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Saturday,
November 16, 2002
BHS out to overcome injuries,
Centennial
By Randy Kindred
Assistant sports editor
CHAMPAIGN -- Bloomington High School senior Eric Esch
considers it "a good opportunity" to play full-time on offense
and defense, saying, "I like to see both sides of the ball."
Esch should absolutely love today's Class 6A quarterfinal football
game against Champaign Centennial. He figures to be on the field
virtually non-stop for the injury-depleted Purple Raiders in a 1 p.m.
contest at Tommy Stewart Field.
Senior Chad Olson, a standout cornerback, receiver and return man,
broke a collarbone in last week's 21-0 victory over Springfield
Southeast. Speedy receiver Brandon Hughes missed most of that game after
aggravating a hamstring injury and is questionable for today.
So Esch, who normally plays full-time in the defensive secondary and
splits time on offense, will be a marathon man today.
"With Chad out, I'm going to be out there a lot," he said.
"It would only be a burden if I didn't like doing it, and I like it
a lot. I like the chance to make plays."
Top-seeded BHS, 11-0 and ranked No. 3 in the state, hopes to beat
ninth-ranked Centennial (9-2) for the second time in three weeks. The
Raiders downed the Chargers, 24-3, on Oct. 25 in the regular-season
finale at Fred Carlton Field.
Olson played in that game, helping hold Centennial quarterback Jason
Fisher to 5 of 22 passing for 79 yards. However, Fisher was without star
receiver Jacob Willis, who was nursing an ankle injury but is now back in
the lineup.
"I'm concerned about not having Olson out there because he's been
a three-year starter," BHS coach Rigo Schmelzer said. "He's a
kid we usually match up on a better receiver. It's going to be up to our
secondary kids to step up."
Among them will be senior Chad Hudson, who has shared time with senior
Michael Harrison at cornerback and also played in nickel coverage. Today,
both will start.
Harrison played a key role three weeks ago, intercepting two passes
and recovering a fumble.
Schmelzer said the Raiders will not do anything special against
Willis, who has 32 catches for 558 yards and four touchdowns.
"We're not going to worry about scheming for one kid when he's a
receiver," Schmelzer said. "I thought we had good pressure on
the quarterback when we faced them. We brought enough heat that he had to
throw the ball early. If that's the case, it doesn't matter who's out
there."
BHS won the previous meeting despite a 3-for-17 passing night for star
quarterback Andre Brown. Brown has thrown for 1,570 yards and 23
touchdowns, including two last week to senior receiver Rodney Hursey.
Centennial must try to slow down junior tailback James Wade, who had a
career-high 237 yards rushing and two touchdowns in the earlier win. Wade
has 1,584 yards and 15 TDs for the season.
"They're a physical defense and we're a physical offense,"
said BHS senior fullback Damon Mehlberg, who has 701 yards rushing and 13
scores. "They're going to come out fighting pretty hard. We just
have to come out and show them who's boss and play the hardest game we
can."
Centennial's ground game is led by senior Brandon Boswell, who ran for
114 yards and a touchdown in last week's 18-14 victory at Normal
Community.
"They're a big, physical team and they run the ball with
power," Schmelzer said. "They were able to get some good line
surges against us.
"Their defense flows to the ball well. They use an aggressive
style, daring you to throw, but with enough speed to cover receivers.
With our quicker kids out, that puts us more in jeopardy. We have to find
a way to stay even with them, if not jump on top again, and maybe force
them to do things they're not used to doing."
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