Nevada football hits the road on Saturday

By Jason Peake

Daily Mail Sports Editor

NEVADA -- Wes Beachler isn't overlooking William Chrisman.

He hopes his players don't, either.

Nevada travels to winless William Chrisman on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. in week six of the high school football season. Winners of three-straight after an 0-2 start, Nevada looks to keeps it momentum going forward. And despite Chrisman's 0-5 record, Nevada Coach Beachler isn't taking the Bears lightly.

"Their record doesn't mean a lot to me," Beachler said this week. "You have to consider the caliber of teams they've played. They've lost to a lot of Class 4 and 5 Kansas City-area schools. They've had a rough schedule."

As far as keys for the Tigers, the defense must continue to play like it has the last 10 quarters, where its allowed just six points and shut down opposing running attacks.

DeMarco Hill is a top offensive threat for William Chrisman. Hill is listed as a wide receiver, but also takes carries out of the backfield. NHS Defensive Coordinator Don Epps said Hill is an explosive athlete who the Tigers must contain. Beachler said the Bears are an athletic team with a lot of speed. Offensively, the Tigers need to be more productive than they were against El Dorado Springs.

"If we play disciplined on defense, we'll be in good shape," Beachler said. "And we have to be more consistent on offense. But I think we have the personnel to get it done. They remind me a lot of Sprinfield Central. We're going to have to be ready to play, physically and mentally. And I hope our kids won't overlook them."

In last year's meeting, William Chrisman defeated Nevada 42-7.

William Chrisman has allowed 215 points this season and scored 97. That's an average of 43 points allowed per game. The Bears are scoring 19.4 points per game.

Nevada has scored 84 points and allowed 90 in five games, but the Tigers have allowed just six points in the last two and a half games.

Willliam Chrisman has lost to Lee's Summit 40-28, Winnetonka 38-12, Liberty North 47-20, Park Hill South 42-18 and Belton 48-19.

Playing on Saturday

No, it's not a misprint -- this week's football game is on Saturday afternoon, not Friday night. Beachler and his staff have adjusted the team's practice schedule a bit this week.

"The toughest thing is the routine is broken up," Beachler said. "The kids will have to get up Saturday morning, get on a bus and go play a game. But I don't think it will be that big of a deal. The kids just need to get to bed on time on Friday night."

Beachler said he might go watch Holden play tonight. He may be making some phone calls to check on some of his players, too. Beachler added he hopes to see a lot of Nevada fans make the trip to Independence.

"We'd love to see a lot of our fans up there supporting us," he said.

Running back by committee

One thing that's stood out about the Nevada double wing offense thus far has been a running back by committee game plan. Nevada is not relying on just one or two players, and is getting contributions from several players. The team regularly spreads carries around to two wingbacks, a fullback and the quarterback, and also switches things up by bringing in fresh players off the bench to take a handoff or two.

"I never want to rely on one guy," Beachler said. "To me, offensive balance is more than one running threat. We've had so many kids come in and run the ball. In our system, I always try to balance the carries around."

Beachler said he's been pleased with how the running back by committee system has worked. Johnathan Klingaman, Trevor Hunholz, Dalton Hendren, Bradey Denney, Chris Sanderson, Lucas Denman, Johnathan Ireland and QB Alex Payne have all had carries.

"They're all so unselfish," he said. "None of them care who the leading rusher is or who scores the touchdowns. They don't care who gets the credit. They just want to run hard when they get the ball and they want to win."

For the season, Klingaman and Hunholz have scored four touchdowns apiece, while Denney has two TDs and Denman and Sanderson have one apiece.