Wheeling – For the second consecutive year John H. Lilly has guided the Independence Patriots to Wheeling Island Stadium where they sit just one win away from football immortality.
The last obstacle? A Herbert Hoover team many expected to contend for a spot in the title game but ultimately made its way to Wheeling in unorthodox fashion.
After dropping their first two games of the season to Scott and Winfield, the Huskies have won 10 straight, including a quarterfinal victory over the same Winfield team that beat them in Week 2.
While Hoover head coach Joey Fields has been known for the dynamic passing attacks he’s coordinated and coached, this year’s team has looked different. The offense still runs through a quarterback in sophomore Dane Hatfield, but through his legs rather than his arm.
“It all runs through (Hatfield) and he’s a phenomenal athlete,” Independence head coach John H. Lilly said. “There’s no doubt about it and he’s very hard to handle because they spread you out and whenever you’ve got a running quarterback it stresses your defense. He’s been able to do that and on top of it he’s got a cannon for an arm. He’s a phenomenal athlete and their coaches do a good job scheme wise of spreading everyone out and letting him throw and run and do his thing.”
Hatfield’s numbers speak for themselves. He’s carried the ball 226 times for 1,589 yards and 26 touchdowns while throwing for 1,362 yards and 20 more scores.
As a dual-threat player, he causes issues for defenses unable to matchup with receivers on the outside. Teams such as Hoover that can successfully utilize the QB in the run game force defenses to pick their poison or find ways to win when outnumbered in the box. Normally a defense will have a body for a body accounting for the linemen, running back and anyone else within the box. Independence, which likes to run a 3-3-5 stack usually has three down linemen and three linebackers for a total of six in the box. Alignments and condensed formations (more players closer to the line of scrimmage) might bring a defensive back into the box but the Patriots will often live in the world where they’re matching teams body for body.
“It doesn’t matter what you do if they spread you out because you’ve got six in the box,” Lilly said. “Whether you go man or you go zone you’ve still got six in the box and it causes problems. It messes your defense up because they’ve got you seven on six in the box and if you bring somebody in to stop it you’re in Cover 0 and if you leave somebody out you’ve got no one in the box. It’s a good scheme and they do a good job with what they do.”
Fortunately for the Patriots the defense has risen to the challenge and outperformed the most optimistic expectations this postseason. The starters have allowed just four touchdowns in three playoff games with two of them coming with the opposing team down three-plus scores. In addition they’ve been stellar on special teams too and offense where they’ve averaged 53.3 points per game.
“I think the biggest thing is we strive to be a good football team and to be that you have to be good at all three phases of the game,” Lilly sad. “We really work hard at trying to be good in all three phases and if you get in the playoffs and you’re good at one but not all three your chances are pretty slim. If you’re good at all three you’ve got a chance to be special. We work hard to try and be good at all three. That’s not to say we don’t fall short some times but we try our best to be good at all three and not just be an offensive or defensive juggernaut.”
Still, the offensive numbers stand above all others the Patriots have produced.
Leading the way is the trio of Trey Bowers, Cyrus Goodson and Judah Price – the Patriots’ own version of the triplets. Bowers has thrown for over 1,500 yards with Goodson accounting for over 800 of them. Price, owner of the single-season scoring record with 366 to date, has rushed for over 2,200 yards with 45 rushing touchdowns to boot.
All three are defensive standouts as well with Bowers and Goodson earning first-team all-state honors as defensive backs last year. They’ll be tested by a Hoover defense that will miss starting linebacker Rocco Frye, but will look familiar still.
“We’re clones of each other,” Lilly said. “We do the same exact things. It won’t be nothing new for them to see and nothing new for us to see. We play the same exact style of defense. You just look in the mirror and change the color of helmets. We both do the same things. It just comes down to the Jimmies and Joes.”
It’s almost poetic the Patriots and Huskies are closing the season against one another. They scrimmaged each other way back in August with many anticipating it wouldn’t be the last time the two shared a field and for good reason. Hoover was the No. 1 seed in last year’s playoffs and Independence the No. 2 seed.
Despite that preseason rumble, Lilly doesn’t believe it holds any weight.
“I don’t think it means anything at all,” Lilly said. “In scrimmages people look at certain people and positions. They want to move people around and they want to put young kids in and see how they adapt to things. I don’t think you get anything out of it. Especially the first scrimmage. You’re playing all your players and you just want to see how people react. I really don’t think it’s an issue at all and they’ve gotten better every game they’ve played. They’ve won 10 games in a row and you don’t do that unless you’re doing something good.”
In title matchups, coaches and fans alike comb through for any advantage they can.
For Hoover it resides in the fact the Huskies have played all three of their playoff games on the road so a trip to Wheeling isn’t anything new. On top of that Fields won state championships as an assistant coach at Mingo central in 2016 and Martinsburg in 2018.
For Independence it comes from familiarity with the stage.
Title game virgins a year ago, Lilly admitted the team was tight prior to last year’s game and didn’t quite know what to expect. It’s different now.
“I think the big difference is last year it went so fast,” Lilly said. “We tried to get everything organized, tried to get busses, practices and game plans and it just seems like when the game ended Friday we were already working. This year it’s kind of slowed down for us a little bit because we know what to expect. I wouldn’t say it’s better but we understand it a little better. It’s slowed down for us and I’m telling you, last year you blinked and you were playing in Wheeling. This year I think the kids understand what’s getting ready to happen.
“We’ve also got a great support staff. I’ve got great coaches, great administration, great ticket takers and everything. It’s such an enormous team behind you that it makes adapting a little easier. I think because we know what’s going to happen it’s slowed down for everybody.”
The Patriots and Huskies will face off Friday at Wheeling Island Stadium. the live broadcast of the game can be found on AT&T Sportsnet as well as MetroNews’ Facebook page.
Email: tylerjackson@lootpress.com and follow on Twitter @tjack94
