Coal City ready for Richmond-Burton
By T.G. SMITH
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tsmith@morrisdailyherald.com
For the seniors on both the Coal City and Richmond-Burton football teams, the memories are short. Memories of playoff football in Class 4A and a 31-0 win by the Coalers over the Rockets in 2007.
"They handled us pretty good," R-B coach Pat Elder said. "They played great defense, they totally shut the door on our offense and they moved the ball."
One thing about the Rockets under Elder is that you know what you can expect from his squads.
"R-B is a pretty good team. We're going to have to get after it. I know they beat Peotone," Coal City senior running back Bobby Kroeger said. "We know they like to run the ball and that they are a Wing-T team. We played them a couple of years ago and we know they like to run."
When the Rockets are on Offense
"They are a Wing-T team and they are real solid," Coal City coach Lenny Onsen said. "They have a lot of good athletes coming back from the team that made it to the semifinals last year."
"We're probably pretty similar to teams like Sandwich, Plano, Wilmington and Reed-Custer from your area," Elder said. "We're a Wing-T team and we like to run the football."
So far this season, the Rockets have averaged running the ball 37 times a game. As a team, they have an 8.25 yards-per-carry average.
"We're going to have to play good defense, take care of the ball and get enough time of possession to keep their offense off the field," Onsen said. "For us it's going to be about assignment football. The guys are going to have to know who has the fullback, who has the running back and who has the wing back on every play. And who has who depends on how they line up."
A cursory glance at the statistics shows balance from the Elder offense. Justin Russell has 12 touchdowns, Kenneth Riordan 11 scores and Chad Okane has visited the end zone 10 times.
"They run the Wing-T. I know we had some success against them in the past, but we know that they are going to be real good," Coal City senior lineman Christian Smith said. "But if we play our game, we should be fine."
Riordan has the most yardage with 925 in 108 carries while Okane has 861 yards in 78 attempts. Russell comes in at 707 yards in 81 carries.
"We always feel that our best defense is our offense," Elder said. "The key for us is to be able to move the ball."
Quarterback Adam Pittser has completed 23-of-53 passes for 598 yards this year. He has rushed for a pair of TD but more impressively he has thrown for 10 scores and been intercepted just twice.
Tight End Kyle Wismer has 13 catches for 260 yards and 4 TD and Okane has 6 catches for 240 yards and 4 TD to lead the team.
"We saw both Wismer and Riordan in 2007," Onsen said. "They are real tough."
When the Coalers are on Offense
When Coal City is on offense, it has shown the flexibility to pass when given the chances and to run the ball efficiently at the same time. Asked which he would prefer to showcase — either the run or the pass, Coalers' quarterback Colt Smith said he will wait to see what is there.
"It depends on what the defense gives," he said.
What the defense will look like is probably a 50 front with multiple looks depending on the situation.
"We're going to do what we do and 50 is our bread and butter," Elder said.
"But their defense will switch looks," Onsen said. "Everyone seems to run the 3-5-3 right now, which is really a 5-3 or even a 5-2 like Morris does, but against our throwing attack, I think we'll see multiple defenses."
So far, the Coalers have showed good balance on offense. The locals have amassed 292 first downs and are averaging 29 points per game. Through the air, Smith has completed 81-of-124 passes attempted for 1,088 yards and 12 TD. Receivers Mitch Hibler and Nick Green have 4 and 3 touchdowns, respectively.
"Smith is an impressive athlete. He does a nice job of running their system and you can tell he handles the team well," Elder said. "I'm not sure we can take everything away from them but getting the right people in the right positions is important."
On the ground, Bobby Kroeger has 1,043 yards in 172 attempts and 17 touchdowns and, as a team, the Coalers have rushed 301 times for 1,691 yards and 23 scores.
"They are an explosive offense," Elder said. "Whether it's Kroeger breaking off a big run or Smith completing a long pass, we're going to have to be ready."
"We have played pretty well this year but there's always room for improvement," Kroeger said modestly.
Home field advantage — R-B
"It's always nice to be at home. Obviously, Coal City has a good following and that is a tough place to play down there," Elder said. "I can tell you that we're glad to be playing at home."
Kickoff is slated for 2 p.m. at R-B.
"Any time you have to travel two hours to play, you hope that the team will come off the bus ready to play," Onsen said. "I think this team has enough experience and knows what it takes to prepare for a big game. They've been through it and I don't see it being a problem at all."
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