Summer

The Purple Raiders had a very productive summer.  Even though temperatures in the weight room hovered around 95 degrees for most of the summer, attendance at workouts still averaged nearly 35 lifters a day.  The summer strength test added two lifters to the 750 Club, and SIX to the 1000 Club.  This gives the 2005 Raiders a total of 31 lifters in the clubs and a team record 10 in the 1000 Club.  That makes the 2005 team the strongest to take the field since the clubs were started in 1997.

2005 Season

For the third consecutive year, the Purple Raiders begin a new season after an appearance in the 6A championship game.  For the third consecutive year, most feel graduation losses were too severe for the Raiders to make another run at the championship.  Gone are 2004 leading rusher Adrian Arrington, leading tackler Shane Schubbe, punter Mike Neumann, five starting offensive linemen (Tim McAvoy, Bryce Henneberg, Mikey Kelch, Greg Higby and Eric Miller), and a defensive front of Derrell Nicholas, Matt Logsdon, Jeremy Early and Jared Woodrey.  Graduation losses always hurt, but they are the nature of high school football.  The Raiders have been 6A semifinalist once and runner-up three times over the last four seasons.  One great class cannot account for all that success.  The key has been each team feeding off the success and experience of the last.  The 2005 Raiders will be no difference.  Since they entered Bloomington High School in 2002, the senior class has experienced nothing but conference championships and state title games, a couple have already started two of those championship games.  They understand what it takes to play at that level.  Some believe that success can lead to complacency, but they need to remember that the Raiders have yet to win a championship.  The 2005 Purple Raiders would love to be the first.

The headliner (Arrington) may be gone, but the Raiders return a good number of experienced skill players on the offensive side of the ball.  The backfield includes the second, third and fourth leading rushers from a season ago in David Simmons (786 yards, 4 TDs), Brent Holtz (614 yards 9TDs) and Chris Jameson (583 yards 6 TDs).  With Holtz doing double duty, Stephen Esch will also see time at quarterback.  Then add to that mix Valshun Powe who returns to the Raiders for the first time since 2003.  Tight end Ryan Kernes started the final 11 games of the 2004 season finishing with 129 yards on 7 receptions.  The Raiders utilize a rotation system at the wideout positions and return Mitch Jordan (4 receptions 51 yards) and Dustin Kelly (7 receptions for 93 yards) who saw considerable playing time last season.  Two juniors Josh Mitchell and David Cook also return after seeing some playing time last season as sophomores.  It is on the offensive line where the Raiders will be most affected by graduation losses.  All five starters from last season are gone, leaving the Raiders very young and inexperiencd.  Looking to fill the void are seniors Tyler Cain and Tom Neibur at guards and Doug West at tackle, juniors Steve Perkins and Brad Lanham at tackle, Eric Floyd at guard and Andy Malinowski at center.  Sophomores Marcus Carter and Deonte Person may also work into the mix at tackle.

Defensively, the Raiders will be led by a very experienced secondary.  Kelly and Holtz return as starters at corner and safety for the third season.  They finished 4th and 9th in tackles last season.  Senior Justin Hale will start at strong safety after seeing considerable playing time as the nickel back last season.  The other corner position will be filled by Mitchell.  At linebacker, the Raiders are short on experience but must faster than a year ago.  Starters will be Powe and Jameson, with Cain and Matt Musick backing them up.  As on the offensive line, the defensive front has some inexperienced players with some big shoes to fill.  End positions will be filled by Ryan Kernes and Jacob Welker, with Esch and Justin Zoeller backing them up.  There are several players in the mix at defensive tackle.  They include Floyd, Rich Kwitkowski, Perkins, Lanham, Fian Turner, Frank Ford, Ricky Robinson, West, and Drew Henson.  It should be very obvious at this point that the Raiders have several players that will do double duty (both offense and defense), making the play of the reserves extremely important.  To put it another way, the Raiders don't have the luxury of a 1st team/2nd team structure.  In many positions its more like 1A and 1B players.

On special teams, the Raiders should improve some on what was a solid area last season.  Chris Jameson returns to his kickoff duties.  Ryan Kernes returns to long snap, and leading kick returner, David Simmons is also back.  The most difficult person to replace will be two year punter Mike Nuemann.  Josh Mitchell, Brent Holtz and Jameson are being considered for that spot.  Punt return duties will be handled by Dustin Kelly and Mitchell.  An addition that could greatly benefit the Raiders is Eren Eti.  Eren is a soccer player who will double as a place kicker for the footballl team.  He will handle fieldgoals, PATs and the occasional kickoff.

Game #1 Danville

It is very tough to analyze something, if you don't know much about it.  The unknown element is something the Raiders will have to get used to in 2005 as three conference opponents enter the season with new head coaches.  After an 0-9 campaign a year ago, Danville is one of those teams.  But unlike most struggling programs, they were able to land a coach with plenty of experience, hall of fame credentials, and deep rooted personal desire to return Danville to the glory days of old.  After coaching stints at Kankakee, ISU and 18 seasons at Waubonsie Valley High School, BJ Luke returns home, with well over 100 victories  to his credit, to coach his alma mater, the Danville Vikings.  In his 18 seasons at Waubonsie he led them to the playoffs nine times, highlighted by a quarterfinal appearance in 1994, and a semifinal appearance in 1992.  Home town pride and proven success make him the perfect coach to turn around a program that has only won four games in the past four seasons.

