Bluffton may not throw everything but the kitchen sink at Jefferson’s football team Friday night.
Just most of it.
Jefferson (2-0, 1-0 Northwest Conference) and head coach Damon Ulm know what they are facing as they head to Harmon Field in Bluffton Friday night to battle the Pirates in NWC grid action.
“They run the spread and everything that means: no back, one back, doubles, trips, you name it. Then they’ll turn around and go into the wishbone and try to run over you,” Ulm explained. “Fortunately, they need to substitute quite a bit when they go from one to the other, so we as coaches can make our changes accordingly. They do run the option in either set.”
Jefferson’s defense, which has given up 6.5 points per game, will be tested but hopes the likes of Bubba Shivley (12 solos, 3 assists), Stuart Miller (11 and 4), Tyree DeWitt (8 and 6), Jordan Jettinghoff (8 and 3), Sean Fisher (10 and 1) and Sean Osting (8 and 2) are more than up to the task.
“Their defense is somewhat uncertain to us. So far we’ve seen them in a 5-2 and a 4-man look,” Ulm continued. “What you do then is remind the linemen of their blocking rules. We’ll sometimes throw a defense at them we know a team doesn’t run just to make sure they’ve seen everything, or we’ll blitz a lot when we know they don’t.
“It’s all about preparation.”
The Jeffcats will be minus starting senior halfback/cornerback Tim Sanders (17 totes, 219 yards, 3 scores) for at least this week due to injury (and possibly longer). Picking up the slack are the likes of Shivley (20 for 112, 1 score), DeWitt (6 for 108, 1 TD), Josh Miller (4-of-9 passing, 52 yards, 1 TD), Eric Short (3 TDs) and four different receivers that have caught one pass. Stuart Miller has six pancake blocks.
“We do not want to give those receivers YAC — yards after the catch. We have to be very disciplined defensively, not only in knowing what personnel they have in but in not letting them turn a routine catch into a big play,” Ulm said. “Offensively, it’s knowing the basics about what our rules are.
“Outside of Tim, we’re in decent shape. Tyree will take his place on offense and Andy Wiltsie on defense. We’re getting some kids back from injury, like Cade Bevington next week — a lot earlier than we thought — which helps our depth.”
The Wildcats scored 31 points in the second half in bouncing Paulding 31-7 a week ago.
“We hurt ourselves with penalties the first half. We moved the ball up and down the field and then hurt ourselves; we’re not an offense that handles first-and-20 well,” Ulm added. “At the half, I didn’t get hot or scream at them. I just asked them how badly they wanted to win. What you saw were seniors accepting the challenge and deciding they wanted to win pretty badly.”
Bluffton (1-1) will be looking to get back on the winning track in its NWC opener after a loss to Carey a week ago.
Defense has been the major problem so far.
“Last week, I’m not sure we ever stopped Carey. They just lined up and ran over us,” Pirate mentor Dennis Lee said. “We’ll be OK once we get all 11 players on the same page, used to their positions — we’ve moved some players around, so that’s an adjustment period — and simply start making plays as a group.
“Offensively, we’ve been able to do some things between the run and the pass quite well. What’s hurt us is the mistakes and turnovers that puts our defense in a bad spot.”
Quarterback Tyler Neal, running back Tyler Rayl and wideout Tyler Breidenbach have been key cogs for Bluffton’s spread/’bone offense. Spencer Tuttle has been one of the defensive standouts from his end spot.
“I’m very concerned with Jefferson’s ability to just line it up and run it right at us. They have a lot of quality running backs and they are experienced, big and strong up front,” Lee added. “There isn’t a lot we don’t know about them or about what they want to do. For us, we have to make a big step defensively this week to have a chance.
“The offense needs to help by holding onto the ball and not giving them the ball in good field position.”