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BARNESVILLE -- The tide has turned against the Toronto football team.
The Red Knights opened the season with four straight wins, but the boys from the Gem City have fallen on hard times as they have come out on the short end the last couple of weeks.
Getting back on track will not be easy as Toronto hits the road take on undefeated Barnesville at 7 p.m. Friday night at Shamrock Stadium.
After a scoreless first quarter, Edison erupted for six touchdowns en route to a 42-6 victory against Toronto this past Friday night at Clarke Hinkle Field.
"We had the ball at the 3," Toronto (4-2) head coach Josh Franke said. "We ran a QB sneak, and we were called for illegal procedure. One of our wide receivers was not set. I think we punched it on that QB sneak, so that penalty negated that touchdown.
"Three plays later, they scored on a very long touchdown run. I don't like to play the what if game, but if we score there and go up 6-0, or 8-0, it could have been a different outcome.
"We continue to make mistakes. We shot ourselves in the foot.
"You have to execute at the goal line. Your focus has to be sharper in the red zone. When you have the ball down there, you have to be almost ultra focused. We have to maximize our opportunities."
The game changed after the long touchdown run, and the boys from the Gem City were unable to right the ship.
"They beat us with one play," Franke said. "It is a great play. We run that play. It's the counter trey. Defensively, when you see that play coming, your linebackers have to step up and fill that gap. We did not fill that gap.
"We have sophomores playing linebacker. They are learning as they go. They scored four touchdowns on that one play."
The Shamrocks have scored at least 32 points in all six of their games, and Barnesville enters this week's match up coming off a 35-20 victory against Worthington Christian this past Friday night at home.
"Barnesville is an excellent football team," Franke said. "They have had success the past two seasons. They are another good team. This game will prepare us for what we hope to be a successful playoff experience.
"It is easy to schedule games against teams you know you will beat. If you want to be a championship caliber team, you want to challenge yourself going into the postseason."
The Shamrocks enter play this week averaging more than 36 points per game on offense. So far this season, Barnesville has defeated Buckeye Local (32-8), Meadowbrook (42-7), Buckeye Trail (35-7), Shadyside (38-0) and River (35-20) along with its victory against Worthington Christian.
"Their quarterback was all-state last season," Franke said. "He is very athletic. He can hurt you with his arm or his legs. They have some good wide receivers. They have a talented running back. They are a good team. They mix it up. Unfortunately, we have to prepare for both."
Defensively, the boys from Belmont County are only allowing 10.5 points per game. The Shamrocks held their first four opponents to eight points or fewer.
"They run a base 4-4," Franke said. "We have seen them go with a two high safety look. It is like a 4-2-5.
"We saw Worthington Christian threw the ball a good bit against them, and they jumped into a 3-4. We like to run the ball, so we are expecting to see a 4-4. We are going to have to get guys outside of the box with different schemes."
Since taking over at his alma mater, Franke has preached to his team about big plays and turnovers. In the first four weeks of the season, the Red Knights excelled at creating big plays on offense and preventing them on defense, while also creating turnovers. Unfortunately for the Red-and-White, the tables have turned the last two weeks.
"We have to limit turnovers," Franke said. "We have to take care of the ball. We have to prevent the big play. Big plays have really hurt us the past two weeks.
"We can't have penalties. We can't afford to shoot ourselves in the foot. We have been having penalties. We are beating ourselves.
"The team with the most turnovers usually loses the game. The team with the fewest turnovers usually wins the game."
The Red Knights are well aware of that fact.
"It is as good as gold," Franke said. "Our kids know it. If you ask them what the two biggest things are in order to win a football game, that will be their response."
Coming into the season, Franke said his team was going to play three tough games in the middle of the season, and he has been proven correct.
"Absolutely," he said. "This is the meat of our schedule. We added Buckeye Local. We dropped games against Oak Glen and Edison. After this, we will play a stretch of games against schools of a similar size.
"We will be able to get our legs underneath us. This game will help us prepare for the playoffs. I'm not saying the games will get any easier, but we will be playing teams with the same roster size.
"Last week against Edison, we dressed 22 kids, and they dressed 56. That makes a difference.
"When you are playing schools the same size, their kids have to play the entire game just like your kids play the whole game. It will be a little more comparable. It will be what we are used to."
Last season, Barnesville shut out Toronto, 37-0, in Week 7 at Toronto. The game proved to be a turning point for the boys from Jefferson County as they went on to win their next three games to earn a trip to the Ohio Division VII Region 25 playoffs.
"They are a good program," Franke said. "We just have to play our game. We played really well when we beat Buckeye Local. We are going to have to do that again this week.
"We are going to have to play a really good game. It is going to take our best effort. They are a bigger school."
The Red Knights enters this week's game in sixth place in the Region 25 standings. Toronto was as high as second in the ratings a couple of weeks ago.
The Shamrocks enter this game in fourth place in the Division V Region 19 standings – one spot below undefeated Union Local. The Shamrocks and Jets play in Week 10 at Union Local.