On offense, Danville has traditionally been a power football team.  With powerful running backs and a BIG offensive line, they pound the ball down your throat, then pull a couple linemen and race you to the corner.  About the time you stack up to stop that, they run playaction and hit a receiver streaking across the middle.  Over the past two seasons however, under former coach Mark Dodd, they transitioned to a no-back, five wideout passing team, albeit with limited success.  Coach Luke also seems to favor the run, but over the last two seasons, with current University of Illinois quarterback Paul Blalock behind center, he too evolved into a spread passing set.  Blalock finished his senior season with 2000+ yards and over 20 touchdown passes.  He also added over 500 yards rushing.  What does all this add up to in terms of an offense for Danville this season?  Who knows?  All run, all pass, or a combination of both?  The one thing we do know for certain is that Danville returns several skill athletes and a group of LARGE lineman that lost to the Raiders 29-6 in last season's opener.  The game was never really close in terms of score, but there were several instances where the Viking quarterback scrambled from the pocket and ran around or through the Raiders pass rush.  There were several other short passes that turned into gains of 20+ yards because of the Vikings ability to lose tacklers in the open field.  And when it comes to size, Danville seems to have monopolized the market.  They boast of six players weighing 280 pounds or more.  One tips the scales at 399 pounds.  In certain positions, they will double the size of the Raider player they are lining up against. 

Defensively, we have seen it all out the Vikings over the past three seasons.  Two seasons ago, in the opener,  we expected them to line up in a 4-4, but faced a 5-2 instead.  Last year, they started in the 5-2, but shifted to an even front.  We could see and are preparing for everything from a 5-2 to 4-4 to 4-3.  Again, however, there are some tendencies that probably won't change.  Regardless of the alignment, they will use the big linemen to plug up the middle and force running backs to the outside where they have the speed to corner you.  They will man up their secondary freeing the linebackers up to blitz and put additional pressure on the backfield, and the defensive ends will be relentless in their rush to the quarterback, and punish them for running the option.  The defense will force the issue hoping to force the offense into making mistakes.

Game #2 Normal Community

If you read, and believed, the Pantagraph's season preview of Normal Community, you would swear the Ironmen were experiencing a youth movement and going through a rebuilding process.  They point out their inexperience in several areas and identify a good number of sophomores who are being considered for starting positions on both sides of the ball.  Well, lets not shed a tear for the Ironmen.  Those "concerns" are somewhat misleading.  Two of the sophomores, Joey Anderson and Austin Davis either started or played in several varsity games in last season's 6-4 campaign.  And though they may be inexperienced in some areas, in others, they return more experience than any team in the conference.  Shannon Cobb and Darren Dierkes are three years starters, and both earned all-conference honors at their defensive positions last fall.  Oh, and let's not forget, they did defeat Urbana 41-6 Friday night, a team that had beaten them last season.  One major reason this will not be a rebuilding season for the Ironmen is the EXPERIENCE of their coaching staff.  Classifying them as experienced is really an injustice.  The IHSA should have a rule that would only allow a staff with this much experience to coach in all-star games.  Head coach Hud Venerable, defensive coordinator Terry McCombs and offensive line coach John McIntyre have a combined total of 100 years experience coaching high school football in the state of Illinois.  That predates the forward pass.  They have combined for 426 victories, two state titles (McIntyre at Central Catholic in '82 and '87) and an additional state championship appearance (McCombs at Bloomington in '91.  One or the other has been a head coach in the intercity contest since the Carter administration, long before there even was an intercity doubleheader.  Don't believe for a second that this Normal Community team is "inexperienced."

After attacking the Raiders with a spread, multiple receiver, single back offensive set last season, the Ironmen seem to have return to their roots, power football with a little misdirection and playaction thrown in.  They line up in pro, twins and twins split sets with an I backfield.  Favorite plays include dive, trap, iso, zone, speed option, counter and pitch.  The backfield has size with the 200 pound Cobb at fullback, and speed with Davis at tailback.  For a second week, the Raiders will find themselves undersized up front with the Ironmen offensive line averaging around 230 pounds.  The line gets a very good surge, moves well, gets to the second level and has demonstrated the ability to block in the secondary.  The passing game consists of a three step read series, five step crossing routes and playaction off of their most effective run plays.  The offensive this season is significantly different in design than that of a year ago, but the quarterback appears to be quick on his feet and with a good arm.  Leading one to believe that the game plan may include a little of everything, keeping the Raiders on their toes.

