Today’s game
Who: Middletown Middies (3-0) at Oak Hills Highlanders (2-1)
When: 7:30 p.m.
Where: Betz Memorial Stadium, 3200 Ebenezer Road, Cincinnati
Last meeting: Middletown 40, Oak Hills 0 in 2009
By Rick Cassano
Staff Writer
MIDDLETOWN — The matchup is familiar. Speed vs. size.
Middletown High School’s football team clearly has the speed. Oak Hills clearly has the size. Which attribute will reign supreme tonight when the Greater Miami Conference campaign begins on the Highlanders’ turf?
“You hope speed, but you get tired,” Middies coach Troy Everhart said. “It’s an attrition. You get leaned on in Week 1, you get leaned on in Week 2, you get leaned on in Week 3. Pretty soon that adds up.”
These are two of the GMC’s best running squads. Middletown (3-0) ranks first with 328.3 yards per game. Oak Hills (2-1) is third with a 264.7 average.
The Highlanders have a big offensive line keyed by University of Michigan recruit Caleb Stacey, a 6-foot-4, 300-pound senior left tackle. Sophomore Demarco Ruffin has rushed for 437 yards on 52 carries in Oak Hills’ shotgun offense.
“Every week our challenge is to win the game physically,” Highlanders coach Kurry Commins said. “Our bread and butter is in the trenches. We’ve been very good so far.”
Can Middletown, allowing 22 points and 258 yards per contest, shut down Oak Hills’ ground game? Everhart said his defense has continued to improve, and he believes the Middies’ rough schedule is the reason why.
“If we’d have played cupcakes early, I don’t think we’d beat Winton Woods,” Everhart said. “Our defense needed those games to improve.”
He pointed to the up-the-middle trio of nose guard Zach Davis, linebacker Dylan Rowe and free safety Zach Edwards as Middletown’s defensive backbone.
The Highlanders use a 50 defense, led by senior middle linebacker Brandon Kamp. They have wins over Loveland (32-13) and Harrison (21-17), and a loss to La Salle (42-21).
“We are usually a defensive-minded team,” Commins said. “I think we are skilled on defense, but not as much as in the past. I think our best defense will be keeping the ball out of Middletown’s offensive hands. If we can’t be successful on first and second down and put ourselves in manageable third-down situations, that’s going to hurt us severely.”
Everhart said he’s not worried about his team looking ahead to next week’s Thursday night showdown against Colerain at Barnitz Stadium.
“I believe you are the fortune-teller of your own destiny,” Everhart said. “When you focus on things, that’s what usually happens. We’re focused on beating the Highlanders.”