CADIZ — The Harrison Central football team is looking to continue its winning ways, while Oak Glen is looking to get back on track.

The Huskies are scheduled to take on the Golden Bears at 7 p.m. Friday night at Wagner Field.

Harrison Central enters the game coming off of a 41-0 victory last week at home against Edison.

“Any time you have to start some new guys, as a coach you are worried about how they are going to react,” Harrison Central (2-5) head coach Justin Kropka said. “You try to cover everything in two-a-days. Sometimes you have guys who have not played a lot. You go over things in a two-a-days, and you hope you have covered everything. Maybe something comes up that you have not seen before, something that you have not seen in two-a-days. The kids don’t have the reps, and they have to guess. It can drive a coach crazy worrying about something like that.”

Oak Glen enters the game coming off of a 52-14 loss last week at East Liverpool.

“I think our inability to stop the run made us non-competitive in the second half,” Oak Glen (2-4) head coach Ted Arneault said. “Harrison Central is another team that likes to run the ball. We are going to have to match their physicality. We are going to have to put points up on the scoreboard. We are going to have to produce to match what they score. Harrison Central has a lot of athletes. We are going to have our work cut out for us.”

Freshman quarterback Nick Chaney threw for 146 yards and a touchdown in the loss for Oak Glen. Kropka knows all about the freshman quarterback and what he can produce.

“This has been the year of injuries,” he said. “I have never seen anything like it before. This is my 13th year as a head coach, and prior to that I was an assistant for eight years. I have been coaching for a long time. I understand what they are going through. I watched their quarterback play when he was in junior high. He was a good player in junior high. He’s getting experience. Things may be rough now, but it will benefit him down the road. Next year, he is going to be the starter. He’s going to be a bonafide starter with seven or eight games under his belt.

“The same thing happened to us. We lost Rashean Mitchell to an injury, and we ended up having to start a sophomore. He got six games under his belt, and then two years later he was our starting quarterback. What he is going through now will benefit him down the road.”

Harrison Central quarterback DeJaun Caldwell ran for 94 yards and two touchdowns last week, while throwing for 73 yards and a score. Running back Tyler West tallied 122 yards and two touchdowns.

“Their quarterback can throw the football,” Arneault said. “He’s dangerous. They have a talented tailback. They have a quarterback who can really use his legs. He is a dual threat. Yes he can pass the ball, too, but primarily they want to run the ball.”

The Golden Bears like to mix things up on offense.

“They are pretty well balanced,” Kropka said. “I think they would like to run the ball more than they do. They use different formations, and they will do both — run and pass — out of those formations. They are balanced. The pressure the offense is under now with a freshman quarterback will pay off. They have got some nice players.”

Harrison Central has given up a good amount of points so far this season.

“Defensively, they are strong against the run,” Arneault said. “They have some good run-stopping linebackers. They have some nice size on their defensive line.”

Oak Glen has had some rough games on the defensive side of the ball. The Golden Bears allowed 384 yards on the ground in their loss to the Potters. Kropka, though, believes the arrow is pointing to the sky.

“They are big, but they are young,” Kropka said. “They have young guys who are aggressive, and you can catch them out of position. They are excited, and they want to get to the ball and hit. You can teach them how to read their keys, but you can’t teach them to want to get to the ball and hit.”

After winning two straight games over Buckeye Local and Warren Local, the Golden Bears have lost their last two.

“The Edison game could have gone either way,” Kropka said. “That is the game I have on film. Edison made some plays when they had to, while they made some young mistakes. That is going to happen.”

The Golden Bears are not afraid to bring pressure. It’s just a matter of stopping the run.

“They do bring pressure, but sometimes you can take advantage of their aggressiveness,” Kropka said. “They do blitz. They are just not getting the results as quickly as they would like. I can see what they are trying to do. They are doing the right things. They just aren’t getting the results as quickly as they would like.”

The Huskies know what they have to do to be successful this week.

“It is the same as always,” Kropka said. “We have to take care of the ball. We can’t have any turnovers. When we don’t have turnovers, we score 35 points. In the three games in which we have not had a turnover, we have scored at least 35 points. That’s no secret. We also want to limit our mental mistakes, and we want to play whistle to whistle.”

The Golden Bears must get off to a good start to be successful.

“Coach Kropka has done a great job with that program,” Arneault said. “He has turned Harrison Central into a team that has consistent success of having good results. I hope we can come out and play well.”

Harrison Central defeated Oak Glen 47-7 in Week 7 last year on the road. The Huskies defeated the Golden Bears 41-3 in Week 6 of the 2015 season.

“They are pretty consistent with what they do,” Arneault said. “Coach Kropka is a disciple of Davey Bruney’s. He has that philosophy of run the ball and play good defense. They are tough to run inside on. They have athletes on offense. We are going to have to get creative with our game plan.”