thought we ran the ball pretty hard when we had openings. Zane Johnson really had his hands full with that Bedford line and their linebackers, but he did a good job pushing forward and getting a few yards every carry and even busted out a couple of nice runs against them.”
Coach Wallace points out freshman offensive lineman RJ Dishong did a good job filling in for injured senior Cash Turner. “Cash Turner went down mid-week last week with concussion protocol. We had to have RJ, a freshman, step in and he did a good job. He’s still learning and we have to be better across the whole offensive line, but overall I was pretty impressed with him. He really started to find his own during the end of the game.”
The team is hoping to develop some depth as they continue. “We are working on finding those next guys in. We are having to play the same eight guys on both sides of the ball the whole game. They get tired and mistakes get made and then injuries happen. We have to find more young guys to step in and give those starters a break.”
East Mills is 1-1 on the season with 55-14 win over Woodbine followed by a 50-32 setback against Lenox. “They like to throw the ball and they are very quick and fast. They have a good strong, fast quarterback and a good, fast running back. They have some monsters on the outside at receiver that can go up and get the ball. We have to be ready for that speed and just can’t take any plays off.”
Coach Wallace says moving their feet on the offensive line and firing off the ball will be an emphasis in practice this week. Defensively, pass coverage will be a key area to focus on.
Griswold coach Chase Wallace:
