Two games deep into the season, the Waynesville football team is in uncharted territory.
The Spartans are 0-2 and have been outscored 107 to 7. Blanchester head coach Brandon Sammons is not looking at this being the week his Wildcats can coast.
“Waynesville, despite being 0-2, is a much better team than that record shows,” said Sammons. “I know they’re in some turmoil up there, which we all feel for the kids there, but we know they will come out ready to go. That’s a program that knows what winning is about and I expect nothing but their best effort when we come in on Friday.”
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at WHS.
The Spartans have lost to Bellbrook and Indian Hill, two strong programs. Sammons said WHS has a good, young quarterback and talented skill players. On defense, Waynesville has a solid freshman nose guard who will need to be contained.
“I think in the end turnovers and poise will decide who wins this game,” said Sammons.
The Wildcats, who have lost the last four meetings with the Spartans, have been solid on offense through two games in 2016. Thanks to the strong play of the offense line — Dylan Fawley, Cody McCollister, Kaleb Goodin, Matt Grogg, Reighdyn Bare and Dylan Baker — the Wildcats have been balanced despite utilizing the pass-oriented spread offense.
“We have been fortunate to find some big plays,” Sammons said. “For the last five years I have been in this offense, we’ve done pretty well finding big plays and letting playmakers get the ball in their hands to make things happen.
“In the second half (against East Clinton), we marched up and down the field a couple times running the ball.”
Sammons said Jared Monhollen has been a solid receiver for the Wildcats to this point while on defense Marco Torres-Garcia has shown a relentless nature to bring down opposing ball carriers. James Peters has “been fun to see” in the middle of the BHS defense while Quenton Miller also has played well. Dakota Penquite has been a pleasant find in the kicking department as a first-year football player who also “is a stud goalie on the soccer team,” said Sammons.
Sammons said the Wildcats ability to two-platoon their offensive and defensive lines has allowed the players to be “fresher than most.”