WEIRTON — For a young team, how it deals with a tough loss could be a huge deciding factor in how the rest of the season goes.
Madonna’s first-year coach John McCune hopes his young Blue Dons can learn and grow from Saturday night’s first loss of the season at Catholic Central.
They need to do so quickly because they will once again face a tough test Friday night when Class A opponent Cameron, also a 4-1 team, comes to Weirton at Jimmy Carey Stadium. there will be.
“The process was on a Sunday, so we wanted to get that out of our heads and get back to work.” McCune said. “There wasn’t much to say other than we lost all over the field. I don’t think this score is indicative of the strength of our soccer team, so we hope to have a good week and get back to performing.” . That’s our mentality this week to show we still have a good football team here at Madonna.”
The Dons’ 48-0 loss to the Crusaders was one of those nights where nothing just went right, and McCune credited much of that to Central’s big, strong defense.
Cameron is also a big challenge, but it’s a different challenge than the Crusaders.
“It doesn’t get any easier for us. We’ve talked before about how the schedule will actually increase.” McCune said. “They’re a very good offensive football team and their only loss was against a very good football team in Edison and their only win was against a very good team. We knew they were going to be a challenge. ”
“They’re running away. (Klipsan) Wallace is a big, strong, physical back that’s been around for a while. We’ve got to keep an eye on him, and they can spread you out, and they We have a quarterback (Kason Angell) with a very strong arm who can push the ball down the field. We have to play solid defense.
“Their size is comparable to us. Central was a big, strong team, so our team is excited to play a team our size.”
It’s a big game for both teams in the Class A rankings despite the Dragons falling to 4-1 while the Madonnas fall to seventh place and will look to stay in the top eight to stay in position to host a playoff game. . are in 15th place in the standings, just one place behind them in the playoffs.
“They must be coming to Jimmy Carey Stadium to beat us and get bonus points because we’re ahead of them in the standings.” McCune said. “We’re hoping for the best performance from Prime Minister Cameron on Friday night. There’s no doubt about it, it’s an important game in the rankings.”
After dropping the season opener to Edison, 5-1, Cameron won four straight. They defeated The Hundred, St. Mary’s, Magnolia and Tyler Consolidated in consecutive weeks.
Coach Brown knows Madonna will pose a unique challenge for his team with a wealth of weapons and freshman QB Maddox Bowen looking to bounce back.
“They shot themselves in the foot a few times (against Catholic Central), but I’ll tell you, they have some good players.” Mr. Brown said. “They have a great pass and run combination, they have big, strong kids at linebacker and running back (Wesley Morrish), and the quarterback may not be as big, but he’s tough. .
“They are a tough opponent and their record shows that. They have players who can score quickly and they can play defensively as well. Every aspect of the game will be important.
“We have to know who their great players are. We don’t want to kick the ball to their fast players or anything like that. We have to be smart about how we play. We have to be prepared for all kinds of trick plays and things they might throw at us.
“A big play or a surprise score might lead to a point, and in a game like this, one point might decide the outcome.”
The Dragons are averaging over 200 yards per game on the ground, but Madonna was throwing for over 200 yards per game before the Crudderers held him to less than 100 yards of offense.
The key matchup is set for Friday night with opening kick at 7 p.m.
“We’ve played against each other in every sport over the years.” Mr. Brown said. “We have kind of a rivalry, we have a lot of respect for each other and we play hard for each other. It’s not a game you take lightly.”
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