Weir, Creek coming into big match up hungry
Both teams looking to bounce back in key early season contest
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WINTERSVILLE -- The way veteran Indian Creek coach Andrew Connor sees it, the best opponent a team can face coming off a loss is a rival.
That is the case for both halves of Friday's showdown at Kettlewell Stadium as both Connor's Redskins and visiting Weir High come into the pivotal game coming off close-, hard-fought losses and hungry to get back in the column against a historically significant foe.
"You look at it from the Indian Creek-Weir High rivalry standpoint, I've been a part of a lot of these games, both sides will always say they're always hard-hitting games and the kids give it their best effort on both sides," Connor said. "If you're coming off a loss, you want to play in a rivalry game like this and both teams are.
"It gives both teams extra motivation to work hard all week in practice and play hard on Friday night."
The significance of the history of Friday night's match up is not lost on either side.
"This rivalry goes back to 1971, whether it's with Wintersville back then or Indian Creek now, and there was tradition and history with Mingo High School, too," Weir High head coach Frank Sisinni said. "Anytime you get two high schools that are this close to each other, the kids and the families and the coaches all know each other.
"This is definitely and game that is big for both teams because we're right across the river from each other. We know it's going to be a hard-fought game. We're really excited to play."
Last year's meeting, a Red Riders win that came down to the wire, is exactly the kind of game that both coaches are preparing for.
"Last year's game came down to the end and that's usually how an Indian Creek-Weir game is," Connor said. "You get the best out of the other team and coach Sisinni does a great job of getting his kids ready. I would think that both teams are going play hard to represent their communities and it's going to be a slug fest."
Connor has also been impressed with the improvement he's seen from the Red Riders so far, who enter the contest 1-1 with a win over Oak Glen and a close loss to John Marshall last week.
"The longer that coach Sisinni has been there, you can they're playing better and better, you can just tell they're well-coached," Connor said of Weir High. "The biggest thing that stands out to me is how hard they play. I've been able to watch them play three times, a couple scrimmages and a game. They're very physical and very tough. They get after it and play a great style of football that always gives you a chance to win."
Sisinni also knows the teams are similar to one another and in a similar position, which should make for a tight battle.
"We expect both teams to be hungry coming off hard-fought games," He said. "I think both teams mirror each other when it comes to personnel, we have about the same amount of seniors and both schools are trying to find their identity this year.
"They play a tough schedule like we do and we've had our eye on them in their first three games."
He also has a lot of respect for what Connor has established in his long tenure at the helm of the Redskins, who come in 1-2 after falling to Brooke a week ago.
"When you're playing Andrew Connor coached teams, he's been building his program for the last 20 years at that school, you know when you go into Kettlewell Stadium there is going to be a team there that is very well prepared and ready for their opponents," Sisinni said. "We're well aware of what we're going into Friday night.
"I was played at Kettlewell Stadium when I was a player and the rich tradition they have their, the proximity of the fans and the student section, you get that feel of Friday night football when you're there."
With the records, even though it's still early, it's still a very important game for both teams in terms of the standings as well.
"It's a very big game for both teams, I don't know that too many aren't big games ... but this one is big," Sisinni said. "You always find a big jump from Week 2 into Week 3 in finding what kind of team you have. We saw some big strides last week against John Marshall, a very solid team, so we want to build on that, but we know Indian Creek is going to prepared."
In order to get back in the win column, Connor wants to see his team get back to what worked so well two weeks ago against East Liverpool when it last played on the turf at Kettlewell - run the ball.
"The biggest thing for us being able to run the ball more effectively (than against Brooke) and make sure we're in situations where we can throw when we want to throw the ball, not throw because we have to throw," Connor said.
For the Red Riders, the objective is going to be to make sure the Redskins can't do that.
"It all starts with stopping Zion McGee," Sisinni said. "They have a very good running game and we have to keep him in check. In the East Liverpool game he had three touchdowns and he had another against Brooke, so we have to know where he's at and contain their run game.
"You always want to force teams into doing things they don't want to do, and we know they're a run-first team. That's definitely a concern of ours."
The opening kick at what is sure to be a packed house in Wintersville is set for 7 p.m.