In a sport like football, you expect to encounter a few injuries over the course of a season, and the Bradford Owls have been hit particularly hard by the injury bug in the last couple weeks.
After losing a pair of starters in Derek Sunafrank and Vinny Burgess in their Week 3 loss to Ridgway, the Owls also lost starting quarterback Nate Blauser to a leg injury late in last week’s defeat at Moniteau.
While the hope is that all three players will be back in action later this season, none will be on hand when Bradford (2-3) hosts Brockway (4-1) on Friday for its Homecoming game.
With Blauser sidelined, this week’s QB1 duties fall to junior Caleb Nuzzo, who has seen sparse action under center so far this year.
Given a full week of practice with the first team, head coach Jeff Puglio has every confidence that Nuzzo can make a seamless transition.
“He got all the reps at practice,” Puglio said. “I like where he’s at. He’s making progress every day. We just need him to slow the game down, relax a little bit, and just play.”
Puglio doesn’t foresee any strategic changes to Bradford’s offense with Nuzzo under center.
“He’ll have the whole playbook available to him; he knows everything we’re doing,” Puglio said. “Each week he gets better at the position and more comfortable in the position. There won’t be any real changes with what we’re doing.”
Bradford is hoping for a change in results on offense after scoring just seven points in each of its last two contests. A combination of too many turnovers and not enough first downs in key moments has been the biggest reason for Bradford’s current slump.
On the other side of the ball, the Owls’ defense has played well in recent weeks but has at times fallen victim to big plays from the opposition. That was especially apparent in the 12-7 loss to Moniteau, as the Warriors managed barely 300 yards of offense but were able to score on a pair of long plays: a 54-yard screen pass to Cody Wise and the game-winning 81-yard run by Chance Nagy.
Puglio sees a lot of similarities between Moniteau and Brockway and knows his defense needs to do a better job of limiting the damage on those long plays.
“They’ve got some size, and we didn’t deal well with (Moniteau’s) size inside last week,” he said. “They’ve got nice skill on the inside and they’ve also got some kids who can do some stuff in space. Our focus is to get more hands on the ball. We had issues with tackling last week. We need to take more pride in our tackling.”
There will certainly be external pressure on Bradford to snap its losing streak. But Puglio is more concerned about the pressure within the team. More than anything related to schemes or tactics, he sees playing free and easy as the most important thing for his players.
“It’s all about not trying to be perfect and not trying to make perfect plays,” he explained. “I think we get caught up and forget to play: we’re thinking instead of playing. We just need to go out and play each play, and if a mistake happens, we’ve got to move on to the next play. I want us to play loose and have fun. Our problem is we’re playing tight and on our heels. I want to see us loosen up, relax, and just play football.”
On to some Week 5 picks:
Brockway (4-1) at Bradford (2-3)
The Rovers are tough, but they haven’t exactly been blowing people out. This one feels like it could be closer than expected. BROCKWAY by 3.
Redbank Valley (4-1) at Smethport (5-0)
There’s the potential for a lot of points in this big Small School matchup. Smethport’s tough defense should make the difference. SMETHPORT by 6.
Curwensville (3-2) at Coudersport (4-1)
Coudy’s offense has looked like a well-oiled machine this year. Don’t expect that to change this week. COUDY by 15.
Moniteau (3-2) at Brookville (2-3)
A good matchup between a pair of AA schools jockeying for playoff position. The Warriors will hope to match last week’s strong defensive performance against a high-powered Raiders offense. BROOKVILLE by 3.
Kane (1-4) at Clarion (5-0)
Expect a much different vibe from last year’s classic district title game. The Wolves likely don’t have the horses to stay with Clarion’s high-powered attack. CLARION by 20.
Punxsutawney (2-3) at Ridgway (5-0)
So far, so good for the Elkers, who look like the most complete team in District 9. RIDGWAY by 23.
Cameron County (1-4) at Elk County Catholic (3-2)
Good for the Red Raiders on getting win number one last week. Number two might prove to be a little tougher to come by this time. ECC by 31.
Clarion-Limestone (4-1) at Otto-Eldred (3-2)
The Terrors will have their hands full with a C-L offense averaging over 36 points per game. Otto will need its offense to go point for point. C-L by 4.
St. Marys (0-5) at Karns City (1-4)
Talk about tough luck: the Gremlins have allowed just 10 more points than they’ve scored all season, but find themselves at 1-4. KARNS CITY by 12.
Port Allegany (0-5) at Union/A-C Valley (1-4)
The Gators just haven’t been able to stop anybody this year: the defense is giving up a whopping 47.4 points per game. UNION by 16.
Keystone (2-3) at Sheffield (0-5)
Tip of the cap to Sheffield’s defense, who took the loss despite giving up just six points to Cameron County last week. Keystone will look for much more than that. KEYSTONE by 21.
