The North Callaway Thunderbirds will need their running game to resurface.
Limited to a season-low 39 yards rushing in last week's 48-24 quarterfinal victory over Montgomery County, No. 2 seed North Callaway will try to get going on the ground again Friday night when the Thunderbirds (6-4) host No. 3 Palmyra (6-4) in the Class 2, District 6 semifinals. Kickoff is at 7.
In the other District 6 semifinal matchup, top-seeded Bowling Green (8-2) hosts No. 5 Van-Far (5-5).
With No. 7 seed Montgomery County concentrating most of its defensive efforts on suppressing North Callaway's run game, the Thunderbirds answered by badgering the Wildcats through the air. Senior quarterback Cole Branson passed for 329 yards and five touchdowns, delivering them to four different receivers.
North Callaway head coach Kevin O'Neal explained that the Thunderbirds had drawn up blocking diagrams in anticipation of Montgomery County's even-man defensive front, but then were surprised when the Wildcats came out in an odd-man alignment.
"Them changing that, and putting linebackers in different spots, our blocking schemes weren't the best for what we were seeing," O'Neal said Tuesday afternoon, "along with them putting more (players) in the box than what we could block."
Two weeks ago, the Thunderbirds broke out for 405 yards on the ground in a 40-30 triumph over Van-Far in their regular-season finale in Kingdom City. North Callaway is averaging 187.3 yards rushing this season.
Branson leads the Thunderbirds with 899 yards rushing (6.8 average) and 12 touchdowns. Sophomore running back J.T. Higgins is next with 602 yards (5.2 average) and three scores.
According to the Quincy (Illinois) Herald-Whig, Palmyra held No. 6 seed Clark County to just 17 yards on the ground in the Panthers' 41-0 quarterfinal romp at home last week.
"They're very aggressive up front on the defensive line," O'Neal said. "They have several guys that they rotate in on the D-line that really have a great motor and get after it. With their linebacking corps, they've kind of moved some guys around a little bit throughout the year, but those guys do a good job of assignment football.
"They're very well-coached, you can tell that by watching them. ... Then their secondary, they have some speed to run down plays."
O'Neal believes North Callaway's offensive line will have to assert itself tonight if the Thunderbirds hope to re-establish their running game, especially in the early going.
"With the aggression of (Palmyra's) defensive line, we have to be able to make sure that we're getting off the ball up front," O'Neal said. "We'll do some trap blocks, but we just need to be able to work one-on-one with their defensive line and move them in the other direction - and not let them get upfield.
"... It's going to be a big week for our offensive linemen. We're going to work them hard this week and they're going to dictate how the game goes offensively."
While North Callaway works to get its running attack back in motion, the Thunderbirds' defense will be seeking to stall Palmyra's efforts on the ground. The Panthers gained 342 yards last week, with senior Mason Franklin leading the way with 114 yards and a pair of touchdowns on just eight carries.
Junior Travis Harvey also rushed for 96 yards.
"Their offense is based off the jet sweep," O'Neal said. "They have slot receivers that have a lot of speed ... and then their quarterback is a good ball carrier, also. Those three are the main guys that you've got to stop.
"They'll trap everywhere on the defensive line; they're pulling guards all the time and trapping in all kinds of different places."
O'Neal explained that the key to countering trap blocks is "working flat" down the line of scrimmage.
"The reason you trap is because a defensive line is very aggressive and they get upfield," O'Neal said. "... We want to make sure we're getting to our contact point on the offensive linemen, and then reading the play from there."
North Callaway's defensive unit surrendered 299 yards rushing last week against Montgomery County. In a 27-6 victory at Tipton - which features the jet sweep - on Aug. 29, the Thunderbirds held the Cardinals to 106 yards on the ground.
"I thought our defense did a decent job with the jet sweep (against Tipton), just kind of getting used to it as went throughout the game," O'Neal said. "Then we made a couple of different adjustments at halftime and played well in the second half, and shut them down.
"... Palmyra's got better skill-position guys than what Tipton had. Tipton had one or two guys, but Palmyra's got several who have a lot of speed - and that's probably our main concern."