As with the past two seasons, when the Raider take the field offensively, it will be like looking in a mirror, if you can get past all the orange and black.  Under the direction of Coach McCombs, the Ironmen run a base 5-2 defense that is just like that of the Raiders.  There are subtle technique differences, but basic alignments and assignments are the same.  Shannon Cobb has moved from his safety position to inside linebacker, and Darren Dierkes from contain tackle to noseguard, giving the Ironmen their best two defenders in the positions that can be the most disruptive for an offense.  There are several new faces from a year ago, but characteristically the Ironmen defense remains the same.  They are disciplined, read quickly, aggressively take on blocks and flow to the ball.  They dominated last weeks game against Urbana, blocking one punt for a touchdown (which led to two other punts with bad snaps) and intercepted a screen pass on the four yard line, setting up another touchdown. 

No matter what expectations are coming into this game, it is bound to be a nail biter with the kicking game, turnovers and penalties factoring in the outcome.  It is always this way.  All one needs to do is look back at the last four meetings between the two teams, all Raider victories, but with scores like 13-0, 24-20, 19-6, and last season's 6-0.  Throw all expectations and "expert" opinion out the window, this game is driven by emotion, and as a result, anything can happen.

Game #3 Urbana

Week three brings two teams together that are far from satisfied with their performances thus far this season.  The Urbana Tigers enter the game 0-2 with lopsided losses to Normal Community (41-6) and Champaign Central (40-18).  The Purple Raiders are now 1-1, losing the intercity match-up with the Ironmen for the first time since the Clinton administration.  Both teams will look to get on track Friday night, but only one will succeed. 

In two meetings between the teams last season (regular season and first round of the playoffs), the Purple won by a combined score of 84-0.  Couple that with the Tigers' lopsided loss to Community, and many would make the Raiders a considerable favorite this Friday.  A closer look at the week one loss, however, proves that theory false.  The Tigers gave up 41 points to the Ironmen that night.  One touchdown was the result of blocked punt, another came after an interception thrown by the Tigers at their own four yard line.  Two others were set up when the Tigers snapped the ball over the punter's head.  Take away those mistakes and the score could have been more like 14-6.  Putting the Tigers squarely in the same neighborhood with the Raiders.

In their first possession against the Ironmen, the Tigers drove within fieldgoal territory, and had several other plays of 10+ yards during the game.  (The fieldgoal was a 42 yarder that sailed wide, but had plenty of distance.)  The Tigers line up in three main sets, pro, twins and double twins.  Threats include a very quick tailback, speedy quarterback and sure handed receiver.  Main plays include counter, iso, dive, pitch, trap and several different option attacks.  The tailback may be the fastest the Raiders have faced yet this season, and is very elusive out of the counter play.  The quarterback is the main threat out the option.  At 5'8" he is difficult to find coming off the corner, and of course has the "option" of pitching to the tailback running full speed to the outside.  The main pass play is a playaction bootleg off the counter.  In two games they have run the play nearly twenty times, hitting the fullback in the flat, tight end on the drag, and split end running a vertical on the backside.  They have four to five different combination of routes, can run the play out of pro and twins formations, and if they can establish the counter as a run play it will be a very dangerous weapon.  In addition, the passing includes a three step read route that generally goes to #9 lining up at split end.  Throw in a couple of screens and a reverse, and the Tigers have plenty to keep a defense busy.

Defensively, the Tigers will line up in a 4-3 cover 2/3 alignment.  It will be the first time the Raiders have faced a true 4-3 this season.  To add pressure they will walk up the strong side (SAM) linebacker to the tight end side and shift the middle (MIKE) and weakside (WILL) linebackers over to present more of a 5-2 look.  They can also walk up both SAM and WILL and bring the strong safety in for an eight man front.  They are athletic at the linebacker and secondary positions, and have proven they can handle speed.  They held Austin Davis to 95 yards in week one.  They Raiders surrendered 204 to him last week.  The Ironmen's longest play against the Tigers was a 45 yard run off a trap by Shannon Cobb.  Davis had runs of 75 and 80 yards last week.  The Tigers are not a team to overlook.

Game #4 Champaign Central

What first comes to mind when you think of Champaign Central football?  For you long time fans of the Big 12 Conference, probably a Wing T offense with a punishing tailback, physical linemen, and just enough speed and playaction passing to be you deep.  Well the scary thing about the 2005 version of the Maroons is that they can still do all of that, but from a totally different look.  Head coach Dave Jacobs is in his first year with the Maroons after nine seasons at Corn Belt Conference member Rochester.  While at Rochester, Coach Jacobs compiled a 48-43 record and led the Rockets to five consecutive playoffs appearances over the past five seasons, highlighted by a 2002 squad that qualified for the 4A quarterfinals.  What Coach Jacobs brought with him is a wide open, four receiver, dink and dunk, quarterback scrambling, speed out of the backfield, and a little misdirection extravaganza, and the Maroon players seem to love it.  After a season opening 30-17 loss to Normal West (which the Maroons led 17-7 at half), Central has defeated Urbana 40-18 and Eisenhower by an eye-popping 62-39.  The Maroons are the highest scoring team in the conference through the first three games.  This is a Central team looking for respect, and confident that they will get it by knocking off the traditional heavyweights in the Big 12 Conference.

