Kiner ranks second in the Greater Catholic League Coed Division with 1,043 rushing yards, including 282 with five touchdowns in last Friday’s 41-28 win over Carroll that snapped a five-game losing streak. Bullock, listed on the Bacon (3-5 overall, 1-4 GCLC Central) roster as a quarterback-defensive lineman, ranks second in the division with 925 passing yards. His favorite target is 6-1, 175-pound junior wide receiver-defensive back Zach Kuhlman, whose 387 receiving yards are second in the GCLC.
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“They’re the best 3-5 team I’ve ever seen,” Aregood said. “They have some impact players. They have a quarterback who can throw and a terrific running back and receivers. They’re a good football team.”
Aregood finds such balance unusual for a spread offense.
“They’re pretty good at throwing the ball or pretty good at running it, but usually not both,” he said. “I think the big thing is we feel like we have to put somebody spying that running back. He won’t be able to help guys. That guy can go to the house at any time.”
If any team has the players to slow down the Spartans, it’s the Falcons, who are giving up 223.4 yards per game. Joe Durham, a 6-3, 225-pound senior inside linebacker, leads the GCLC with 77 tackles. Classmate Bradley Davenport, a 6-3, 230-pound outside linebacker, is third with 71 tackles and third with 5.5 sacks, just ahead of 6-1, 190-pound junior outside linebacker Ben Gustely, who has 4.5 sacks.
“They’re big and physical, more physical than us,” Bacon coach Mike Blaut of Fenwick. “They’re mostly juniors and seniors, while we’re mostly sophomores and juniors with a few freshmen mixed in. We’re down to eight seniors. My young guys are good and athletic, but the lack of seniors is hurting us right now. We know Fenwick has a good senior class. They’re more mature than us.
“They’re very disciplined. They do things the right way. They’re physical. Their offensive and defensive line guys are very good. They get after it. That’s what concerns me a little bit. I’ve got a couple of guys who get after it, but not as many.”
There can be an upside to immaturity, Blaut points out — not short memory, but no memory.
“Fenwick has been really good the past couple of years,” he said. “We haven’t been able to match up evenly anywhere. We’re building, but they don’t remember the butt-whippings Fenwick put on us the past couple of years. We’re slowly building a good young core of kids who like to compete.”
Fenwick has won the last four games in the series by scores of 49-14 last season, 67-7 in 2015, 48-6 in 2014 and 23-13 in 2013.
Blaut also respects Fenwick’s rushing attack, led by 5-10, 175-pound sophomore Keegan Corbett, who ranks fourth in the GCLC -Ed with 877 yards.
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Fenwick has won three straight after a four-game losing streak and is ranked 10th in the Division IV, Region 16 Harbin computer ratings.
“I don’t think the playoffs are a possibility, but we have an opportunity to have a winning season,” Aregood said. “We lost a couple of games early on that we probably shouldn’t have, so it is what it is.”
Friday’s game
What: Roger Bacon (3-5, 1-4 GCLC Central) at Fenwick (4-4, 3-2 GCLC North), 7 p.m.
Where: Krusling Field, 4855 Ohio 122, Middletown
Last year: Fenwick won 49-14
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