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Madonna needs to get running game going

WEIRTON — The 1-1 Madonna Blue Dons are on the road again this week, traveling to upstart Conotton Valley. It will be the third of four straight road games that open the 2020 Blue Don schedule. Game time Friday is 7 p.m.

The Rockets now are 2-1 after their 34-13 victory last Thursday over Catholic Central.

Conotton Valley is coached this year by Don Hertler, Jr., who was inducted into the Ohio High School Football Coaches Assocation Hall of Fame in 2019. He took over from Mike Winland, who guided CV to a 4-5-1 mark last year.

Hertler is the eighth-winningest coach in Stark County history with 202 wins overall in 27 years as head coach at North Canton Hoover. He went there after a successful stint at Garaway. He began his coaching career as an assistant at Conotton Valley back in the mid-1980s.

The Blue Dons had difficulty with the Scott Skyhawks last week in a 35-20 loss.

“The score was only 8-6 at the half,” said first-year Madonna head coach Dan Rovira. “And, we were behind only 24-14 at the end of the third quarter. I don’t want to make excuses, but they just wore us down.”

The Skyhawks used their veer offense to run the football for more than 400 yards, which was a major concern that Rovira expressed last week prior to the game. He noted that Scott had some big linemen, and they had the ability to control the game with long drives.

Turning his attention to Conotton Valley, Rovira said, “They are very sound. They’re big and well coached. They’re a good football team.We have two back-to-back tough teams, and I have said since the beginning that I want our games to be hard.

“That’s okay. We want to get better and that’s the way to do it, playing good teams.”

Rovira added that he scouted the Rockets last week in the game in Steubenville, and he noted they want to run the ball.

“Everyone wants to run the ball. We do, too,” he said. “They run from power formations with an I formation and pro look. They run down hill. They have nice size up front and a nice sized running back.

The running back is Maddox Walter, who rushed for 225 yards and three touchdowns against Central. He lugged the pigskin 34 times in the game.

“Walter runs down hill with power,” said Rovira.

Sophomore Evan Rice directs the Conotton Valley offensive attack. He threw the ball only five times against the Crusaders for 17 yards, but he added 53 yards and a score on the ground with 16 carries.

Rovira said his Blue Dons made some fundamental mistakes against Scott that are being worked on this week in practice. He was particularly irked that players didn’t line up properly on several occasions.

“I know we are behind with a new coaching staff and the lack of practice time caused by the pandemic, but we have to get back to basics and eliminate those mistakes,” he said. “We got better from our first game, but some little things hurt us last week. We’ll continue to get better.”

Madonna quarterback Santino Arlia had his second big game in a row. With the Blue Don running game stymied, the junior threw for 326 yards and two touchdowns. He completed 27 of 43 pass attempts.

“For the second game, we had difficulty running, which we feel we have to do to win on a consistent basis, so we turned to the air again,” said Rovira. “Santino did a nice job again, but we need to run the football if for no other reason than as a deception. We’re getting better at it, but we have a way to go before I’ll be satisfied.”

Arlia passed for a school record 400 yards and two touchdowns against Wahama in a season-opening Blue Don win. He continues to lead all area gunslingers with 726 yards passing and eight touchdowns.

Senior Lucky Pulice caught nine of Arlia’s aerials, while Thomas Sessi and Michael Burdine grabbed seven apiece.

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