Blair Oaks vs. Warsaw 10-10-14
Hard to believe there's just two weeks left of the high school football "regular season".
Tonight is senior night at Wardsville and the Falcons will be honoring their 13 member class as well as the senior cheerleaders and band members before the game. It's always an emotional night and usually the senior shave apretty good night. If they do...it may be over early at the FAC.
The Warsaw Wildcats are 2 and 5...coming off a 24-8 loss to Southern Boone. They wildcats are coached by veteran Paul Thomas. He's had success at places such as Hannibal and Marshall in his nearly 30 years as a head coach. Last year, he took Marcelline to the Class 1 state championship game.
Coach Thomas' tenure got off on the wrong foot when dynamite dual threat quarterback Jeremy Eierman decided not to play football in this his senior season...concentrating on what many say could be a pro baseball career. That's the path his brother Johnny took. Johnny is back on college now...at the University of Missouri wherehe has cracked the depth chart at number 4 quarterback.
Anyways...Warsaw still has Bailey Jelineck...a 6-4 175 pound pogo stick who gave us fits last year. He has huge hands which he uses to reach over defensive backs and simply pluck the ball out of the air. A football looks like a lemon in Jelineck's hands. Throwing the ball to him is sophomore quarterback Will Bunch...but the throws have become less frequent. Last week...Bunch was 2 for 2 throwing...for eight yards with both passes going to Jelineck. Coach Thomas loves to run. they line up in a two tight end, split back veer formation and generally come straight at you. Last week, running back Andrew Steenburgen ran for 105 yards on 21 carries while Ryan todd had 15 carries for 88 yards.
I frankly look for Warsaw to throw the ball tonight...simply because they will have to. Coach Drehle and the staff know the veer attack well...it's what the Falcons run...so I look for Coach Thomas to go to the air a little more tonight. Look for Mikel Drehle and or Dominick Jamerson to go where ever Jelineck goes...even to the sidelines.
On offense...look for Caleb Bischoff and Dominick Jamerson to have big nights. The two seniors could be done early against a Warsaw defense that has been gashed frequently...most recently in a 61-0 loss to Hallsville two weeks ago. In short...Warsaw could be pesky...coach Thomas is definitly the man for the job...it's just that the job isn't going to get done in one year.