The Day Before: Keys for Goshen vs. New Richmond

As I said last week, I thought Goshen's victory over Batavia was their best effort of the season. If the Warriors are going to keep alive any hopes of getting a share of the SBC American Division, they'll need an even better effort Friday against New Richmond.

The Lions are coming off of their first loss of the season, 13-12, to East Clinton. The Lions are sure to be ready for Goshen on Friday. A second loss in a row would seriously damage the chance the Lions have at a playoff spot.

Here are the four things that have to happen if Goshen is going to upend the Lions on Friday:

• NO TURNOVERS: I can't really stress this one enough. Goshen turned it over four times in the first half against Western Brown, leading to a 21-point head start for the Broncos. You can't give good teams extra possessions. In fact, against New Richmond, not only must they not turn the ball over, they really need to force NR to turn it over at least once, if not twice.
• MIX IT UP: This New Richmond defense is good. Very, very good. They gave up their first 13 points on defense LAST WEEK against EC. The previous points (6 against Williamsburg) were a fumble return for touchdown. Goshen has shown many different looks on offense. They need to find one of those looks that can move the ball against this formidable Lion defense. And, going back to point one, the offense must take care of the ball. They have to keep from giving NR a short field with which to work.
• SOLID SPECIAL TEAMS: Whatever Goshen's game plan against New Richmond's returners, they need to execute. My guess is that we'll see them employ the short kickoff game once again. While the Lions have not returned a kick for a touchdown this season, they certainly have the talent to do so. Coverage teams must do their job and return teams can't turn the ball over if Goshen is going to be successful.
• SOLID ON "D": New Richmond has a ton of weapons on offense. Quarterback Tyler Williams has 442 yards rushing and 11 touchdowns. Tailback Steve Gantzer has 569 yards and 5 touchdowns. Junior Andrew Nealan has 517 yards and 5 touchdowns. Fullback Bryan Martineck has 231 yards and 3 touchdowns. Goshen must play good assignment football to shut down the NR offense. Scoring a TD on defense wouldn't be bad either, considering how good the Lions "D" is.

Other thoughts from the week 8 schedule:

• East Clinton and Blanchester will meet in a showdown for first place in the SBC National Division. East Clinton is also holding on to playoff hopes after defeating New Richmond last week. I like the Astros to run the table and finish 7-3. I'll have a better idea after next week whether that will be good enough or not.
• This is the week for Little Miami. This is probably one of the biggest games in recent memory for the Panthers. If Little Miami wants to be a serious contender for a playoff spot (and a playoff run for that matter), just competing with Turpin at home Friday isn't enough. They need a win. I think they'll get it. I'm 1-1 with my EC upset picks. I'll take the Panthers at home to upset the Spartans.

One last note: The Enquirer is reporting that Wilmington has applied to join the SCOL. This comes as no surprise to me. It means the FAVC will likely lose two members soon, as Amelia has already committed to join the SBC soon. I'll be sitting down with SBC Commissioner Bud Phillips soon to discuss this and more. Look for that interview soon on the KOR website.

Good luck to all the area teams Friday night. Listen in to our broadcast beginning at 7:20 on the KOR Friday night. We'll have all the final scores on the website after the game. See you then!