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CADIZ -- The Harrison Central and Indian Creek football teams are looking to put last week's losses to fellow Buckeye 8 rivals behind them.
The Huskies and the Redskins are set to clash as they meet at 7 p.m. Friday night out at Wagner Field.
Harrison Central won four of its first five games of the season before falling to St. Clairsville, 49-8, last Friday night down at Red Devil Stadium.
"Not a lot," Harrison Central (4-2) head coach Anthony Hayes said asked if there was anything positive his team could take away from the game. "It was pretty one sided. We ran into a team better than us. They were definitely better than us Friday night. They were better prepared, and that falls on me.
"It is just a matter of where we are at, and where want to be. We have a lot of things to work on. We have a lot to improve upon. That starts with me, and I will make sure it gets done."
On the other side, Bellaire shut out Indian Creek, 33-0, at Kettlewell Stadium.
"It's a struggle for us," Indian Creek (1-5) head coach Andrew Connor said. "It is tough when you can't sustain drives. There are so many reasons why we haven't been able to sustain drives. That is something we have to work on offensively."
St. Clairsville is a good football team as the Red Devils improved to 5-1 with win the against the Huskies.
"Absolutely," Connor said. "St. Clairsville is well coached, and they are good football team."
Harrison Central has the ability to score a lot of points as the Huskies scored at least 20 points in their first five games before scoring eight last week. The boys from Harrison County have scored at 36 points three times the season.
"First and foremost, they like to run the ball horizontal with their jet sweeps," Connor said. "They like to stretch the field. They get to the corner. They force you to run sideline to sideline. Our first priority is we have to be able to box them in.
"They have a very good tailback. He does a good job of running downhill. Their quarterback – (Hayden) Cassidy – creates a lot of big plays. He throws the ball well. He can get to the outside. He spreads the ball around. Their running back likes to get downhill, and then you have their jet series. They make you run sideline to sideline. They do a lot of different things offensively."
The Redskins are known for running the football. Zion McGee is one of the top running backs in the area.
"That's always the case since Coach Connor has been there," Hayes said. "Offensively, the want to run the football, and defensively they stop the run. We expect it to be a physical game. There is not going to be a lot of tricks. Our focus is on stopping the run."
Harrison Central gave up 80 points through the first five weeks of the season.
"They have a good front four," Connor said. "They have a lot of athleticism in their front seven with their lineman and with their linebackers.
"They do a good job of putting you in long situations. They create turnovers, and they push you behind the chains. They tackle well in space. They don't do a lot of things, but what they do do, they do it well."
Indian Creek has allowed 25 or more points in every game this year.
"They are pretty athletic up front," Hayes said. "They are athletic, and they are big. Their second and third level with their linebackers and their secondary are more comfortable. They like to tackle.
"They have played a tough schedule, and they have competed. They have had some breaks not go their way. They are well coached. They're physical.
"We have to match their physicality. We have to be prepared to do that. If we want until Friday, we are going to be in trouble. We have to be locked in. We have to be prepared. If we do that, we give ourselves a chance. If we don't, we are going to find ourselves in an uphill battle."
Both teams are of similar size.
"Size-wise, we are even," Connor said. "They have the speed advantage. Size-wise, we are about the same."
The Redskins want to use their size to their advantage.
"We're really similar," Hayes said. "They have some big guys on the offensive line that skews things a bit. They are athletic, and they are big. We are very similar.
"They have real good numbers. They have a lot of depth. These guys have been starting for two years. They are juniors. They are seasoned playing at the varsity level.
"They are physical. They are in the right place to make plays. Sometimes, they make them, and sometimes they don't. That is what happens when you're dealing with high school kids.
"They are well coached. They are put in positions to succeed. It's going to be a physical rivalry game."
The Huskies are a well-rounded team.
"They do a good job," Connor said about Harrison Central's special teams units. "They don't put themselves in trouble. They are well coached. They do a good job in all three phases of the game – offense, defense and special teams."
For Indian Creek, the challenge will be preventing Harrison Central's playmakers from getting outside and into space.
"The biggest thing for us is we have to set the edge," Connor said. "We cannot let them stretch the field. We have to take away the big play. Their offense creates a lot of big plays on offense with their quarterback and their running back.
"Offensively, we have to end drives with points. We have to flip the field. We have to be able to move the ball. We have sustain drives. We have to flip the field if we can't score points."
The Huskies are focused on getting back to basics.
"Our kids have to execute what we have taught them to do," Hayes said. "We got away from our technique. We played a good team, and our technique got away from us. We need to do a better job with our technique.
"We have to understand where 24 – Zion – is at all times. Their quarterback is athletic. He runs the ball well. He has a nice arm.
"We have to control the line of scrimmage. We have to be able to get the ball to our athletes. We have to spread the ball out.
"We are expecting it to be a physical game."
Harrison Central enters play this week ranked No. 4 in the Ohio Division V Region 17 rankings.
The Huskies defeated the Redskins, 50-13, last season at Kettlewell.