Looking Ahead: E-town vs. Ship

A few notes before I give you my preview for tomorrow night's big game:
• I'm taking my laptop tomorrow night, and will try and post live updates from the game to the blog (if I can get a wireless signal in the press box). In fact, I'm going to attempt to do this for every Bears playoff game from here on out. That way if you decide not to brave the elements tomorrow night (it's supposed to be not very pretty), and you can't get 1600 AM on your radio, well you'll have a place to stay up on what's going on.
• I'm still baffled that the borough won't bend on their rule and let Market St. be decked out in blue and white for tomorrow night. I want to thank those who made signs and asked local businesses downtown to hang them out. They look great, and we have two in our windows at our brand, spankin' new Chronicle office.
• Wondering if the school district is going to get some portable bathrooms to Thompson Field for tomorrow night, they will need them if the crowd is the same as the Central game.
• If I were going to buy a ticket to this game, I'd save myself the headache tomorrow night and take advantage of the ticket presale at the high school tomorrow from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Maybe that's just me.

Okay, here's the preview I wrote for this week's game. Get comfy, it's pretty long.

GAME DETAILS: No. 15 Shippensburg Greyhounds (7-3 overall, 4-1 Mid-Penn Colonial Division) at No. 2 Elizabethtown Bears (9-1 overall, 4-1 Section Two). First round, District Three Class AAA playoffs. Friday, Nov. 9, 7 p.m., Thompson Stadium, Elizabethtown Area High School.

WEATHER FORECAST: Cloudy, lows in the mid 30s. Chance of rain, 30 percent.

SEASONS AT A GLANCE:
Shippensburg: The Greyhounds jumped out to a 6-0 start at the beginning of the season, but come into Friday night's playoff game after losing three of their last four games. Shippensburg fell to Pius X and Greencastle-Antrim on Oct. 5 and 12, bounced back to beat West Perry by three and then fell to top-seeded Northern last week 35-21.
Ship finished second in the Mid-Penn Colonial Division to undefeated Northern. They are the No. 15 seed in the district.
E-town: The Bears had their chance for a perfect regular season and a No. 1 seed in the district ended last week when they lost to Cocalico 35-21.
E-town finished 9-1 overall and shared the Section Two crown with Solanco. They are the No. 2 seed in the districts.
The winner of this game will play the winner of Lampeter-Strasburg vs. Conrad Weiser.

E-TOWN ON OFFENSE:
The Bears had one of their worst offensive games on Friday night against Cocalico. E-town found itself in an early hole and just didn't have the ability to dictate the pace of the game that it usually does. But the Bears will have had six full days to lick their wounds and come into Friday's game rested.
The Bears are dealing with a few minor injuries, including running back Jordan Hallman's hamstring. Hallman will play, but it's difficult to say right now if he will have the same explosiveness he's had all season long.
Shippensburg's biggest weakness is considered its linebackers. They're inexperienced and have to deal with E-town's plethora of running backs coming at them every which way. When the Bears have the ball, expect them to establish the running game and stick to it until the Greyhounds prove they can stop it. If Hallman isn't 100 percent, it certainly throws a monkey wrench into E-town's offensive gameplan, but expect Conrad Heisey and Andrew Weller to get the bulk of the carries and for fullback Shane Rosenberry to perhaps get some more touches.
E-town's offensive line is surely itching to get back out on the playing field and prove how well they can block for their running backs, especially after losing last week.
The offense for the Bears also hinges on the success of the running game, but that's the case this Friday perhaps more than the average game. Shippensburg runs the same style of ball-control offense that the Bears do, so the longer the E-town offense can stay on the field, the fresher its defense will be. If the Bears can jump out to a lead, it will make it that much tougher for Shippensburg to catch them, because it doesn't have the kind of quick-strike offense that can make up a lot of points quickly.
PLAYER TO WATCH: Running back Conrad Heisey.
Heisey has quietly become E-town's workhorse this season. If Hallman is unable to be his usual explosive self due to a hamstring injury, Heisey must be able to pick up the slack and continue to run with power and determination. When Heisey gets past the initial wave of defenders, he has consistently shown the ability to drag defenders in the second wave three or four yards before going down. He needs to be the player who keeps the chains moving and who can break off some big runs for the Bears, too.

