Middies' home opener could be dominated by defense

Middletown and its opponent, Troy, both pitched shutouts in Week 1

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By Skip Weaver, Staff Writer 1:13 PM Thursday, September 2, 2010

MIDDLETOWN — Even though the Middletown High School football team put up 34 points in its season-opening shutout of Simon Kenton last Saturday, its home opener might be more about defense.

The Middies (1-0) will host Troy of the Greater Western Ohio Conference North Division tonight, Sept. 3 at Barnitz Stadium. The Trojans (1-0) pitched a shutout of their own last week in beating Chaminade Julienne 23-0.

Troy limited CJ to just 4 yards rushing and 119 total offensive yards.

“They are very sound and physical up front,” Middletown coach Jason Krause said of Troy. “They are good tacklers, but I thought our offensive line played very well last week against a formidable opponent whose front six are as good as any they’ll face this year.

“Any time we can rush for more than 200 yards and have more than 300 yards of total offense, you feel good about your production,” he added.

The Middie defense was just as impressive against the Pioneers, allowing just 17 yards rushing and 102 yards of total offense.

They also snared two interceptions — one each by Cody Quinn and Austin Downing — and recovered a pair of fumbles.

“They are a big-play defense,” said Troy’s 27-year veteran coach Steve Nolan. “We have to avoid getting ourselves into any bad situations.

“We can’t make any mistakes against them,” he continued. “We didn’t in our first game and we have to do that again to keep ourselves in the game.”

Nolan said the defense was the more experienced of his two units, but added that Middletown’s speed is better than last week’s opponent.

“I’m real impressed with their speed on both sides of the ball,” Nolan said. “We’ll have to keep our shoulders squared to the line and play sound football.”

Krause is equally impressed with the Trojans’ offense.

“They have a couple of skill guys that have the potential to go the distance every time they touch the ball,” Krause said. “Down to down, they can go from the Wing-T to a spread and that makes it difficult to prepare for them.

“The key is going to be lining up right,” he continued. “One guy out of place can cost is big.”

Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2852 or sweaver@coxohio.com.

Friday’s game

Who: Troy Trojans (1-0) vs. Middletown Middies (1-0)

When: 7:30 p.m.

Where: Barnitz Stadium

Series: Tied 1-1

Radio: WPFB-AM (910)

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