MAC Football Game of the Week - Coldwater at Kenton

This week in Kenton will be the highly-anticipated showdown between a pair of state runner-ups from a season ago.  The Coldwater Cavaliers and Kenton Wildcats both advanced to the state championship games in Division V and IV respectively in 2011 and although they both fell in their final games, it takes away none of the hoopla for this season’s battle in a rivalry that has been outstanding for many years.  “Kenton is always an exciting game for us to start the season,” commented Cavalier head coach Chip Otten.  “It is a fun rivalry game, and the winner usually ends up getting a lot of points toward their playoff push.”
 
In order for the Cavaliers to log a victory over their rivals, Otten explains that they must give equal attention to their own running and passing game.  “With Kenton, they will be very physical defensively, so we need to create some balance between our run and pass,” he explained.  “We have had a tough time running against them in past years, so we need to continue to try to spread the wealth to our skill players.” 
 
On the defensive side of the ball, Otten feels his biggest concerns are within his teams’ control.  “We can’t give up the big play,” he emphasized.  “We have to make Kenton work the whole field and hopefully we can get a stop or two.  We need to establish a three or four-man rush – they have a different quarterback now and hopefully we can get to him and make him have to run.”
 
This week is the first step in what the Coldwater faithful are hoping is 15 weeks of football excitement.  With 23 seniors on the roster and experience piled up on both sides of the ball, there is no reason to believe the Cavs shouldn’t be favorites to advance to the Division V state finals for an unprecedented fourth year in a row, with what many hope ends with the school’s third state championship.  “We are optimistic this season,” Otten advised.  “We understand that we have to go out and prepare and play at a high level each week if we want to win the league title.  The question remains if we can stay focused and determined each week – last season we had a few lapses which ended up costing us a share of the league title and we can’t have that again this season and expect to win.”  

by Robb Hemmelgarn