So what does this high octane offense look like, well I guess that depends on Coach Jacobs mood.  Against Normal West, they opened in a four receiver, trips, shotgun set and ran the ball as much as they passed it.  They then went with an unbalanced set and tried get to the corner with the quick pitch.  They also showed a balanced four receiver set with a tight end and flanker to one side and twins to the other.  And for good measure they mixed in a few plays out of the more traditional twins and pro sets.  The result was 211 yards of offense with an almost perfect balance between run and pass.  Over the past two weeks, the Tigers have returned to basics and run more out of pro and twins sets, slipping trips and unbalanced sets in for a change of pace.  The result, tailback Corban Lehman has run for over 200 yards in each game.  So what will it be this Friday night?  Who knows, but they force you to prepare for all of it.  Out of the trips set, they will throw to a variety of route combinations with quarterback Michael Martinie sprinting to the corner most of the time.  The run game out of trips consists of a pitch to the trips, quarterback sweep either way, draw and a quarterback/tailback option play between the tackles.  They will also throw a screen in either direction to the wideouts.  The odd thing is, when you chart out the plays they have run out of trips, you will find an almost perfect balance between run and pass, and strong to weak side.  The same is true when they line up in a pro set, with the addtion of a midline option with both backs in the backfield.   Martinie is big threat to get to the corner on any play, the confusion of the midline make him even more dangerous.  The only set that is typically pass is the balanced four receiver formation, but the main pass play is a playaction out of option play with the tailback.  With linebackers biting up, they hit the tight end on a drag across the middle.  It is safe to say that the Maroons are still searching for what they do best.  Unfortunately, that makes predicting what they are going to throw at you impossible.

Defensively, Central  will line up in a 4-3 cover 2/3 alignment just like Urbana did last week.  Unlike Urbana, they will not give up the big play.  The line is anchored by a 330 pound sophomore, the linebackers by Lehman (whose brother J is the starting middle linebacker for the U of I), and the secondary fills very quickly against the run.  They will be far more disciplined than the Tigers.  They have given up a considerable number of points, but with the exception of the Normal West game, those points came late in the game, against reserves.  Besides, with the highest scoring offense in the conference, you don't have to shut the other team completely down.

Game #5 Mattoon

Things certainly have tightened up in the conference race.  With five games to play, Normal West and Centennial lead with undefeated 4-0 records.  Bloomington and Normal Community are in second at 3-1, with Cental and Mattoon on the outside looking in at 2-2.  West and Centennial still have to play each other, and Bloomington still has to play both.  Normal and West play this Friday night.  If the Purple Raiders can win out they will finish no worse than a tie for the conference lead.  If that happens and West defeats Normal this weekend, the Raiders would win the title outright. 

Before any of that can happen, the Raiders must face a hungry Mattoon team this weekend.  The Green Wave have games remaining against the Raiders, Centennial, Central, Eisenhower and West.  At 2-2, they must win at least three of those games to qualify for the playoffs.  They will be playing with a sense of urgency every week.  Add to that the fact that this team should have defeated Normal Community two weeks ago, and it is obvious that the Raiders should have their hands full Friday night.  In the game against Community two weeks ago, the Green Wave had six turnovers, yet still managed to come within seven points at 21-14.  They all but shut down the Ironmen running game, holding Austin Davis to less than 30 yards rushing, something the Raiders couldn't come close to doing.

Offensively, it is very simple.  Mattoon is going to line up and run the ball down your throat.  If they are successful, they will win, if not, they lose.  They will line up in pro and twins sets.  Plays consist of counter, lead, and the inside and stretch zone.  The linemen who range from 190 to 260 pounds will line up with six inch splits and more than not, come straight at you.  They have a Division I recruit in their tailback Moss, but he has been injured and has yet to play this season.  It doesn't matter, a sophomore tailback has filled in and rushed for nearly 120 yards against Community.  So if you stop the run you win?  Try stacking up and they will run playaction off any of the run plays, most of which involve four receivers.  The passing game also consists of a three step read route, and a variety of two receiver routes out of twins.  Offensively, the Green Wave are basic, but what they do, they do very well.  If the defense can't stop it, one play is all you need.

Defensively, Mattoon lines up in a 4-3 cover 2 base alignment.  More than not, they will walk up the outside linebacker to the tight end side and shift the defensive line to the weak side, giving the front a 5-2 look, yet 4-3 rules still apply.  The two strongest players in their program (based on stats from their website) line up at the defensive tackles, and the linebackers average about 190 pounds.  This make running the middle difficult as Community and Davis found out one week after rushing for 200 yards against the Raiders.  The secondary tackles well and, as a result, doesn't give up the big play.  The offense will have to earn its yards Friday night. 

One other thing that will factor into the outcome is that fact that this is a home game for Mattoon.  Aside from the two hour bus ride, the Raiders will have to deal with a community that is crazy about their football team.  Crazy enough to build a three story press box complete with skyboxes, and fill the bleachers up no matter what record the team brings into the game.

Game #6 (Homecoming) Centennial

Well things tightened up even more in the Big 12 Conference race last Friday night.  The Normal West loss to Community puts those two teams and the Purple Raiders in a tie for second place, with all three looking up at this week's opponent, the Chargers of Champaign Centennial.  The Chargers have already beaten Normal Community 23-0 back in week four, but they will have to run the table against intercity teams to win the conference outright.  The Raiders, on the other hand, hope to create a four-way tie for first place with a victory Friday night. 

