CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLENOW) – Rossview football (0-1) will host Northeast (1-0) at 7 p.m. tonight for its home opener.
Last Friday, behind sophomore quarterback Jaiden Puig’s three passing touchdowns, the Eagles cruised to a 28-13 win over Region 7-5A foe Kenwood.
In their season-opener last week against Wilson Central, the Hawks trailed just 14-7 entering the final quarter of play.
Rossview football coach Todd Hood laid out what ultimately happened down the stretch that led to the eventual 27-7 lopsided loss.
“We couldn’t stop the run and they just ate up the clock pretty much the whole game,” Hood said. “On the other hand, we also didn’t get first downs or make plays to keep our defense off the field.”
Rossview surrendered 199 yards on the ground against the Wildcats in defeat.
Northeast pushing defense
With the dynamic duo of Juwan Harris and Moody Jones in Northeast’s backfield, Hood knows his rush defense will need to be better if they hope to capture their first win of the year.
“Last week we didn’t stop the run and that was pretty much the game,” Hood said. “We made a few changes this week and plan on stopping those two running backs. We want to stop them before they get started.”
The Hawks were just 1-for-8 on third-down conversions and only threw for 104 passing yards a week ago. Lacking experience at the quarterback position, Hood is going with sophomore Garrett Diemel as his starter.
“Garrett played pretty good last week, but the surrounding cast needs to step up and perform better,” Hood said. “Our offense as a whole must block and execute better to put ourselves in good third-down situations.”
In Week 1, the Eagle defense led by Kamari Williams and Elijah Leaupepe, shut out the Knights for the final three quarters of play.
Despite the Hawk offense struggling and his defensive unit flourishing, Northeast football coach Brandon Clark isn’t taking the matchup lightly.
“Regardless of how well our defense played last week, I take any offense coached by Todd Hood seriously,” Clark said. “He has a knack for exploiting any weakness that a defense has. We have tried to preach that to our defense all week. We are still learning how to have the most efficient and focused practices that we can have. I’m confident that we will get to that point sooner than later.”
Keep eye on Rossview’s Prescott
Rossview linebacker Mark-Anthony Prescott, who has already fielded offers from multiple SEC schools including Tennessee and Vanderbilt, is a player to keep an eye on in this game. Hood stressed the importance of what the junior means to his team.
“Mark is a great player on and off the field,” Hood said. “He has been slowed by a nagging injury for a month, but this week he seems full speed. His speed is back and our defense missed that speed and leadership.”
Most coaches do not put a lot of stock in momentum carrying over from game to game, but Clark shared his perspective on what it would mean for his group to start the season 2-0 and pick up a road win over a 6A football team.
“I do feel that we have some momentum from last week, but on the other hand, 1-0 teams can be overconfident if you do not hold them in check,” Clark said. “I want us to play confident, but leave our egos at the door. Anytime we can get a win against Rossview at home or away is something that we take very seriously at Northeast.”