Gladiators in uncharted territory
Their unbeaten record will get a serious challenge tonight from 3-1 South Park.
South Allegheny’s football team has been one of the biggest stories of the WPIAL season thus far, so it’s no surprise that the undefeated Gladiators (4-0) will host South Park in the MVI Game of the Week.
The Eagles (3-1) earned their first win in Allegheny Conference play last Friday with a 7-0 victory over Steel Valley, but they could have added more points in a strong performance.
South Park is led by a strong running game as talented tailback Eric Doerue runs behind a big offensive line that includes twin brothers Parker and Troy Cunningham. Parker stands at 6-4, 290 pounds and is committed to play at James Madison University, while Troy is 6-3, 270 pounds with some Division I offers.
Needless to say, South Allegheny will have to battle in the trenches to ensure that it can keep its perfect start going.
“I think the biggest challenge about facing South Park is their offensive line and their running back (Doerue),” SA head coach Brian Hanson said. “They’re big and strong up front. They’re coached really well. (Doerue) is a home run threat. He can run with power and speed, so we’ve got to toughen up on the defensive line and linebackers and make sure we tackle well.”
The Eagles will offer a different look from what the Gladiators have seen recently in terms of personnel and formation, so the preparation for this matchup has been intensive.
“We’ve had a pretty physical week,” Hanson said. “We amped that up because we’ve been seeing a lot of spread teams the last few weeks. These guys are gonna run right at you and challenge you, so that’s been a difference in our preparation.”
On offense, Hanson said that his squad will have to cut down on mistakes that it has made over the past few weeks.
Quarterback Ryan Cortes will continue to lead what has been a dynamic unit with playmakers like Cam Epps, Drew Cook, Camden Lewis and Tyreeke Chatman.
“We just have to execute,” Hanson said. “We should’ve put 40+ points on the board the last two weeks, but we shot ourselves in the foot a couple times.
“We have to take care of business when we have the ball. We had four fumbles last week, and none of them were really forced. … We just have to protect the ball and play hard on both sides of the ball.”
Tonight’s contest will be one of the biggest games for the SA football program in a long time, but Hanson is keeping his squad level-headed and prepared for a tough game.
“We’re just trying to live up to the standards and goals that we’ve put forth for our team,” he said. “We’re excited about the crowd because these kids have played in environments where there’s maybe 100 people, and we expect this to be a sellout. It’s still football at the end of the day, so we have to block, run, and tackle.
“But the fortunate thing about this group is that they’ve lined up against the Quinton Martins, the Chris Climes; they’ve seen such high-caliber talent and teams, so there’s not much pressure from the outside. It’s about us trying to live up to our own expectations.”
