By JEREMY SELLEW
[email protected]
Experience playing against a style of offense could give a team an edge when playoff time comes around.
It can also lead to your demise.
For the McKeesport Tigers, they’ll have a decided advantage when Baldwin comes calling to Weigle-Schaeffer Stadium Friday for a WPIAL first-round contest.
Baldwin plays a spread offense while the Tigers in blue will be running their triple-option, which can be a nightmare to opposing defensive coordinators.
“I really hadn’t watched them on film before this, but I’m really impressed with their offense,” McKeesport head coach Matt Miller said. “They run a more traditional spread offense and that’s something we’ve seen a few times and it’s actually helped us prepare.”
The Highlanders (5-5) were the fifth-place team in the Allegheny 8 Conference. They’re led by quarterback Mason Stahl, who has turned himself into a true dual-threat signal caller. He’s thrown for 918 yards, completing 69 of his 149 pass attempts. He’s thrown for seven touchdowns and five interceptions.
On the ground, he’s run for 754 yards on 143 carries.
“The quarterback is not shy about dropping back and taking off if he doesn’t see anything,” Miller said of Stahl. “They do a lot of stuff we’re familiar with.”
Miller said his team has been practicing hard at remaining disciplined defensively. A lack of assignment discipline cost them in their loss to Gateway last week.
“We really put a lot of work in today about staying in our lanes. We were really bad at it last week and we gave Gateway and their quarterback a lot of opportunities.”
Communication will be key for the defense of the Tigers (7-3).
“We need to make sure the right person is accounting for (Stahl) on every play,” Miller said. “One play it could be a defensive lineman, the next a safety or a linebacker. That player has to know what his job is.”
It’s highly doubtful the Highlanders have seen an offense like the Tigers. The unit is led by Mr. Touchdown, quarterback Devari Robinson.
To read the rest of this story, please see a copy of Thursday’s Mon Valley Independent, call 724-314-0035 to subscribe or subscribe to our online edition at https://e.monvalleyindependent.com.
