Twitter Updates

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Week 2 Preview - Triway Titans vs Orrville Red Riders

Who: Orrville Red Riders (1-0) vs. Triway Titans (1-0)
Where: Red Rider Stadium, Orrville
When: Friday Sept. 3th, 7pm

Radio: This is the WQKT 104.5 'Game of the Week.'  Game will also be streamed online at wqkt.com
All Time Series: Orrville leads 31-6 (Series detail here)

Last Meeting: 2009 (Triway won 28-14)
Last Week: Orrville beat Northwest 24-22, Triway beat West Holmes 48-6

Coach Records: Doug Davault is 33-14 and in his 5th season as head coach of Orrville. Tony Lee is 9-3 in his 2nd season as Triway head coach.

Overview
It's the 38th meeting between the two schools and I guess I'll keep mentioning this until I no longer can.....Triway has NEVER beaten Orrville at Red Rider Stadium. Actually, they have. Read the sad details here.

I'm sure that's a point that Triway fans can't stand heearing about, and one that puts a little extra bounce in the step of an Orrville fan.

With that being said, this may be Triway's best chance ever.  The "Air Titan" offense has a chance to not only break the streak of 18 straight losses at Orrville, but to also take a big step towards being a serious contender in Division 4, Region 14.

Not the Same Triway
Let's be honest...the early days of the series were just not competitive...and to this day, 9 out of 10 years Orrville is probably the favorite to win this game.  But just maybe, this is that once a decade Triway team that just has the lineup to beat Orrvlle.

Recent games have been competitive and close...and this year should be no different.  Triway should have won in 2008, and they did win in 2009.  So not a lot to cheer about for the Riders in the past few years.

What it Means 
Simply put, this is Triway's biggest rival and quite possibly their biggest game of the year.  We love being a thorn in Wooster's side and Triway loves being a thorn in our side...and lately they've been more than a thorn...more like a huge gaping wound.

I think it means a lot to Orrville, but not as much as it does to Triway.

Media Darlings
Triway is in uncharted waters this year in terms of hype and attention.  They're currently ranked 6th in the most recent JJHuddle Division 4 Power Poll, and if that's not enough, the Cleveland Plain Dealer picked them to advance all the way to the state title game in their football preview issue. 

I don't think the most ardent of Titan fan would let those accolades get in the way of reality, but they're certainly not going to sneak up on anyone this year.

I would say that after their Week 1 performance against West Holmes, that they're in the dicussion as one of the better teams in the area.  If they come into Orrville and beat the Riders convincingly, they'll have lived up to the hype in my opinion.

Air Titan 
What can't be disputed is the high octane offense that the Titans will bring to town, led by senior QB Derek Carmichael.  He crossed the 3,000 career passing yard mark last week against West Holmes and now has 36 passing TD's to his name.

He'll look to spread the ball around to a group of talented receivers including all-everything Sawyer Polen, Kyle Kearney and Marcus Bertsch.

One thing the Titan offense isn't is one-dimensional.  Carmichael and fellow senior Brent Carr accounted for nearly 150 rushing yards in Week 1.

Orrville's defense will have to be strong in every phase of their game.

Rider QB
One glaring issue last week was the Riders play at QB.  It just never had a flow.  Neither senior Travis Infield or sophomore Kyle Lichti took control of the game, and this is one area of the game that simply has to improve and I'm sure plenty of time has been spent this week doing just that.

Most Rider fans knew that whoever the QB is may have tough times early on....but hopefully improvement is easy to see in week 2.

It will, again, put pressure on the Riders running game.  Between Tre Simpson and Mason Monheim, they maybe had 100 rushing yards last week.  That simply wont be enough this week, especially if the passing game isn't clicking again.

Region 14
This is not only a backyard rival, it's also a game pitting two playoff qualifiers from a year ago against each other.  Who knows, if both teams have successful seasons, we may see Triway/Orrville part 2 in week 11, 12 or 13....with much more on the line.

Prediction
Calpreps.com says 31-26 Orrville.  I think that's about where the game ends up at least in terms of total points scored.  I think the first team to 30 wins the game.  A high scoring game favors Triway....but it's all going to be about how successful Triway's passing game is.  Orrville has talented defenders, but making play on the ball and pressuring Carmichael will be key.  Very similar to last week....but Triway will have a running element that Northwest didn't.

For Orrville, they simply need to show improvement, and that will go a long way toward winning the game.  The talent is there, but that talent will need to show up each and every week for this team to be successful.

Triway is the sexy pick, so I'm saying they get the nod in the Daily Record picks...and that's fine.  We were picked to lose to Northwest and that worked out ok.

Both teams want this one bad.  It will be fun to watch it unfold.

2 comments:

Andrew said...

I think that's a very good and impartial rundown. I think you're giving us a little too much credit, though. BUT like you said, if we win, then maybe we ARE worth the hype. Who knows!? Haha. I think that Calpreps score is close to what it will end up being. Earlier this week I predicted 30-something to 20-something. I'm going with my Titans, but both teams can play at this pace and at that score. Good luck!

Red Rider Sports Blog (Tim Snyder) said...

In terms of pace...an up and down game clearly favors the Titans. Don't think we had 1 play go over 20 yds last week, other than Turner's return.
If we get up early and can afford to play aggressively on defense, might be interesting.
But if we're playing on our heels, it wont be fun.
Creating turnovers will be big for both.