Friday’s game
What: Fairmont (0-1) at Hamilton (1-0), 7 p.m.
Where: Virgil Schwarm Stadium, 1165 Eaton Ave., Hamilton
Last meeting: First game in series
Hamilton High School’s football team is eager to create more positive vibes on its home field.
Big Blue opened the season with a two-day, 17-14 road victory over Milford last weekend and will host Fairmont on Friday at Virgil Schwarm Stadium.
“Couldn’t be more excited to be home … been on a bus long enough already after Week 1,” HHS coach Chad Murphy said. “We talk a lot about having pride in this place and what we do around here. I think our crowd’s going to be electric. I think the Dawg Pound will be exactly what they are week in and week out.”
Hamilton outgained Milford 368-211 in yardage, yet needed a 22-yard field goal by Trace Sword with five seconds remaining to pull out the win.
There were multiple offensive standouts, including quarterback Eric Jackson (15 of 29, 210 yards, TD; 17 carries, 69 yards, TD), wide receiver Vince Sanford (11 catches, 182 yards, TD) and running back Maleek Jarrett (10 carries, 74 yards).
“Statistically speaking, it was a pretty good performance,” said Murphy, noting that his junior varsity and freshmen also defeated Milford. “I thought we controlled the line of scrimmage. But I feel like we made the game a lot closer than it should’ve been. We probably left 14 to 21 points on the field.
“But I’m really proud of the way our kids responded and handled adversity.”
Big Blue are trying to go 2-0 for the first time since 2008. That year, they opened with wins over Springfield (30-6) and Taft (16-0).
HHS has turned its focus to Fairmont, a 27-8 loser to Alter last weekend. The Firebirds led 8-0 before the Knights took control of the game.
Dave Miller is Fairmont’s new head coach. He was the head man at Covington the last nine years.
The Firebirds are looking to take a step forward as a program. Since making the Division I playoffs in 2008, Fairmont is 20-51.
“I think it’s just the mind-set of the kids,” Miller said of his biggest challenge. “I think they expect bad things to happen, and when things go wrong, they don’t really respond to that in a great way. But we’re getting better at it.
“They’re definitely willing to be coached. The effort has certainly been there. Mental toughness and just learning how to win, those are things that don’t come naturally. It’s a learning process, and we’re in the middle of that process right now.”
The Firebirds use a 4-2-5 defense and like to keep the ball on the ground with their midline triple-option offense. They ran the ball 54 times (losing three fumbles) and threw eight passes against Alter.
Junior halfback Jake Perkins (5-6, 150) and senior fullback Dylan Krieger (5-9, 185) are the primary runners.
“Our offensive line has pretty good size, but it’s more of a scheme thing why we run that,” Miller said. “I don’t know if we’re necessarily a pound team. We try to get mismatches at the point of attack.
“Hamilton’s athletic as all get out. We really have to try to keep their offense off the field because those guys can hurt you. The game plan is we’ve got to take care of the football.”
About the Author