Week 1 was a bit of a breeze for our two teams that will take feature status this Friday. But expect a much closer game for both.
Last season, these two teams were arguably the most successful overall squads in the area, dominating their conferences and both legit state contenders. A hyped matchup for the third straight season, Eastside at Adams Central is the Outside the Huddle Game of the Week.
WHAT IS ON THE LINE
A Week 2 non-conference game? This is the epitome of a game for pride.
But don’t underestimate that pride. This game is traditionally a war (more on that below) but to get a dub against a very good foe early in the season is a good momentum booster. Eastside is a good, disciplined team; Adams Central is a good, disciplined team. Who wouldn’t want to take out a squad that does things so well and plays so hard?
To us, this is a fun game, right? Yeah, conference or title implications are great, but two of the best area teams, both smaller schools, just going to war. Sure, we’d love to fill out this category of a game preview with more meat, but we don’t have to when it comes to these two.
Eastside at Adams Central, if you’ve been paying attention the last couple of years, sells itself.
THE HISTORY
The teams have played eight times in history, all coming in the last eight years. The teams have split the matchups with each winning four.
In that stretch, Adams Central has won back-to-back twice in 2015-16 and 2018-19. But Eastside has won the last two meetings to even the series up.
The Flying Jets haven’t been bad at all in recent years. In 2020, Eastside beat Adams Central on a rainy night in Monroe. At a time when Adams Central was excelling at getting the ball in space to speedy Nick Neuenschwander, rain mattered. It was also an interesting game to take in during the Covid era where the stands were practically empty, with only parents of senior players for the Flying Jets allowed in the stands. That meant a lot of what coaches were saying was audible in the stadium, especially from Eastside’s Todd Mason, who is always perched atop the press box. Eastside turned the ball over three times in the first quarter, but after the Flying Jets took a 14-7 lead, the Blazers took control in the trenches on the muddy night to win.
Last year, it was a 21-19 Eastside win in Butler in arguably the best regular-season game of the 2021 season. Dane Sebert‘s big stop on a two point conversion in the closing minutes proved to be the pivotal play.
As much as these rosters have changed since last year’s game, two of the more impactful players will be back for the 2022 meeting. Eastside’s Dax Holman ran for 198 yards in last year’s matchup, while Adams Central quarterback Ryan Black was big through the air again. While AC isn’t a throw-first team, as seen by its zero passing yards in Week 1 of 2022, Black has seemed to air it out quite a bit against Eastside the last two seasons.
The big trick now is that most of the key players from the last two seasons are gone. But based on Week 1, it has not changed much about the game play of either team.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
DANE SEBERT, EASTSIDE
Sebert’s Week 1 stat line doesn’t put him in line here, but what he did last year in the trenches against AC and his expectations for this season do. Then again, he didn’t have to do much last week in the win against Woodlan. A team like Adams Central will be better equipped to throw a lot of different things at Sebert to make sure he isn’t effective. The question is, how will he be able to negate what is thrown at him? Sebert could be a big-time momentum shifter in this one..
JACK HAMILTON, ADAMS CENTRAL
If last week is any kind of measuring stick, then Hamilton is a defensive player to watch for the rest of the year for Adams Central. He led the team with six tackles in a blowout win against Garrett and picked off a pass. Lopsided game stats are sometimes hard to pick apart, but it creates intrigue around Hamilton. Will he step up as big when the opponent is tougher? Eyes on Hamilton this week.
KEYS TO THE GAME
EASTSIDE: KEEP TESTING MUNSEY
“Breakout” Briar Munsey had himself a week against Woodlan. He won the OTH Fan Vote for Player of the Night, won at least one other online fan vote and led the Blazers in tackles, interceptions and rushing yards in Week 1. All of that means he is near or at the top of Adams Central’s scouting report now, but that doesn’t mean go away from him. Was Munsey a one-hit wonder or can he be something special? We all want to know, so feed the kid the ball and let’s see what Munsey can do for an encore.
ADAMS CENTRAL: WIN ON THE GROUND
In recent history (see above), it has been Eastside that has been able to control the game at the line of scrimmage, be it in a messy or clean affair. That is not something that traditionally happens to Adams Central. The Flying Jets are known for their ground attack, but it hasn’t been able to dominate the game the last few years against Eastside.
AC doesn’t need to only run the ball to win the game, but it has to be able to move the ball effectively on the ground. That means the front lines have to be on point too. The battles in the trenches has been interesting between these two teams and Adams Central’s best path to victory is winning it after running for 294 yards last week.
EASTSIDE: THE FIRST HIT IS THE BEST
By controlling the game up front against AC the past two years, the Blazers have proven what works when it comes to besting the Flying Jets. Since AC Jets did run for close to 300 yards last week, Eastside has to be stout again.
That said, the Blazers held Woodlan under 100 yards rushing. Gage Spalding and Dax Holman each had two tackles for loss while Kolt Gerke had 1.5. Tackles for loss has to be a major point of emphasis for Eastside to make sure that first contact on Adams Central runners stymies those plethora of ball carriers in Monroe.
ADAMS CENTRAL: STAY DIVERSE
Yeah, we know we said they have to win on the ground, but that doesn’t mean AC will limit itself to running the ball. Ryan Black has been successful against the Blazers at times in the last two seasons when he gets speedy receivers burning Blazer defensive backs. So can those receiving options do it again? Eastside knows Black can throw, despite his 0-for-2 mark from last week, so finding new ways to beat the Blazers defensive backfield is important for the Flying Jets.
BLITZ’S PICK
Check back for Blitz’s picks to find out!
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