GLOUSTER — Phil Faires freely admits he’s just happy his Tomcats are still playing.icanpickem wrote: ↑Thu Nov 09, 2017 10:48 pm Can someone post the contents of the game preview article from Athens paper.
Now it’s time to get greedy.
Trimble (9-2) will play in week 12 for a sixth consecutive season on Friday night. The Tomcats, the region’s No. 5 seed, will face No. 1 seed Danville (10-1) in a Division VII, Region 27 regional semifinal at White Field in Newark beginning at 7:30 p.m.
The Tomcats, who had more serious injuries than seniors during the first six weeks of the season, have grown up right before Faires’ eyes in 2017. Playing more sophomores than he has in a generation, Trimble is nonetheless right where it usually is this time of year.
“It’s been a lot of fun this year,” said Faires, who has amassed a career 13-11 record in the OHSAA Playoffs with Trimble. “If you’d told me we’d be in this spot at the beginning of the year, I would’ve been tickled.
“It’s not just with a young team, but getting through the injuries we’ve had. It’s not just winning a playoff game, but playing in a close game on the road,” he continued. “Now we get to try to do it again.”
But the challenge, as is often the case this time of year, will be the toughest of year for Trimble. The opponent, Danville, has even more postseason tradition, a more seasoned roster and from day 1 was considered a serious threat to win the region.
The Blue Devils also avoided the upset in the first week of the playoffs. Seeds 2, 3 and 4 all lost on their home fields last week in the region, but top-seeded Danville pounded Bishop Rosecrans 35-14.
Faires knows exactly what his team is facing. He’s familiar with Danville head coach Ed Honabager, and both are old hands in navigating the challenges in leading their respective programs.
It helps that Danville, like the Tomcats, are postseason regulars. The Blue Devils are in the postseason for an 18th season overall, with a combined record of 21-17. Danville has been in the playoffs in each of the last seven years, and won the region in 2015.
“They got a good program. I know the coach pretty well. See each other at clinics and stuff,” Faires said. “It’s nice getting to play someone like that. He’s got a lot of respect for our program, and we got a lot for his.”
The teams have met in the playoffs once before. Danville won, 41-16, in a 2001 matchup at White Field. The Blue Devils will be favored to win the rematch as well.
Danville finished the regular season ranked No. 3 in the final AP state poll and boasted eight First Team All-District players, including the Defensive Player of the Year in senior defensive lineman Marshall Still (73 tackles, 9 sacks).
Danville’s defense allowed just 10.9 points a game during the season and only two opponents managed more than 14 points. The Blue Devils faced three playoff teams in the regular season — Sciotoville East (9-2), Highland (8-3) and Northmor (8-3) — and beat two of them. Danville’s only loss was a week 4 shutout (26-0) against Highland.
The defense is good, but it’s the Danville offense that gets the headlines. The Blue Devils run a spread, and run it as well as any small-school program in state. With quick screens, five-wide formations, and an athletic, experienced quarterback, Danville is averaging 34.0 points per game. The Devils have been held under 30 just three times all season, and only once have they scored less than 21 points.
Trimble played a wing-T offense last week and took away Lucas’ biggest strength. Can the Tomcats switch gears and do the same thing again?
“This isn’t just a team that spreads it out. This is a team that runs the spread well,” Faires said. “We got Lucas, a team that averaged like 300 yards a game on the ground, and held them to under 100.
“But now we have a whole different animal.”
The triggerman for Danville is senior quarterback Skyler Durbin. The 6-foot-4 signal caller has completed 64 percent of his throws on the season for 2,675 yards with 24 touchdowns, and a meager three interceptions.
“It’s a completely different team this week,” said Trimble junior Max Hooper. “It’s basically an opposite team this week.”
Durbin is a capable runner, but has a wide assortment of weapons. Junior flanker Corbin Hazen has 62 catches for 885 yards and seven scores, but senior wide receiver Tyler Mickley (58-627, 7 TDs) and senior tight end Brice Berger (42-803, 10 TDs) have been just as productive. Junior Chris Greenawalt is a fine two-way player, but fills in as the power back. He’s rushed for 487 yards and scored 86 points on the year.
Trimble gave up 180 passing yards to run-heavy Lucas last week. The Tomcats know they’ll have to be better versus the pass in week 12.
“They’re probably looking at us and thinking they can pass all over us,” Hooper said. “We’re working on our DBs and linebackers, getting into our zones and guarding the guys we’re supposed to be guarding.”
Trimble’s offensive strength has been the wishbone set, and it’s ability to adapt. Hooper, sophomore running back Conner Wright and sophomore quarterback Cameron Kittle have combined for more than 2,000 rushing yards this season.
But it was Kittle’s timely passing, and key catches from Hooper and Bryce Richards (18-310, 4 TDs) that led to a quick TD drive before the half at Lucas that turned the tide.
The Tomcats don’t envision winning this game 6-0. They will need points.
“We need to score every time we touch the ball,” Trimble senior two-way tackle Colton Wright said. “If we can get a couple of turnovers, and get plenty of scores, we can win. I think we can run on them.”
The Tomcats weren’t supposed to get into the playoffs, but they did. They weren’t supposed to win last week, but they did. Being an underdog again is no big deal for Faires or his team.
“We’ll be as well prepared as we can be. This kid (Durbin) is pretty good,” Faires said. “It depends on if we can put some pressure on him.
“But we’ve earned the right to be here. We just need to earn the right to keep playing.”
Email at jarkley@athensmessenger.com; follow on Twitter @JasonAmessenger
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