After last year’s 27-26 to their archrival Jay Bulldogs, one might think revenge would be on the minds of the Grove Ridgerunners when the two teams meet for the 75th time at Jay B. Earp Stadium in Jay Friday night.
Not so, says Grove head coach Dennis Millican. "I think each year, each group, is different. Seniors move on after they graduate. Each team has its own identity. I’m not too much on using yesteryear for motivation for today. The past is the past.”
The veteran head coach, now in his ninth year at Grove and his 35th season overall, also doesn’t think the rivalry between the two towns will mean much after a few plays.
“After the ball is snapped and you go through two or three plays the emotions subside. Everybody will be ready for it. The rivalry goes back many years and there’s a lot brought to the game and emotion is part of it. But I think our guys will stay even-keeled and focused on the task at hand. After a couple of plays it’s back to blocking and tackling and doing your assignment.”
The two squads have traded wins over the past four seasons with the road teams winning the last two.
The Ridgerunners are coming off a game against Miami in which they scored six offensive touchdowns and gained 479 yards of total offense, 223 of that coming on the ground. It’s the kind of balanced attack Millican and his staff are looking for.
“That’s the balance we’d like to have. It seemed like we threw the ball a lot, but we only threw it 20 times. We were opportunistic throwing the ball.”
Senior quarterback Jake Spychalski completed 14 of those 20 attempts, averaging over 18 yards per completion, including four for over 20 yards. Six different players caught at least one pass while the Ridgerunners’ 43 rushing attempts were spread among six different players as well.
“In a game like that, you have to look at the conditions,” Millican said. “It’s still hot, summertime conditions. We did what we had to do in spreading the ball around and getting it in different spots. There are times when you know some guys are better with the ball. Certain guys have certain plays and as the season progresses you establish tendencies. I think our variety puts our opponents in a bind.”
The Grove defense, save for two long pass plays, also played well in the win over the Wardogs, holding Miami to 69 yards rushing and 10 first downs for the game. They’ll be going up against a Jay offense that struggled to score points in their season-opening loss to Vinita. The Bulldogs were able to move the ball against the Hornets, but could only come away with one touchdown in a 13-7 defeat.
“They’ll spread it out and make you go cover them on the flanks,” Millican said. “They’ll try to thin you out a little bit, but they’ll also line up in a power formation and run right at you.”
The Bulldogs and Ridgerunners will kick off at 7:30 Friday night in Jay.
