Maroons making trip to Covington Catholic

Saturday, November 01, 2008

For the first time in school history, the Madisonville-North Hopkins football team will take its game to the most northern stretches of Kentucky at 1 p.m. today when the Maroons visit Covington Catholic.

Not since 1970 have the Maroons even played a northern Kentucky team, when Madisonville played Ft. Thomas Highlands at Mt. Sterling in the Recreation Bowl.

Coach Will Weaver said he’s excited about the opportunity to take on the powerful Colonels team.

“It feels good to basically expose ourselves to the rest of the state and show them what Madisonville-North is like,” Weaver said.

After being shut out at Daviess County last week, Weaver and the Maroons hope to cure the team’s road woes.

“During our off-week, I think we found ourselves offensively, and even though we didn’t do great against Daviess County, we executed our game plan and just shot ourselves in the foot with turnovers,” Weaver said. “I think we know what we want to do now, and we’ve just got to get better at it.”

A bounce back this week will not be easy against Covington Catholic.

Despite the Colonels’ .500 record, the squad has played an exceptional schedule full of teams that will make runs in the playoffs in both Kentucky and Ohio.

From Ohio, Covington Catholic opened the season with a loss to Youngstown’s Cardinal Mooney (8-2) and weeks later lost at Cincinnati Elder (9-1), which ranks 19th in the country according to USA Today’s latest Super 25 poll.

Other losses for the Colonels include Highlands (7-1) and 1-A powerhouse Beechwood (9-0), but Covington Catholic did give Newport Central Catholic (7-1) its only loss of the season in week two.

One stat jumps out when looking at what the opposition has accomplished against the Colonels: running the ball.

“They’ve played some of the best competition, not only in Ohio, but Kentucky also, so anybody would be vulnerable against the run against the type of competition they’ve played,” Weaver said.

Through six games, Covington Catholic has surrendered in excess of 1,800 yards rushing.

Tight end Joe Kington said to enjoy the same level of success, North will have to secure its blocks and described his role in the rushing game.

“When I come off the line of scrimmage, I come off like I’m running a route,” he said. “(The defender) gets in his drop and backs up, so I have the advantage. He’s back pedaling and I’m going forward, so I’m going to win.”

On the edge, the receivers will also be working to ensure the ground attack’s forward movement.

Wideout L.J. Gregory said his body placement is key when blocking near the sidelines.

“I’m just trying to get my hips turned and make sure the running back gets a good read,” Gregory said. “We practice stop-blocking, cut-off blocking. That’s all we do all practice is block. We try to make the running backs look good.”

As far as the passing game, Kington said the Colonels’ linebacking corps will play close to the line and bring a lot of stunts, which will affect quarterback Matt Levin’s options.

“Our shorter routes aren’t going to really be there because of the way they bring their linebackers in, so coach threw a whole bunch of deep routes in like deep balls and corners,” Kington said.

Gregory added North can expect a lot of cover-three defense and some single-man coverage, but will not see many new schemes from Covington Catholic.

“We’re basically going to stick to the same stuff we’ve been doing. We’re going to make the defense adjust to what we’re doing, rather than we adjust to what the defense is doing and we’re just going to try and go out there and do every thing we can.”

Defensively, the Maroons will focus on running back Will Deters, who scored 11 touchdowns in the Colonels’ first six contests.

“He’s tough,” Weaver said. “We’re going to have to tackle well because not only does he have some speed, but he also he’s a powerful back.”

While the offense has had some trying games this season, Weaver said he’s not worried about the other side of the ball.

“Our bread and butter this year, I feel, is really our defense and if we execute the way we’re supposed to I think that we match-up just fine against them,” he said.

Weaver also said Cov. Cath’s quarterbacks are pocket-passers, which will take pressure off the defense.

“Most of their passes are short-type passes, screens, out-routes, slants, so they’re not really a team that’s going to try and throw it down field a whole lot, but they’re going to try and hit you underneath,” he said.

Although North has already secured its spot in the playoffs, Gregory said Saturday’s game is no time to relax.

“We approach it just like a playoff game,” he said. “Every game is a big game for us. We’re trying to win as many as possible. We’re just going to polish up and keep things moving forward.”