The Blanchester defense will be tasked with stopping an extremely potent Williamsburg running game Friday night at WHS.
Williamsburg features two of the best runners in the National Division — Trystan Gries and Trent Bocks — and can take the life out of a defense being content to run the ball.
“Williamsburg is running the wing-T offense that I grew up running,” BHS coach Jon Mulvihill said. “They’re very good at it. Their personnel fits the offense very well. Good blocking tight end, good fullback, good setback, good wing. Young QB, but he does what he’s asked to do very well.”
The annual SBAAC National Division battle of the Wildcats is set to kickoff at 7 p.m.
Blanchester defeated Clermont Northeastern last week 37-13 while Burg was a 49-28 winner over Fayetteville.
“Defensively, Burg will mix it up,” said Mulvihill. “They’ll run a 5-2 to our power running game and possibly a 3-3 stack to our spread stuff. They have solid linebackers and good defensive linemen. Their special teams are also solid. Their punter kicks the ball very well.”
Through five games, Mulvihill said there is plenty to like about his still-improved squad.
“I like the run game,” he said. “The offensive line loves to run the ball. That’s by far our strength. Defensively, we are still figuring out how to play aggressively. Special teams wise, Adam Frump is doing a great job returning kicks for us.”
The BHS coach said his squad must improve its passing attack and get more pressure on the opposing quarterback.
In addition, Mulvihill was not happy with the way last week’s win over CNE transpired.
“I left that game last week pretty upset,” he said. “The game was 21-13 at one point. It should have never been that close. We gave up two long TD plays on a broken coverage and a defender falling down. That’s not something I can stomach easily. We moved the ball well on the ground, but only completed one pass. We have to improve on both sides, and quickly.”
