October 5, 2012
What: SPASH vs. Wisconsin Rapids. When: 7:00pm Friday, October 5. Where: Goerke Field, Stevens Point. Records: SPASH 5-0 VFA-South, 6-0 overall; Rapids 2-3 VFA-South, 2-4 overall.
Three Things To Watch
SPASH’s offense vs. Rapids’ defense: If you take a look at SPASH’s offensive numbers last week against winless Neenah, you would probably be impressed. SPASH piled up 210 yards rushing to go along with 188 yards of passing. 398 total yards is not a bad day at the office, right? Well, this is a case where the numbers don’t tell the whole story. Neenah’s defense gave SPASH fits all night long. It was clear that, from a game planning perspective, the Rockets were going to do everything in their power to limit senior running back Zach Pozorski. Overall, they did a pretty good job against the Panthers’ rushing attack. Pozorski scored on a 63 yard scamper to open the game, but ran into walls of Rockets’ defenders after that. Rapids’ defense is a bit of an enigma. Marshfield jumped out to a 24-7 lead through the first three quarters and ultimately won on a late touchdown. Rapids’ defense has given up 122 points in VFA-South play this year, which puts them roughly in the middle of the VFA-South pack. I think it’s safe to say that Rapids will be doing everything possible to bottle up Pozorski. One wildcard for Rapids is Hayden Biegel, who played some snaps on defense against Marshfield. On the flip side, quarterback Eric Zelhofer is a rushing threat for SPASH.
The intangibles: While not very sexy, penalties and special teams play might go a long way toward determining the winner of this game. SPASH endured a long night penalty-wise against Neenah last week. Penalties have been something of a bugaboo for SPASH all season long. The Panthers are eyeing a deep playoff run, but will need to clean up penalties on the offensive side of the ball. Once the Panthers get rolling on offense and establish momentum, they are very difficult to slow down. For Rapids, keep an eye on Zach Bassuener. Bassuener leads the VFA-South in kick return attempts (11) and has a knack for finding holes, making defenders miss and breaking big runs in the return game. In a rivalry game like this, one big play on special teams can make all the difference.
Rapids’ Duxbury vs. SPASH’s front line: Rapids’ signature ball-control style offense can cause a lot of headaches for opposing teams. Rapids’ leading rusher this year is Ryan Duxbury, who has 6 rushing touchdowns and 709 rushing yards in VFA-South play. If Duxbury has a good game, SPASH might find itself in trouble. The Panthers have a number of capable run stoppers. Chief among them is Adam Wachowiak. Collectively, SPASH has done a tremendous job of keeping their conference opponents out of the end zone, yielding only 73 points this season—good for second best in the VFA-South behind Marshfield (72). SPASH’s defense has been opportunistic, so ball security will be extremely important for Rapids’ offense. Expect a war in the trenches when Rapids has the ball on offense.
By The Numbers
147 Points scored by SPASH’s offense in conference play this season, good for best in the VFA-South.
0 Fumbles by Duxbury in conference play.
108 Rushing attempts by Pozorski. Pozorski has rushed for 700 yards, second in the conference to Duxbury’s 709.
4 Passing touchdowns by Zelhofer in conference play.
1 Ol’ River Jug on the line.
