“There’s a lot of football to be played still, and we are anxious to see where all of this is going to take us.”
Eaton (9-0, 6-0 SWBL Southwestern) had to replace 2,000-yard rusher Dalton Caudill, five-tool quarterback Austin Fudge and University of Cincinnati offensive line recruit Clint Shepherd off a playoff team that was good enough to finish 8-3.
They have made winning look effortless this season.
“We’ve had some success this year because of our defense,” Neanen said. “It all starts with our defense, and they have been playing very, very well — in particular our defensive line.
“They’ve done a nice job getting us good field position, limiting the other team’s possessions, and so on.”
Starting defensive linemen Cody Schaefer, Ben Duffy, Deon Smith and AJ Jackson are seniors, and Neanen cites their leadership.
Opportunistic linebackers Joseph Hightower and Kyle Yoder consistently take advantage of the strong play up front by making the plays that are funneled to them. Entering week nine, Yoder is averaging 10.8 tackles per game.
“Our defensive backs have been playing well as a group, too,” stressed Neanen. “And that is a direct result of our ability to apply pressure on the quarterback.”
That works both ways for the Eagles. They also are good enough to be able to play man-to-man coverage, allowing Eaton to zone blitz whenever it feels like it.
For Eaton, every piece reinforces another. The Eagles, who are averaging about 175 yards passing and 190 yards rushing per game, display admirable balance on offense. They are led by junior multi-sport star Cole French at quarterback.
French — who replaced three-year starter Fudge — is thriving in his first year as a starter.
“Cole is a great basketball player,” Neanen said. “He’s been starting for us since his freshman year in basketball, and he had played in some very big games. That helped a lot when he stepped in (as the quarterback) this year.
“He plays with a little bit of poise, and he is very calm in the pocket and in the huddle. He never gets too excited and that kind of carries over to the rest of the team. Cole’s a pretty valuable guy for us.”
Junior running back Nathan Clark is averaging 130 yards per game on the ground.
“(Clark) has 1,000 yards on the year, now,” Neanen said. “He’s a different runner than Dalton Caudill was last year. He’s more of a straight-ahead runner, although he does have some power.
“He’s not a big guy, but he runs behind his pads very well and he does a nice job of seeing his holes.”
Will he be able to get 10 years of eligibility like Caudill seemed to have? “We certainly hope so,” the veteran head coach said with a laugh.
His Eagles are averaging 35.4 points per game heading into their regular-season finale at Preble Shawnee.
“We are a spread team (on offense),” the coach said. “We’d like to be able to take what you are giving us. Sometimes because of that, we wind up with more rushing attempts than passing attempts, but it is our intention to be balanced.”
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