The Chargers enter the game with an impressive 5-0 record and an even more impressive 165-36 advantage in scoring over their opponents.  20 of the 36 points they have given up were to one opponent alone, Danville in week three.  They have held two opponents to single digit scoring, and have shut out two others, including Normal Community.  Centennial is off to its best start since 2002 when they finished 9-3, losing to the Purple Raiders in the quarterfinals of the 6A playoffs.

It may play second fiddle to the defense, but the Charger offense poses a daunting challenge.  They will line up in as many as a dozen different formations over the course of a ballgame and can easily shift from one to the next prior to the snap of the ball.  Formations include pro, twins, twins split, double twins, double tight, trips/split, trips/tight, a one back set with twins to one side and tight end/flanker to the other, a no-back set, a trips set with tight end and twins to the same side, a stack twins, and unbalanced.  Add to that different backfield looks include I-backs, deuce backs, and an off-shifted fullback, and they give you as many as 36 different looks.  They will use a variety  flanker motions, a tight end shift and back field motion to change from one formation to the other, many times causing the defense to change its strength call.  After all that, they will generally end up getting the ball to the tailback, but they run several different plays, and have multiple blocking schemes for every one.  Base plays include iso, pitch, inside and outside zone, counter, lead, trap and belly.  They are led in rushing by a sophomore tailback who has over 700 yards in the first five games.  He rushed for 225 against Danville and 205 against Normal Community, prompting Ironmen head coach Hud Venerable to label him "the best back in the conference."  But the offense does not live by tailback alone.  They will throw a variety of three-step read and crossing routes out of their one back sets, and have a series of route combinations out of the trips sets.  They will also throw playaction off of the iso and counter plays, usually slipping the fullback into the weakside flat.  Then once the defense starts bailing out to cover receivers, the will toss a screen to the flanker or tailback, with a big athletic line out front to lead him downfield.

It is on defense, where the Chargers love to leave their mark.  Nine of the 23 points they scored against Community came from the defensive side with an interception for a touchdown and a safety.  They line up in a 5-2 front with both linebackers 3-4 yards from the line of scrimmage.  The secondary will almost always line up in a cover 2 shell, but may be in man more than not.  The front five range in size from 200-240, linebackers average around 205 and all the secondary is around 180.  They rarely blitz, but will use a variety of line stunts to cut through the offensive blocking scheme.  They keep it simple, but it is extremely effective.  They enter every game with the intent of beating the opposing offense into submission.   Having given up less than a touchdown a game so far, it appears to be working.

Game #7 Normal West

With three weeks to play in the regular season, there is a four-way tie atop the Big 12 conference, and Normal West has more control over the situation than any other team.  West, Community, Centennial and the Raiders all stand at 5-1 entering this week.  Community has played all three of the other teams and holds the head-to-head advantage over both West and the Raiders, but will need help from other teams to win the title outright.  Centennial holds the advantage over Community, but has yet to play West.  The Raiders hold the advantage over Centennial, but has yet to play West.  As a result, with games against the Raiders and Centennial remaining, it is the Wildcats that have the best hand yet to play.  One more loss, however, and they will be all but mathematically eliminated.  So, this weeks match-up with West is only the latest in string of big conference games that the Raiders have found themselves in over the past four weeks.  Added incentive comes in that it is the first meeting between the two teams since last season's 14-12 Wildcat upset that snapped the Raider's five year regular season and home field winning streak.

The Wildcats enter the game with victories over Central, MacArthur, Eisenhower, Danville and Urbana.  Their lone loss came at the hands of the Ironmen, 21-7 back in week five.  They have outscored their opponents 197-73 over the course of the season, eerily close to the Raiders 193-74 advantage.  So how do they do it?  Well, amazingly similar to last year with a power running game, just enough option to frustrate a defense, and playaction passing once teams to roll up to stop the run.  Simply put, it is a complete offense with two dominating players in tailback Josh Lacombe and tight end Coty White, both returning starters from last season.  Also returning are four starters on an offensive line that had their way with the Raiders last season.  They now average nearly 260 pounds, making them the biggest line the Raiders have faced since Danville week one.  One big difference is that this line knows what it is doing and can move.  One difference from last season is that the Wildcats utilize many more offensive formations this season.  In the last two weeks alone, they have run as many as a ten different sets, ranging from a power I backfield to a single back trips set, and at times switching back and forth between them on consecutive plays.  Other set include pro, twins, unbalanced twins, double wing, double wing with a tight end, twins split, and a single back, balance four receiver set.  Base plays include iso, trap, fullback dive, double dive, triple option, outside veer, speed option, zone, pitch and counter.  One dangerous component in any of those plays is the blocking of White, the 6'6" 250 tight end.  He will down block on the veer, and triple option virtually eliminating the inside linebacker, he will base block an end on the zone and pitch, guaranteeing that Lacombe will get to the corner, and will also arc release on the speed option to clear a path for the quarterback to pitch to Lacombe.  Pick your poison.  The playaction game also tends to focus on White with either a seam, drag or flat route after dive, zone or counter action out of the backfield.  The quarterback summed it up last week after a victory over Urbana, "6'6" is big target."  The passing game also includes the three step read route, many times with White lining up at the split end in a twins split formation, and a variety of route combinations out of twins and trips formations.  Last season the option combined with playaction passing provided just enough big plays to give the Wildcats a 14-0 lead after three and half quarters, and essentially keep the ball away from the Raider offense all night.  Getting the defense off the field will be a major key in this season's game.

