NHS Football: Tigers set to host Central

By Jason Peake

Daily Mail Sports Editor

NEVADA -- Wes Beachler is no stranger to Springfield Central.

Nevada High School's football coach saw the Bulldogs up close during his two previous stops -- Houston and Parkview. And Beachler's teams have had some success against Central, too.

"For whatever reasons, our offense has given them some problems over the years," Beachler said. "We hope that continues."

Nevada hosts Central on Friday night at Logan Field. Kick-off is set for 7 p.m.

Coming off its first win of the season, Nevada hopes to keep the momentum going forward this week. It won't be easy. Central is scoring 49 points per game and comes to town with a 3-0 record. Coach Beachler said the Bulldogs could be the best team his squad has faced to date.

"They're a very athletic and fast team," Beachler said. "They're big up front on both sides of the ball, too."

The Bulldogs are primarily a running team.

"We have to play very sound on defense and gang tackle because they have some explosive, fast athletes," Beachler said. "If we don't get to the ball and gang tackle, they could hurt us."

The Bulldogs defeated Lift for Life Academy 49-8 in week one and Warsaw 48-13 in the second game before pulling out a 49-41 win over Buffalo last Friday. Central has scored 149 points in three games and allowed just 62.

The Tigers will have to stop the run, and hold their own up front. Nevada must cut down on its turnovers and sustain drives.

"We have to take care of the ball," Beachler said. "And we just have to play sound, assignment football on defense."

Breaking the losing streak

Nevada ended a 17-game losing streak last week at East Newton.

"When you inherit a program that has had it's struggles, you turn it around in one of two ways," Beachler said. "You come out and beat a team bad where everything goes your way, or you face adversity and overcome it. We faced a lot of adversity and overcame it. For these kids to come out and outscore them 16-0 in the second half, that was a big deal. I'm happy for them."

Beachler added he hopes his players aren't satisfied just yet.

"The players have to stay focused and continue to get better."

Making strides

Beachler noted his team made positive strides last week.

"Now we've played two quarters of football the way we'd like to see it played," he said. "We've got to get to three quarters now. If we got the whole game, I wouldn't turn it down. But I'd like to see us play well for three quarters and keep building."