=
Blanchester will put a 10-game win streak on the line Friday night as Clermont Northeastern visits Barbour Memorial Field.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
Blanchester will celebrate its annual Homecoming festivities on Friday.
“Homecoming week, the message is usually the same,” BHS head coach Jon Mulvihill said. “Focus on the game, get the win.”
Sometimes easier said than done.
But when it comes to Clermont Northeastern, Blanchester has done well in recent years. The Wildcats won last year 30-19 and have not lost to the Rockets since a 39-27 defeat in 2010.
However, Mulvihill is quick to point to the playoff rankings where the Rockets are currently ahead of the Wildcats in Division V Region 20.
“CNE has a couple wins this year so they’re above us in the playoff points chart,” he said. “They primarily run the ball on offense behind (Jake Mott) and (Carter Corey). Defensively they run a 4-2, cover-2 look. Special teams wise, their kicker kicks it to about the 10 yard line on kickoffs. They’re like a lot of teams right now, struggling with the revolving door of players coming and going due to sickness, quarantine, and injury. It’s tough to be consistent with a rotating lineup.”
Blanchester’s season epitomizes that revolving lineup notion as much as anybody. The Wildcats started 0-3 before last week’s 28-0 win over Goshen in the King of the Road game.
“Important win,” Mulvihill said of last week’s triumph. “We had to get on the right side of a game. First half was sloppy. Penalties, fatigue, missed assignments, both side of the ball. Took momentum at the end of the first half and continued at the beginning of the second half. Defensive adjustments in the second half all but shut them down.”
And while winning is always the preference among coaches, Mulvihill notes his team, young in many areas, has grown up through the struggling start to the 2021 season. As the health improves, Mulvihill hopes the win column numbers improves with it.
“The most important aspect that has improved is their resilience,” the coach said. “Bad things happen in football games. We’re getting much better at shrugging it off and moving forward. We have also gotten a few guys back healthy. Looking to get a couple more back soon I hope.