Defensively, the Wildcats line up in a 4-3 cover 2 base alignment, but it is far more active than any 4-3 the Raiders have seen thus far this season.  The linebackers are constantly changing alignment and blitzing.  The Sam and Will backers rarely align over the tackles, as is traditional in most 4-3 defenses, but will instead widen to twins, shift to the strong side of the formation, and may even stack over the guards while the Mike linebacker drops to seven yards and mirrors the tailback.  To compliment the backers, the defensive tackles will also adjust alignments from the traditional balanced, to a strong side shift, and a wide set.  It is all just enough to keep the offensive line from settling in.

Game #8 Decatur Eisenhower

And then there were two.  With last Friday's victory over the Wildcats, and the surprising Centennial loss to Mattoon, the Big 12 conference lead is now shared by just two teams, the Raiders and Normal Community.  Unfortunately, the Ironmen hold the tie breaker by virtue of their 17-14 overtime victory in week two.  The Raiders have games against Decatur Eisenhower and MacArthur remaining, while the Ironmen face Danville and Champaign Central.  If both teams win out, the conference will declare it a shared championship, but the IHSA will give the Ironmen the nod with a higher seed in the local 6A quadrant.  That means that any rematch in the playoffs would more than likely be hosted by the Ironmen.

But lets not get ahead of ourselves.  The Raiders must first deal with the Panthers of Decatur Eisenhower.  The Panthers enjoyed their first victory of the season last week, a 28-26 win over the Urbana Tigers, and now sit at 1-6.  So this should be an easy one, right?  Well, the last time the Raiders ventured down to Eisenhower (in 2003), they were upended 14-12.  Did you also know that aside from Normal Community's four, the Panthers have more victories over the Raiders (three) in the past 15 years than any other team in the conference.  After four solid victories in the past month, to put themselves back into contention for the conference title, it would be ridiculous for the Raiders to overlook the Panthers and once again let them play spoiler.

Offensively, Eisenhower will be the first to throw a full house backfield at the Raiders all season.  It is not the wishbone, not the power I, but rather a combination of both.  The tailback will line up five to seven yards behind the quarterback, with two fullbacks stacked over the guards about three yards off the line of scrimmage.  The formation is completed with a tight end to one side and split end to the other.  This allows them to run iso and lead either direction with one back leading, or they will slide the backside fullback over for a double lead in front of the tailback.  The also run a fullback dive and trap, as well as a speed option with the playside fullback leading the way to the corner.  To keep defenses from rolling up eight in the box, they will also run a playaction off of the lead that puts the split end into the deep third and the tight end on a drag underneath.  Other formations include trips and twins.  The trips formation will include a tight end backside and one back in the backfield.  The twins will keep one offset fullback along with the tailback in the backfield.  Trips usually indicates pass, but they will run a dive and speed option as well.  Out of twins, they will run all plays, but prefer to throw to the twins.  The passing game consists of flood and crossing routes out of trips, and a three step read pass.

Defensively, the Panthers still run the 4-4 cover 3 alignment that they have for years.  Ten years ago this was the most common defense in high school football, but this will be the first time the Raiders have faced it this season.  The Panthers will be very aggressive with all four linebackers, sometimes sending three, leaving only the backer to the tight end side to drop back in pass coverage.  They will also play games with the interior tackles and linebackers, aligning the tackles in the guard/center gap while sending the backers in the guard/tackle gap, and vice versa.  With all this pressure up front, the secondary is usually in man coverage.  This dares the offense to throw, but you can't block eight rushers for long, so it has to be off the three step game or playaction. 

Game #9 Decatur MacArthur

Let the playoffs begin!  Week nine brings the Generals of Decatur MacArthur to Fred Carlton for a playoff match-up with the Raiders.   Wait, wait, the playoffs don't begin till next week.  Well that may be technically true, but Friday night is a playoff game for the Generals.  They are currently 4-4 and need a win to qualify for the playoffs.  If they lose, their season is over.  Life will go on for the Raiders, but at stake is a conference championship and first round home game in the 6A playoffs.  A loss could eliminate both.  The Raiders may have played in more anticipated games this season, but none with this much at stake.  It will be a great warm-up heading into a tough conference tournament otherwise known as the 6A southern quadrant.

The Generals are looking to break from the mediocrity that has defined their season.  The have beaten the bottom half of the conference (Urbana, Eisenhower, Danville, and Mattoon) and lost to the top half (Community, West, Central and Centennial).  They showed definite signs of breaking through two weeks ago against Community losing in the final 45 seconds 33-26.  In the game, they failed to convert two point after conversions, had a touchdown called back in the second quarter, and threw an interception in the endzone on the game's final play.  They seemed to move the ball at will, something the Raiders couldn't come close to doing against the Ironmen back in week two.

