LESTER PRAIRIE – It was an impressive showing for the Lester Prairie/Holy Trinity football team in their 32-22 homecoming win against Medford. Even with the win, there’s not much time for the Bulldogs to celebrate or enjoy the win as they take to the road for an important Mid Southeast West District showdown Friday night.
The Bulldogs will take on the Kenyon-Wanamingo Knights in a district showdown Friday night as both teams try to keep their goal of a district title intact.
The LP/HT offensive line opens a huge hole for Dylan Ruzicka to score the first touchdown of the game in their 32-22 homecoming win against Medford Friday night.
“This team is going to try and punch us in the mouth,” LP/HT coach Joe Scoblic said. “That’s kind of what Kenyon is all about. They’re a power football team. We’re going to have to score points. So we’re going to have to be able to answer.”
The Bulldogs, who are 4-1 on the season, are coming off a season-high 32 points in their Week 4 win against Medford. If the Bulldogs want to take the next step, the offense will need to continue to click against a tough K-W defense.
A big key to the offense for the Bulldogs last week was their no huddle offense that wore Medford out late in the second half.
“I think it could be huge if we can do that,” Scoblic said about getting the no huddle offense rolling. “They only really dress juniors and seniors. There’s one sophomore and one freshman. They’re going to be big kids. They’re bigger than most teams we’ve played this year. If we can wear them out, that would be awesome. They don’t have that many kids.”
Along with playing an up-tempo offense, the Bulldogs will need to make sure to take care of the football and make the most out of every drive.
“Depending how long it takes them (to score), we may not have many that opportunities with the ball,” Scoblic said. “That’s just the way it is.”
With both teams hungry for a win to keep their title hopes alive, field position plays an important role throughout the game, an area in which the Bulldogs need to improve on to make sure the Knights are forced to make long drives.
“It’s all about field position,” Scoblic said. “That’s why special teams are so important. Our kickoff was not doing well. We just were not doing well. We were giving them a 60 yard field. We got to make sure it’s a 70 yard field or more.”
With a lot on the line in this matchup, Scoblic has his team focusing on things in between the lines and not outside of the game itself.
“We don’t even talk about that,” Scoblic said about the implications this game will have. “We don’t talk about the fact of what their record is. What we talk about is their physical size. We talked a lot about that. The front four are big. They’re big kids. That’s what we talked about and we got to be able to handle that.”