Jon Mulvihill has coached enough football to know it’s not always about the other team.
Yes, sometimes it is. There are times, however, when the focus has to be on your team.
And that’s where the Wildcats are heading into a Week 4 matchup at Goshen with the King of the Road trophy on the line.
“We’d love to win that trophy back, but we’re not talking about that right now,” he said. “We’re trying to focus on getting better offensively and defensively. If we concentrate on our assignments and get better as a team, mental and physical execution takes care of itself.”
Blanchester, 1-3 on the year, is coming off a 38-3 loss to Clinton-Massie in the renewal of the Cider Keg rivalry.
The Wildcats struggled — like most teams do — against the Falcons defense. BHS had 24 rushes and gained just 28 yards. The Wildcats had 55 yards of total offense.
Still Mulvihill was not downtrodden after the defeat.
“Massie is a good football team,” he said. “We competed with them. The scoreboard doesn’t show a physical football game where our defense challenged their offense most of the night, but the film does. We had some mistakes and a few plays where (CM running back Brendan)Lamb ran through a bunch of our tackles. Offensively, we had some good drives. We got into some trouble with botched snaps that put us behind the chains and that stopped us from moving the ball consistently. Those things are going to happen.
“I’m happy with our effort, I’m happy with our toughness, and I’m happy that we never quit. If we keep playing like that, we’ll be just fine going forward.”
The Warriors are another physical team like the Falcons who will run the ball even if you know it’s coming.
“Another big, strong, and fast opponent,” said Mulvihill. “Offensively they like to test the edge. They have two fast wing backs and their QB is a good runner. Their fullback is a tough downhill runner as well. They’re primarily a running team, but they will throw it around some as well. We have to play assignment football and contain the edges if we want to stop Goshen this week.”
Mulvihill said Goshen’s defense and special teams can beat an opponent.
“Goshen runs a 5-2 defense with two high safeties. Their linebackers are players,” he said. “Their kicker is consistent and has a powerful leg. Their special teams create turnovers if you’re not prepared.”
