By Cort Reynolds
Ada hosts local traditional rival Bluffton Friday for week nine in another must-win situation to keep their post-season hopes alive.
The Bulldogs averted an upset by Paulding (1-7, 0-5 NWC) last week at home
by scoring 22 second half points to defeat the surprisingly tough Panthers, 22-16.
Meanwhile, the dangerous Pirates (3-5, 2-3 NWC) loat at league-leading
Spencerville (6-2, 5-0 NWC) last Friday, 33-10.
"They're scary and athletic as heck," said Ada fifth-year head coach Bob
Olwin of the Pirates. "(Dakota) Bricker's ability to make you miss is a
tough chore. (Kaleb) Jefferson is a good receiver, and their fullback
(Dendre Nassar) is a big stocky kid who runs hard. Their offense presents
a lot of problems."
He noted that the Pirates are mostly a running team, and the run has given
Ada problems this season ever since the LCC game, with the exception of
the shutout vs. Columbus Grove.
"Bluffton will give you a lot of motion and run counters, rocket sweeps, options, quarterback counter treys and toss sweeps," said Olwin. "They will throw waggles and wheel routes as well as streaks, and Jefferson can throw halfback passes, too.
"We have to play assignment football on defense and be ready," he continued. "We have to get off the blocks and tackle better, use our pads more and not tackle so much with hands and arms."
On defense, Olwin feels the Pirates are pretty aggressive.
"They will use four and three-man fronts," he said. "No one they have played so far plays like we do, so it is harder to get an indication of what they might do. They do have several secondary people back, and their linebackers come pretty hard on blitzes. They also have the league's leading punter at 38 yards a kick."
The Bulldogs are 2-1 at home this season, while the Pirates are 1-2 on the
road. The three Bluffton wins have come over Allen East (28-14), Paulding
(42-14) and Cory-Rawson (41-7). Ada's last three games are at home after playing five of their first seven on the road.
The Bulldogs rallied from a 14-10 second period deficit last year to defeat the rival Pirates 38-14 at Harmon Field. Bricker rushed for 132 yards while Ada QB Seth Conley completed 30 of 41 passes for 398 yards and three TDs.
In 2015, Bluffton ended an eight-year losing streak to Ada with a 27-21 win at War Memorial. In 2014, the Bulldogs won a 42-41 shootout at Bluffton when the tying Pirate extra point missed in the final seconds. In Olwin's first year at Ada, the Bulldogs beat Bluffton 36-24.
"We definitely are going to have to play well, execute on offense and keep
our drives going," Olwin warned. "We have to clean up the penalties and
mental mistakes. Some are from being over-zealous.
"We need to be more consistent," he added. "Bricker also returns punts and
kickoffs, so we have to try and contain him."
Ranked eighth in the Div. VI, region 22 computer ratings, Ada must beat
Bluffton and then Allen East at home in the finale if they want to make the post-season for the 11th time in the last 12 years.
The Bulldogs have made the playoffs 10 of the last 11 seasons, missing out
only in 2014 over this successful run which started in 2006.