Offensively, the Generals are very, very, very, very dangerous.  They feature a University of Illinois recruit in wing/slot/tailback Marques Wilkins, a big strong receiver in split end Makenzie Goodman, a tall strong quarterback inTravis Garett, and a very large offensive line with the two guards tipping the scales at 300+ pounds.  The play calling includes a little option, power, and a series of short passes and screens that create mismatches and allow their superior athletes to make big plays.  Formations originate from a double split end, wishbone base set.  From this they will run iso, lead and a misdirection counter.  They will then spread one of the halfbacks out to a wing and run wing trap, and pitch.  Their most versatile set is with both halfbacks lined up as wings.  From this they will arc motion and run midline option, they will long motion and run a jet sweep, and will sprint the quarterback out to one side and dump screens out to either wing.  The next set puts both wings to one side with a split end for trips, leaving an isolated split end to the backside.  They will run a series of slip screens to the trips, but prove most dangerous running a read route or post into what is most often man coverage to the weak side.  Out of any of these sets they will fake the fullback dive in the backfield and send any or all of the receivers on a vertical.  They also run a series of two and three receiver routes out of the trips and twins formations.  The damage against Community was done mainly through posts to Goodman and screens to Wilkins.  Both are very dangerous running with the ball after the catch.

Defensively, a head coaching change has brought about a radical change in philosophy.  For years and numerous coaches the Generals have played an attacking 4-4 man coverage alignment.  This season they are lining up in a Centennial like 5-2.  The line is anchored by a 300 pound nose guard and two tall, 210 pound defensive ends.  They general slant to the strong side of the offensive formation and demand double teams.  This take pressure off of the linebackers, allowing them to read and flow to the ball.  The secondary generally lines up in a cover three, but will man up to put additional pressure in the box.  If needed they will send eight on an all out blitz.  Many of the athletes from the offense also play defense, making it nearly impossible to out run the defense.

6A Playoffs Round 1 - Champaign Centennial

After the week two loss to Normal Community, the Raiders faced the daunting task of going through two state ranked opponents and, what turned out to be, four teams headed for the playoffs in order to win their sixth consecutive conference title.  All the while, they also had to hold out hope that someone would knock the Ironmen off.  With last Friday's 28-7 victory over the Generals of MacArthur, all the peices fell into place, and the Raiders are once again champions of the Big 12 Conference.  They now enter the second phase of the conference season otherwise known as Quadrant D of the 6A state playoffs.  The quadrant features the Raiders, Normal Community, Centennial, Normal West and Central.  Up first are the Chargers of Centennial that the Raiders defeated 35-14 back in week six.  The Chargers went on to losses against Mattoon and Normal West, but defeated intercity rival Central 23-20 to finish the season 6-3.  So you like the Raiders chances to advance to round two?  Check with the Ironmen first.  Three years ago, Normal Community defeated the Charger 30-7 in the final game of the regular season.  The two teams then met up again in the second round of the 6A playoffs where the Chargers upended the Ironmen 18-14.  One week later, they narrowly lost to the Raiders 13-7.  This is a team that has a history of animated and emotional play in big games, and with the win or else mentality of the playoffs, you can expect nothing else from the Chargers this Friday night.

As far as an offensive scouting report, scroll back up the the week six preview and read it first. . . .  What has changed?  Not much.  The Chargers seem to have settled somewhat when it comes to formations.  They will run pro and twins most of the time, but will also go to a twins split to give their tight end, who plays two ways, a break.  Against the odd front of the Raiders, they are also likely to run a good amount of double tight to force a more balanced defense.  They aren't doing as much of it, but they still occasionally will go to a variety of trips and four receiver sets in an attempt to create mismatches and outnumber the defense to one side.  When it comes down to it, the Chargers take pride in the fact that they can run the same play many different ways forcing the defense to prepare for everything and focus on nothing.  Main plays still consist of Iso, trap, belly, inside and outside zone, lead, and counter.  They will run playaction off of the Iso, zone, lead and counter.  They fullback made a couple of catches in the first game and is also a threat to slip out to the flat off playaction.  The rest of the passing game consists of three step read route and vertical seams as well as a combination of crossing route and post/corner combinations out of any twins sets.  This team did throw for 225 yards against the Raiders in the first meeting, and both their scores were set up by passes of 30+ yards.  One thing that hurt the Chargers in week six was that tailback Mikel Leshoure sprained his ankle and sat out the majority of the game.  That shouldn't be the case this time as he appears to be back to 100%.

Week six was Valshun Powe's breakout game.  Catching the Chargers somewhat by surprise he rushed for 176 yards and two touchdowns.  Well, the element of surprise is now gone.  There should be no doubt that the Charger defense will focus on corralling Valshun this time around.  This is a team that prides themselves on sound physical defense.  They are big and athletic up front, and physical in the secondary.  The linebackers read and flow very quickly and the safeties tackle like linebackers.  Remember this is the team that shut out Normal Community and held a speedy Austin Davis to under fifty yards rushing.  With two quick scores, one right before halftime and one right after, the Raiders snatched momentum away in the first game.  The Centennial defense will try to ensure that it does not happen again. 

6A Playoffs Round 2 - Normal Community

What will be THE storyline of this Saturday's 1 p.m. rematch between the Raiders and Ironmen?  Well, you have several to choose from.  Every time the two teams meet it is a big deal, but this is ridiculous.  First, it is a playoff game, only the fourth ever between the two teams.  The winner moves on to the quarterfinals, the loser turns in the pads and has to hear about it for the next ten months leading up to next season.  The teams both finished the regular season at 8-1 and tied for the conference championship, making this rematch the "unofficial" conference championship.  The only thing separating the two back in early September was 26 yards and a fieldgoal in overtime.  The Associated Press ranked both teams 10th in the final 6A poll of the season.  The game will be played for the first time on the field at the new Normal Community High School.  Oh, and it just happens to be the 100th game between the two dating back to 1897.  Wow!  If all that doesn't inspire you to buy a ticket to this game, you are not really a fan of high school football.  The Normal Community Athletic Director will be easy to spot at this game.  He will be the one with the big smile on his face due to the potential gate receipts. Those three points back week two turned out to be very expensive to BHS:)   This is what the IHSA had in mind when they created the quadrant system back in 2002.  It simply doesn't get any better than this.

For the first time in several meetings, the Raiders enter this game as a definite underdog.  Not only did the Ironmen out score the Raiders in the first game (17-14), they also out gained them in total yardage 201 to 175, holding the Raiders to their lowest offensive output of the season.  And keep in mind the Ironmen did that while playing a far from a perfect game themselves.  They committed  five costly turnovers and had a punt blocked.  Tailback Austin Davis rushed for 204 yards in that game, making him the first opposing tailback to gain anywhere near 200 yards against the Raiders since, well, I don't remember.  Since the first meeting, the Ironmen have remained relatively healthy.  Starting corner Joey Anderson returns this week after missing three weeks with a knee injury.  They have also developed considerable depth in the offensive backfield.  Davis is scary enough, but they now have a "backfield by committee" that also includes Kennedy Freeman, Shannon Cobb and Johnny Venerable.  Respect for the Ironmen is not just limited to conference foes and the Bloomington/Normal area either.  The Champaign News-Gazette has predicted a Joliet Catholic/NCHS match-up in the 6A Championship game Thanksgiving weekend.  The Raiders have their work cut out for them.

Offensively for the Ironmen, things haven't changed much.  They have just gotten better at what they do.  As with last week, go up a read the regular season preview before you continue. . .   If anything, the Ironmen may have simplified their offense.  Base formations now include double tight, twins, and pro.  In long yardage or two minute drill situations, they can also go to a single back balanced formation, and a quads set with four receivers to one side of the formation.  In short yardage situations they will go to a power I backfield out of either the double tight or pro sets.  Base running plays include Iso, trap, fullback dive, belly option, triple option and pitch.  Cobb is the strong, power runner, while Venerable tends to hide behind his large offensive line and burst through small openings that most running backs don't see.  Davis is the speed guy as he proved in week two, while Kennedy is a slasher that can make a defender run out of his shoes on a cutback.  The offensive line has remained in tact throughout the season and has gelled into a dominate unit.  The passing game is basically the same, but as the running game has improved, the playaction off of it has become a much bigger threat.  Last weekend against Rock Island, they seemed to hit the tight end on a seam route whenever they needed a big play, and there was no defender in sight.  With only 12 yards passing in the week two victory, the Ironmen are probably indifferent towards passing against the Raiders.  If they need to do it, the system is in place.

Defensively, the Ironmen may be playing their best football of the season.  Week eight they shutout a bad Danville team, but on that up to that point, had been scoring a considerable number of points.  Week nine they shut out Champaign Central in the first half before surrendering 21 points late in the game to a team that had average 35 points a game during the rest of the season.  Last week, they held a Rock Island that came in averaging 36 points a game to only 7.  For the most part, the defense is the same in terms of alignment and assignment as it was in week two.  The only changes have come in terms of personnel.  Standout Shannon Cobb has proven that he can basically play any defensive position.  He played linebacker for the majority of the season, before moving to strong safety, free safety and corner to fill in for injured players over the past four weeks.  He should return to either the linebacker or safety spot for this game as most of the injured players have now returned to their positions.  Nose tackle Kirkland Grant, who started his first game of the season against the Raiders week two, has emerged as the best down lineman in the conference, if not one of the better ones in the state.  

From the week two preview:

"No matter what expectations are coming into this game, it is bound to be a nail biter with the kicking game, turnovers and penalties factoring in the outcome.  It is always this way.  All one needs to do is look back at the last four meetings between the two teams, all Raider victories, but with scores like 13-0, 24-20, 19-6, and last season's 6-0.  Throw all expectations and "expert" opinion out the window, this game is driven by emotion, and as a result, anything can happen."

The 17-14 outcome of that game did nothing but reinforce my statement.  Ratchet up the intensity even more for this one because there is much more at stake.