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EAST LIVERPOOL -- The "Battle of the Bridge" is set to take place Friday night at Patterson Field.
The Oak Glen and East Liverpool football teams enter this week's rivarly game looking to get back on track as the two teams enter the game coming off losses by a combined 88 points. Brooke shut out Oak Glen, 45-0, last week on the road to spoil the Golden Bears Homecoming, and Canton Central Catholic defeated East Liverpool, 49-6, on the road.
The longtime rivals are set to meet at 7 p.m. Friday night.
"It was definitely not the result the team wanted," first-year Oak Glen (2-5) head coach Doug Taylor said about his team's loss to Brooke. "So far this season, we have started seven different freshmen and three sophomores.
"That was not planned. We have had to do it due to injuries. Hopefully, that experience pays off somewhere in the future.
"We are going to play until the end of the year. We are not going to give up.
"We got some guys back at practice. It was good to see them out on the field. They may not play, but they are getting close. We are hopefully to get some guys back before the finish of the season."
The Potters enter this week's game having lost its last seven games.
East Liverpool opened the season with a win at Minerva (44-7), but since the Blue-and-White have fallen to Indian Creek (26-14), Salem (38-6), Beaver Local (65-0), Harrison Central (31-7), Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin (46-0), Edison (49-14) and Canton Central Catholic (49-6). Don Phillips, who was in his first season as head coach of the Potters, resigned Oct. 3 just few days foollowing the Potters loss to the Wildcats. Phillips was replaced by Jason Duke.
"That's a little bit of an issue for us," Taylor said. "I know Coach Duke has been around. He's been an assistant coach, an administrator and an AD. He is going to be well prepared.
"I don't know if they are going to run a different style of offense than what they did uncer Coach Phillips. I'm not sure if they are going run more of a spread, or if they are still going to run a bit of a Wing-T like they did under Coach Phillips.
"They have only played one game with him as head coach, and that was against a staunch Canton Central Catholic team. They are very good.
"You have to look at who they are playing. We are going to have to play pretty good defense. We are going to have to be prepared for everyting. We are going to have to hit our keys right."
The boys from Columbiana County have struggled on both sides of the ball during their losing streak.
"They still have the same defensive coordinator," Taylor said. "Coach (Tyler) Ossman does a real good job.
"They have great size. They have decent speed. They have some good athletes."
East Liverpool has played a tough schedule.
"They have played a difficult schedule," Taylor said. "They have played Salem, Edison, Beaver Local and Canton Central Catholic. All of those teams are lights out. I do not think their record is indicative of the type of team they are. They have played some very good football teams."
The Potters will be celebrating Homecoming this week.
"It is Homecoming," Taylor said. "It is a special occasion. "It's a rivalry game. We have two main rivals – Weir and East Liverpool.
"It's the 'Battle of the Bridge' as they call it. We know what is at stake. Bragging rights are on the line for the rest of the year. The East Liverpool fans and players are going to be excited. It should be a very good football game."
The Golden Bears are not going to make any major changes going into this week's game.
"We are who we are," Taylor said. "We are going to continue to run the football. We are going to stay with who we are.
"They have the size advantage. We are going to have to do a good job with our blocking.
"Hopefully, we can get our offense clicking again. Hopefully, we can move the ball and give our defense a rest. If we are able to do that, the result should be in our favor."
Oak Glen has been dealing with injuries all season.
"We are just trying to get healthy," Taylor said. "I don't know if we are going to get anyone new back. We may get one or two back.
"There is four weeks left in the season in West Virginia, and we have three games left. We definitely have the opportunity to get healthy.
"We want to get healthy and improve as the season comes to an end. We want to continue to improve every practice, every game and every day."
East Liverpool has been eliminated from playoff contention in Ohio Division IV Region 13.