VAN- Van coach Mark Agosti said Tuesday at halftime of Mount View’s game with Man that to stop the Golden Knights you must keep them off the field.
“The ideal would be to keep their offense off the field, try to grind it out and try to limit their possessions,” Agosti said. “You can’t have turnovers, you can’t have any mistakes and if you give them seven, eight or nine possessions then they are going to blow you out.”
Agosti took the opportunity to scout the Golden Knights Tuesday night and left impressed with the abundance of speed at the skill positions.
“We don’t have any way of defending that (speed) nor do we have anyone that can keep up with them at the skill positions,” Agosti said. “They can score from anywhere on the field.”
Agosti and his Van Bulldogs, tied for 10th with Mount View in the latest West Virginia Secondary Schools Activities Commission ratings, will look to slow down a Golden Knight offense that piled up nearly 500 yards of offense and scored 45 points against a very physical Man squad.
Last week against Sherman, Mount View put up 48 points and limited the Tide to just 16 points.
“I don’t think Sherman did anything wrong it was that Mount View had big plays,” Agosti said. “Several times Sherman had them bottled up, but they would get out of it, reverse field and score.”
Van, who dropped its opener to Meadow Bridge, has won three consecutive games and sits at 3-1 on the year. The Bulldogs were scheduled to host Richwood Monday, but the game was once again cancelled and is unlikely to be rescheduled.
“I believe they had a few kids banged up and they didn’t want to play on Monday and then turn around and play on a Friday,” Agosti said. “We have rescheduled it four times and couldn’t get it to work out.”
Agosti said that Richwood officials informed him that they elect to take a forfeit loss, however, he stated that a letter must be sent to the detailing the events.
“Bernie Dolan informed us that Richwood’s athletic director had to sign a letter in order for it to count as a forfeit” Agosti said. “They elected to forfeit the game and I hate it.”
“I don’t like to do it that way, but it’s what we had to do,” Agosti said.
Van hopes to use a ground attack that rushed for 439 yards in a win over PikeView and rushed for 370 yards in a win over Montcalm last week.
Led by junior Brady Green, who rushed for 145 yards and three touchdowns on nine carries last week, the Bulldogs hope to use their offense as its best defense Friday night.
“It’s no secret that we line up and try to run it at you,” Agosti said. “We are very successful at it, but at the same time we still have some work to do.”
Van will celebrate homecoming Friday night and Agosti expects a big crowd to watch the Bulldogs and Golden Knights meet for just the fourth time in school history.
“You want your kids to be fired up and be challenged to want to play these games,” Agosti said. “They are excited about it and I am glad that we get the opportunity to play, but it’s going to be a tough task for us.”
Van will have just three games remaining after Friday night, but the Bulldogs are searching for a replacement game for Hannan that would give them 10 games.
“I would like to play a 10th game,” Agosti said. “Playing nine games don’t hurt you in the ratings, but we didn’t sign up for nine games, we signed up for 10 and our kids want to play 10 games.”
As for a defensive game plan, Agosti said they have been working on a number of things to keep the ball away from their skill especially on special teams.
“If we kick deep they are probably going to score or run it down inside the red zone,” Agosti said. “You got to pick your poison.”
“If you get up on them and try to keep them from getting going they are going to run by you,” Agosti said. “If you play off of them and let them catch it in front of you then they are going to juke you and go.”
