Fruitland ready for some home cooking
Emmett rolls into town off 18-14 win over Weiser
By WIL ANDERSON
Argus Observer
Thursday, September 4, 2008 11:59 AM PDT
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| Fruitland’s Robert Esparza (front) creates a hole for Kody Olinger in this Argus Observer file photo. The Grizzlies host Emmett Friday. |
Fruitland — In only their second game of the season, both the Emmett Huskies and the Fruitland Grizzlies are right where they want to be — undefeated.
Friday night, one of the teams will walk away from the football field in Fruitland with one loss.
Last week, Fruitland traveled to La Grande and cruised to a 39-7 win, while Emmett used a big second quarter for an 18-14 win over Weiser at home.
Fruitland coach Bruce Schlaich knows Emmett has a lot of talent on both sides of the ball, and he also knows Emmett is capable of scoring quickly.
“They hurt Weiser a couple of times on a couple of big plays,” Schlaich said. “I think we are going to have to play some great defense and work the ball down the field. I don’t think we can give up the big play and be successful. It is advantageous for us to make them work the ball down the field.”
For the Grizzlies to pull off the victory Friday night, Schlaich mentioned his team needs to basically clean up a few small things and also take care of special teams, which led to multiple missed extra point attempts last week.
Even with the poor execution, the Grizzlies pulled most of their starters after the first half, to keep them rested early in the season.
Offensively, the Grizzlies will need to stay patient, as the Huskies like to move a lot of players around.
“They are going to guess right some times, and when they guess wrong, hopefully we can make them pay,” Schlaich said.
Defensively, Schlaich said the Grizzlies will need to stay in position and not cheat, as the Huskies like to mix up the run and the pass.
“We can’t let them get consistent running the ball,” Schlaich said.
Regardless of what the Grizzlies need to do to pull off the win, one thing is for sure — they are glad to be at home.
“We are excited to be at home,” Schlaich said. “We will be on the road a lot this year.”
DS wrote on Sep 17, 2008 10:48 AM: