Published: September 04, 2008 10:00 am      

Red Devils, Foxes to tangle in BDC

By PAUL T. WILCOXEN

paul.wilcoxen@register-news.com

SESSER — After coming off week one losses, Sesser-Valier/Waltonville/Woodlawn and Hamilton County will each look to bounce back in a critical Week 2 Black Diamond Conference clash Friday night at Sesser.

Sesser has already dropped its first BDC game after a 42-0 loss at Carterville. This will be Hamilton County’s first conference game of the season after going out of conference to travel to Carlyle.

“We’ve got to put it behind us and move on,” said Sesser coach John Shadowens after his team’s loss at Carterville. “We told the kids we’d show the film Monday morning and we did. We criticized and tried to help and show what they did wrong and then told them we’re going to put it away and not talk about it again and that’s what we did.”

The Foxes are coming off a disappointing five-turnover night at Carlyle and a 19-14 loss.

“We played better as the game went along,” said Hamilton County coach Jeff Rush. “Too many turnovers was our biggest problem. Overall the effort was really good. I thought we hit real well. We were physical, which is what I like to see. Overall, not too bad.”

Last year, Sesser held off a rally by the Foxes to prevail 13-12.

“They’re a lot better than people thought they’d be,” said Shadowens. “They went to Carlyle against a tough, physical football team from the Cahokia (conference) and played them toe-to-toe for four quarters.”

Shadowens says he was impressed with Adam Irvin, who quarterbacks the Foxes, as well as fullback Brandon Biggerstaff.

“They’ve got a good sophomore quarterback that can flat put the ball on the money,” said Shadowens. “He was really impressive on film. They’ve got the bigger fullback that everyone knows about. Those two weapons alone are a good combination.

“When you’ve got a big bruising fullback inside and a quarterback that can throw the deep ball and those intermediate routes accurately, their offense is a great concern of ours.”

Rush was also complimentary of the quarterback play from Sesser, as well as the team’s backfield.

The Red Devils will look to counter with quarterback Kendall Gibson, as well as fullback Tyler Rock and running back Brock Wheatley.

“They’re a good team,” Rush noted. “They’ve got a big front line. They’ve got two good running backs and an experienced quarterback. It’s going to be a difficult game for us with what we have right now. We’re a very young team and we’re still gaining experience.”

Shadowens was less than impressed with several aspects of his team’s play, but gives full credit to a talented Carterville team for his team’s struggles.

Simply put, Shadowens believes execution will be the key for a win Friday and throughout the season.

“We’ve got the athletes,” said Shadowens. “The talent is in place, in my opinion, I just can’t put my finger on it exactly (and) if I could I’d fix it tomorrow.

“I think it boils down to execution. We’ll find our chemistry and we’ll stride together when we start executing better and day-by-day it’s getting better.”

Kickoff at Carroll Kelly Field is set for 7 p.m.