Unaka looks to find footing against cross-county foe Cloudland
Published 12:01 am Friday, October 4, 2019
- File Photo/Larry N. Souders Unaka’s Logan Benway (1) avoids three Happy Valley defenders. The Rangers have another tough battle on hand tonight when they play host to the Cloudland Highlanders.
BY AUSTIN ALEXANDERS
STAR CORRESPONDENT
This past Friday night was a tough one for the Unaka Rangers. Happy Valley made the trip to Stoney Creek and showed no mercy in a lightning-delayed affair.
The game featured several huge plays for the Warriors, but Unaka never seemed to find their way. This week against Cloudland, Unaka will look to make the right adjustments.
A few different things went wrong on Friday for the Rangers including the caliber of team that showed up. Head coach O’Brien Bennett shared how he thought Friday could’ve gone differently.
“First problem Friday night was we ran into a big, fast, talented, well-coached football team,” Bennett commented. “We made some mental mistakes on our defensive assignments that allowed them to get into space and use their speed to make big plays.”
Allowing those big plays was something the Rangers were trying to avoid.
“That was our big focus for the week defensively- keep their speed inside and in front and make them drive rather than give up explosive plays. We didn’t do that,” Bennett added on how the game plan didn’t go as he would’ve liked it.
The offense wasn’t out of the woods either as the Rangers struggled to do much of anything as they were shutout.
But, they do have some of the best performing players in the region statistically. The Rangers now have to hone in on that success.
“Up until this last week, we have been able to move the ball pretty well on everyone we have played. We were averaging 29.2 points and 350+ yards of offense per game,” Bennett said about his offense.
The big problem for Unaka is the turnover differential as the Rangers currently stand at minus 7 on the season.
This does mean they can correct their mistakes as Bennett continued, “If we can correct that ratio, we should be able to turn some of our success into wins on the scoreboard.”
With Friday night’s game against Cloudland, it is clear that the top priority is going to be protecting the ball for the Rangers. Coach Bennett is also aware that the numbers fib a little bit when it comes to the Highlanders.
“Cloudland is a much better football team than their record indicates. They have played some very stiff competition,” Bennett said confirming that the opposition cannot be taken lightly this week.
Unaka knows they’re going to have match the robust style of Cloudland this Friday.
“We can’t afford to help them out any by turning the ball over. Their line is as good as any we have played. We need to step up to that challenge and match their physicality,” Bennett said pertaining to just how physical the Highlanders are.
Unaka is aware that Cloudland offers some sets and packages that they haven’t seen this year and they know they’ve got to be prepared for that.
For yet another week, there will be a lot of emphasis on not letting the opposition bust those game-changing chunk plays.
Bennett finished, “If we protect the ball, play with discipline and match their physicality, we could find ourselves in a very competitive ball game.”
Friday night’s game kicks off at 7:30 pm with the Highlanders making the trip to Stoney Creek. It should be a doozy.
