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CADIZ -- A monumental offense turnaround helped Harrison Central even its record at 1-1 following an impressive 47-14 win against East Palestine.
The Huskies did most of the dirty work on the ground.
Harrison totaled 410 yards of total offense, with 331 coming on the ground.
Junior Olin Wade rushed 13 times for 152 yards and two touchdowns, bolstered by a 60-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.
Sophomore QB Kingston Smith had an all-around solid outing after a tough opening week start.
Smith ran for 71 yards and two TDs on six carries, while complete all five of his passes for 79 yards and two touchdowns.
"We talked to the kids all week about how we were embarrassed with our effort running the ball (against Claymont)," head coach Anthony Hayes said. "We worked really hard and made a few changes, made things simpler for them. We were going to run the football and it was up to them whether we ran it well or not.
"We got that mentality that we were going to run the ball and they were excited about it."
Colson Crothers is quickly becoming Smith's go-to guy. He caught the majority of the team's passes in week one and Smith and Crothers connected on all five attempts against the Bulldogs.
An important feature is Harrison didn't let itself get down mentally.
Wade scored from 24 yards as the Huskies drew first blood in the first quarter, but fell behind after Clark Rutledge threw a pair of touchdown passes, the second of which came in the second quarter to put East Palestine up 14-7.
But Harrison tightened up the proverbial chin strap and reeled off six-straight touchdowns to close out the game.
"We got behind on the scoreboard and we were able to go back and answer and it reinforces that, hey, you can do this," Hayes said. "When you play four quarters, good things will happen for you and bad things will happen to you. You have to turn the page and go on to the next play and we've reiterated that ad nauseum throughout practice and even the games, next play, next play.
"That's kind of been our mantra and that sentiment has our kids and our coaches all speaking the same language. They understand it."
Next up is Strasburg.
The Tigers boast a 2-0 record, including a recent 25-0 victory against Catholic Central at home.
Senior quarterback Brody Hurst leads the Tigers' spread-look offense.
What makes Hurst dangerous is not only his ability to buy time in the pocket, but his ability to throw on the run shows little to no dip in accuracy.
"He is an exceptional athlete," Hayes admitted. "He's very dangerous and throws well and is faster than he's given credit for.
"He can sit and throw as well and is really quick at getting rid of the ball. He can create a lot of problems for defenses."
Against East Palestine, while Harrison surrendered only two scores, it did give up 300-plus yards in the passing game.
Part of that can be attributed to some youth in the secondary, but an equal part can be faulted by the Huskies inability to get pressure on the quarterback.
Whether or not Harrison can not only pressure but get to Hurst will play a deciding factor in the outcome this week.
"We'll needs to put our pads on him early and often," Hayes said. "We need to get pressure and get in his face so he can't just have an easy rollout and complete easy passes.
That's been our game plan all week, working to get better at that portion of the game.
"And we gave up some yards last week, but yards are yards. It is what it is. We aren't giving up scores."
If Harrison can continue to run the ball well and give up yards but not points in the passing game, things will continue to improve for this youthful Huskies' outfit.