Hornets look to battle back against Red Rovers
For the first time this 2012 season, the Emmaus football team will be playing after a defeat. The Hornets will look to bounce back against Easton this Friday night after a 44-12 loss at Freedom last Friday.
"Our players have to put it behind them and move forward," said head coach Joe Bottiglieri. "That's the only thing we can do. At practice we've focused on ourselves, our technique and getting our assignments down. We talked about how we're going to attack Easton's defense and defend them. Our focus has to switch right away. We don't have time to worry about what happened last Friday. It's the start of a new week."
Bottiglieri is happy to see the Freedom game behind them. Four turnovers highlighted the loss, compared with zero in the three games before that.
"The first three games we were plus six in the turnover margin," said Bottiglieri. "Then last week we lost four and we didn't get any, so that's not good. So if you're minus four in turnovers you're not going to win that game. We're working hard to get back on track with that."
The Red Rovers beat Central Catholic last weekend 35-10, and they did so without six suspended players due to team violations. Coach Bottiglieri and his staff were informed that the six will be back for their showdown in Easton.
Emmaus will be keyed in on running backs Shane Simpson and Austin Brown, who seem to be the focal point to the Red Rover attack. Simpson tallied three touchdowns (two rushing and one receiving) against the Vikings.
"Those two running backs are probably the best tandem in the league," said Bottiglieri. "We certainly have to focus on them. The other thing that concerns us is their quarterback is playing well for a first-year starter. Either [Brad] Wilkins or [Joey] Ford, we're not sure who is going to start. Ford was 8-for-8 against Central with a couple touchdown passes. So their quarterbacks are coming along which makes them super dangerous especially going along with their running backs."
The Red Rovers also bring a stingy defense to the table. Emmaus has a plethora of solid running backs that can eat up yards. Bottiglieri feels his Green Hornet offense will need to keep them guessing.
"We're going to have to catch them off guard," Bottiglieri said. "We're going to have to mix up our runs and our passes to the point where we're keeping them off guard and give ourselves a chance to move the football."
The task in front of them is a tough one, going into hostile territory against a hot team, but if Emmaus (3-1, 2-1) wants to contend for an LVC title, a win against Easton (4-0, 3-0) would be a huge step towards that goal.