Tiger Gameday, Week 8 vs Holy Angels
Tiger Gameday – Week 8
Last Game: Princeton 28 Hutchinson 7
Game Recap: A good defensive performance last week for Hutch, forcing a lot of Princeton punts. But Hutch’s offense couldn’t take advantage. There were multiple injuries in the game including at least one “out for the season” injury, that forced changes on the fly. Hutch was only down 14-7 heading into the 4th quarter when the team ran out of gas a bit.
Current Record: 3-4
This Week’s Opponent: Academy of Holy Angels (4-3)
About the Opponent: This was a huge rivalry back in the Missota Conference days. This week you’ve got two teams that badly need a win to head into Sections with some momentum. As always Holy Angels has some real good athletes on both sides of the ball. That includes QB Damian Devine who has thrown for over 500 yards and rushed for over 500 yards this season. Also watch out for RB Emmett Anderson who is nearing the 900 yard rushing mark for the season.
Key Hutch Players: Hutch’s run game. The injuries from last week mean your RB is now your QB,and you have 2 or 3 new or inexperienced players at Full Back and Running Back. There is some talent there, but they don’t have a lot of experience in a varsity running game. Can the Offensive Line open up holes for these players? Getting an effective run game is critical in this game.
4 Downs/Storylines:
First Down: New QB. As mentioned with the injuries last week, Nathan Thode will switch over to taking snaps. He’s done it before, so we have no worries about that. But he is a different player than Graydon Rostberg. Thode is much more of a runner. Can you take advantage of that and catch Holy Angels off guard?
Second Down: Stop the Run. While AHA can do both run and throw. They want to run the ball more. And they have a HUGE OL to boot. Hutch has struggled with bigger O-lines this year. BUT, the good news is they have played against Big OL’s. Can they use that experience in this game? Sure can. Gotta figure out away to get Devine and Anderson on the ground or it’ll be a long night.
Third Down: Come out of the night Healthy. I know this isn’t something you can really game plan for. But Hutch has had some big injuries this year. Hutch is going to try and win this game, but in the grand scheme this game doesn’t mean much. District titles have been decided, and one win or loss tonight probably doesn’t move the section seeding needle too much. Come out of this game as healthy as possible and get ready for the second season next week.
4th Down/Quick Hit Keys: Hutch has been doing a much better job at holding onto the ball, but still hasn’t won the turnover battle in any game this year…Turf again tonight. Holy Angels has always been better and faster on their own home turf. Speed kills…MEA Week games are always hard to prepare for. Short week of practice and game planning. The comparison we’ve always been given is Monday is kinda like a Monday/Tuesday combined practice and Tuesday turns into a Wednesday/Thursday practice…Section seedings out Thursday. Marshall will get #1 almost guaranteed (especially if they beat New Ulm tonight), But then seeds 2, 3, and 4 are all up for grabs. Hutch could finish anywhere in there.
Section 2AAAA
Marshall 6-1
New Ulm 4-3
St Peter 3-4
Hutchinson 3-4
Willmar 1-6
