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Playoff preview: Ross vs. Winton Woods

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Ryan Podracky/Ross Ram Zac Wilson takes on Edgewood defenders Billy French and Kody McCall.

By Jay Morrison, Staff Writer Updated 8:57 AM Friday, November 6, 2009

ROSS — Ross High School football coach Brian Butts has enlisted the help of an old friend to help the Rams prepare for Winton Woods’ triple-option offense.

Casey Myers is a 2001 Ross graduate and defensive coordinator who currently works as an assistant coach at Colerain, where the triple option has flourished for years.

“To defend the option you’ve got to understand the option,” Butts said. “I think he’s helped us understand it. And hopefully we’ve got it taught to our kids where they understand it and can make the plays.”

With Colerain missing the playoffs for the first time in more than a decade, Myers said he was more than happy to return to his alma mater to offer some support.

“I was the (defensive coordinator) here when these seniors were sophomores,” Myers said. “I don’t know if Ross has played an option team in 10 years, so it’s something they’ve never worked on because they’ve never needed to.

“It’s a lot to learn in a short amount of time, but these kids want to win so bad that they’re motivated enough to put the work in.”

Butts said Myers has showed the Rams which alignments and stunts give the Colerain offense the most trouble, and they will try to implement them tonight against the explosive Warriors.

Joltin’ Joe

Ross senior strong safety Joe Conrad is no stranger to postseason pressure, having put together a dominant wrestling career that led him all the way to the state tournament last year.

Butts said Conrad’s wrestling background has been key to his success on the gridiron.

“I try to pluck as many (wrestlers) as I can because Rich Dunn does a great job with them, and it seems like the kids who come from wrestling always have a great work ethic and they end up being your hardest workers in football,” Butts said. “Every good strong safety we’ve had here has been a wrestler. All the Ray brothers came through and played safety for us. They understand leverage and angles and it just seems like they play with a chip on their shoulder and make great defensive football players.”

Conrad leads the team in tackles and recently was voted first team all-league for the second straight year.

“Everything we’re designing for Winton Woods revolves around Joey,” Butts said. “Every game we try to figure out how we can get Joey in the middle of what the other team does best.”

Just joking

Butts called quarterback Erik Geiser into his office earlier this week and told him he was sorry. When Geiser asked for what, Butts told him he didn’t realize the senior was just 6 yards shy of the school passing record.

“That’s OK. I’ll get it this week,” Geiser said.

“Only regular season games count,” Butts told him with a straight face.

When Geiser asked if he was serious, Butts laughed and told him the truth, that Mike Marchetti’s record (4,449) is all but his.

Geiser already owns the school’s career marks for completions (322), and completion percentage (53.7).

And if Ross can pull the upset against the Warriors, Geiser may have a shot at a few more. He needs five TD passes and 48 attempts to equal Marchetti’s marks of 36 and 648.

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