By LYNN GROLL
groll@crescent-news.com
Bouncing back will be in order for "Border War" rivals Defiance College and Adrian College on Saturday when the two combatants collide at 7 p.m. in Adrian.
Both the Yellow Jackets (0-1) and Bulldogs (0-1) are hoping to avoid an 0-2 start to their 2008 season after each suffered defeats against Ohio Athletic Conference opponents a week ago. DC sustained a 35-10 setback to Muskingum College on the road, while Adrian was handed a 34-14 loss by No. 7 Capital University in Columbus.
Sustaining drives offensively will be a major focus for sixth-year DC mentor Robert Taylor and his Jackets after eight of DC's 12 drives ended in four plays or less.
Another priority for Taylor this week was putting an emphasis on tackling better.
"I think offensively we weren't able to sustain any drives, especially early on," remarked Taylor. "Defensively, the biggest thing that hurt us was missed tackles. We missed a ton of tackles. So that's something that we've been focusing on all week.
"Anytime you're faced with a little bit of adversity, and we're being faced with some adversity right now, the true character comes out and I think we'll see a little bit more of what this group is and what they're made of after Saturday," added Taylor.
The Jackets were held to 158 yards against Muskingum and will look to get going against a physical Adrian defense that held Capital to 54 yards rushing on 36 attempts.
"Lots of speed on both sides of the ball," said Taylor about what stood out about the Bulldogs. "They have lots of skill kids and defensively they're physical and they come after you. They're solid against the run. Offensively they throw a lot at you ... there's a lot of different things they do and they do a lot of different things well. I think the biggest thing is their two quarterbacks. They both just bring so much to the table and they're both really good."
Linebacker Bobby Watson paced the Bulldogs with 13 stops while fellow linebacker George Wilson totaled nine stops against Capital.
Senior tailback Lewis Caralla will look to find running room against Adrian after toting the ball 20 times for 78 yards against Muskingum. Caralla also added a handful of receptions while Jarrett Ensign added five catches for the Jackets from sophomore signal-caller Austin Karcher.
Karcher completed 13-of-20 passes in his first collegiate start a week ago and totaled 78 yards.
Adrian uses a two-quarterback system with Mike McGee and Troy Niblock. McGee is more of a traditional drop-back passer while McGee is more of a running threat.
Niblock led AC with 44 yards rushing on 23 carries versus Capital and also spent time at receiver, where he caught a team-best six receptions for 28 yards.
McGee completed 11-of-20 passes for 115 yards and one touchdown.
"As a coach you look at it and you don't mind if both guys are similar," remarked Taylor. "But these two guys are completely different. Mike is a drop-back passer and Troy is going to run all over the place. So you really almost have to develop two different gameplans against them. It's really kind of difficult."
The DC defense allowed 159 yards rushing and 199 through the air last Saturday and will look to improve upon that showing.
Kyle Longsdorf led DC with nine tackles and a fumble forced, while linebacker Chuck Bowman and safety Keith Snyder each made eight hits. Troy Huelskamp, Rodney Donald, Austin Hedderly and Defiance High School graduate Eric Rubio each made six stops.
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