Tonight at Glenbrook School the Apaches will go to war with the Raiders from Riverfield in a district clash that features two strong running teams.
Glenbrook brings a record of 4-4 into this week’s game, and a win would give them a winning record and thrust them into the district title discussion going into the last week of regular season play.
Pulling off the upset will require the Apaches’ best game of the season, but the Apaches have been known to pull off a thrilling home victory, or two.
“The kids are excited to play a big game at home for once,” head coach Chris Norton said. “It may have something to do with the competition being a little easier at home this season, but these guys definitely like playing in front of the home crowd. They’ve been great all year supporting these guys and we hope to send our 11 seniors out with a win on senior night.”
Norton said the team has looked sharp this week on the practice field and he feels good about the game plan the Apaches have in place.
“I thought we had a pretty good week of practice,” Norton said. “We got quite a bit done. This is a tough group to prepare for with some split-back veer stuff.”
The Apaches have been stout defensively for most of the season and they will need to play bigger than their size in order to contend with the largest offensive line Glenbrook has seen all year.
“They are very, very big up front,” Norton said. “They will easily be the biggest team we’ve seen and that’s saying something because ACCS and MRA had some big ones too. They have some athletic big guys too, they aren’t just big guys who lean on you. They get some drive off the ball, work hard and are well-coached.”
On offense Norton thinks the Apaches have a chance to score points against the stout Raider defense. They will need to be able to keep up should Riverfield have early offensive success.
“Defensively they are a little different,” Norton said. “We feel like they give up some things. They have a big team and they use a lot of kids in a two-platoon system so not many guys go both ways.”
The Apaches may not have any advantages on paper, but don’t sleep on this team tonight with 11 seniors hungry to end their home careers the right way.
“It’s going to be a battle,” Norton said. “We’re going to have to steal a possession or two and play our best but the crowd will be behind us and hopefully we get a big win for these seniors.”