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Golden Bears look to snap streak

NEW MANCHESTER, W.Va. — Steubenville Catholic Central looks for its seventh consecutive victory over Oak Glen when the two foes square off at 7 p.m. Friday.

Steve Daley, head coach of the Crusaders, knows pushing that streak to seven in a row won’t be an easy task.

“Oak Glen is vastly improved over last year,” he said. “They have a good quarterback, and he has two pretty nice targets. They have good size up front. We definitely are facing a major challenge this week.”

The ninth all-time meeting between the schools, Central leads the series 6-2.

“The last time we beat Catholic Central was 2011,” Oak Glen head coach Ted Arneault Jr. said. “This could be the last year we’ll play them because the contract expires after this season.

“It’s a good matchup, and I’m excited to see both teams play. We’re obviously excited about our home opener, that’s for sure.”

Central opened the 2018 season by blanking arch-rival Toronto, 35-0, while the Golden Bears fell to Weir High, 49-14.

In its road victory, Central compiled 366 yards of total offense. Senior quarterback Justin Hartzell threw for 178 yards and three touchdowns, while running for 67 more and another score. Senior wide receiver Noah Fayak caught three Hartzell passes for 91 yards and a TD.

“Central has a very athletic dual-threat quarterback, who throws well both in the pocket and sprinting out,” Arneault said. “They have a big, physical offensive line, with three kids either at or close to 300 pounds. They also have some nice complimentary kids they like to get the ball to.

“They will run some option, and they do that pretty well. They certainly had a good night against Toronto. Central is definitely bigger than us. For a small Ohio Division VI school, they have some pretty big linemen. We do outsize them at the receiver and skill positions.”

Arneault also is impressed with Central’s defensive unit.

“Central is in a different look than they were last year defensively,” he said. “Traditionally, they have been a 3-4 defensive team, but last year they played a 4-3 defense. They are back to a 3-4 look this season.

“They have a nice-sized defensive line because many of those that play offense double on the defensive line. So, they’re tough to run on. We’ll have our work cut out for us this week.”

Oak Glen’s offense is led by sophomore quarterback Nick Chaney, who threw for 181 yards and a couple of touchdowns in the loss to Weir. Against the Crusaders a season ago, Chaney passed for 264 yards.

His primary targets are Ethan Travis, the senior tight end, and junior wide receiver Zack Taylor. Travis recorded six receptions for 95 yards against the Red Riders. He caught seven balls in 2017 against Central for 146 yards. Taylor had three catches for 64 yards and both Oak Glen touchdowns in the season opener.

“We know Oak Glen likes to throw the football,” Daley said. “Chaney is young but experienced and throws a real nice ball. His favorite receivers have good size at 6-5 and 6-2. We don’t have any defensive backs that size. That is a problem for us for sure.

“Travis caught a lot of passes against us last year. He certainly made things difficult for us. We need to locate both Travis and Taylor and, I don’t know, maybe we can stretch our guys out over the next few days and get them a little longer.”

Although he was happy with the overall performance against Toronto, Daley noted his Crusaders still have plenty of room for improvement.

“When you start to break things down, there are some places where we can make improvement,” he said. “Defensively, we need to do a better job as far as tackling, and pursuit goes in some situations. We also need to see things better offensively, particularly once we hit a hole. We need to see the cutback and running lanes better.

“We got worn down a little in the second half against Toronto, and that’s kind of a touch and go situation for us. It’s not that we aren’t in shape, it’s just we have the same guys going out there on both sides of the football. Some of our younger guys just aren’t ready yet to step in there against the competition we have.”

Arneault is hoping his Golden Bears can be a little more balanced offensively against Central (in the loss to Weir, Oak Glen had negative 14 yards rushing).

“I would like to see us run the ball more than we did last week,” he said. “Our goal is to be a balanced team against Central. We have to take care of the football, put drives together and win the time of possession battle. We also need to make things happen on special teams.

“Last year against Central, we did not tackle well and, as a result, the game got out of control. We were playing with them into the fourth quarter when our tackling broke down. We have to stay disciplined. We want to match their physicality and win the turnover battle.”

Daley also sees time of possession as a key to Friday’s contest.

“The best thing we can do to slow down Oak Glen’s offense is to keep it off the field,” he said. “That means we must sustain our drives and put points on the board every time we get the opportunity.

“We also are focused on trying to slow down their run game. Our other key focus is staying healthy in practice this week.”

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