E-TOWN ON DEFENSE:
Shippensburg operates in the Wing-T just like the Bears do, so nothing the Greyhounds run should catch E-town by surprise. Ship's offense is led by 1,000-yard back Ethan Naylor (second in the Mid-Penn in rushing with 1,153 yards and 11 TDs) and Jermayne Webber (548 yards, two TDs). They'll be looking for holes behind a terrific offensive line.
Ship's line returns four starters – Shayne Clark, Tim Saphore, Cody Helman and Cody Lehman – all of whom are more than 6-foot. Clark and Saphore are the biggest of the four, at 6'3", 260 pounds and 6'2", 265 pounds, respectively. E-town's defensive line is going to have to line up and go head to head with these experienced linemen, who won't be surprised by much.
The Greyhounds also have a three-year starter at quarterback in Craig Van Scyoc (1,138 yards, 12 TD, 11 INT). He will be looking for 6'4" wideout Loren Horst (287 yards, six TD) on the rare occasion that Ship throws the football (the Grayhounds average about 14 passes per game). Van Scyoc has been prone to interceptions, so the defensive line and linebackers will be looking to get pressure on him when he drops back to pass to force him into mistakes. Horst will likely be shadowed by E-town safety Nate Koach, who is also 6'4."
But E-town's success hinges on its ability to stop the Shippensburg running attack. Van Scyoc isn't a running threat like Ephrata's Blake Crowther. The Greyhounds pound it with Naylor and Webber behind their excellent offensive line. But Ship's two backs are also very fast, so it'll be up to the E-town linebackers to cover sideline to sideline and limit their ability to break runs to the outside.
PLAYERS TO WATCH: E-town defensive linemen Alex Kirchner, Josh Sabulsky, Zac Distasio and Anthony Durante.
It's up to these four to handle Ship's monsters on the offensive line. They need to hit them right in the mouth from the opening whistle and never stop for four straight quarters. If they can close the holes Naylor and Webber have to run through and allow their linebackers to come up and hit them for short gains or losses, that will for Shippensburg to throw the ball more. If that happens, E-town has the Greyhounds right where it wants them.

E-TOWN ON SPECIAL TEAMS:
E-town corrected its problems on kickoffs for the most part last week against Cocalico. They need to keep the ball in bounds on kickoffs and limit Shippensburg's return yardage. When the Bears have been forced to punt, which hasn't been often, Hallman has been crushing the ball. He can turn field position quickly with his ability to punt more than 45 yards. However, it will be interesting to see if his hamstring injury affects his punting or, for that matter, his ability to return punts and kickoffs.
If Hallman's leg acts up, Heisey will be the primary return man on kickoffs and Koach will handle punt return duties.
PLAYERS TO WATCH: Koach and Heisey.
They will likely handle most of the kick returning. Long returns always have a way of firing up the offense and giving your team more momentum, so they'll certainly be looking to break a few. However, Hallman handled the vast majority of the returns this year, so the two will have to be careful not to mishandle the ball and turn it over.

PREDICTION:
It will certainly be interesting to see how the Bears are able to bounce back from their first loss of the season. The first nine weeks, nearly every thing went right for Elizabethtown. Last week, almost nothing did. How the team is able to respond to its first defeat will say a lot about how well it will do in these playoffs.
The Bears had a playoff berth sewn up before Cocalico, but still had plenty to play for (No. 1 seed, section title and a 10-0 season just to name a few). However, things just didn't go E-town's way Friday night. But the Bears have to put it behind them immediately if they are going to beat Shippensburg. They cannot linger on that loss, or they could find themselves in a world of trouble against the Greyhounds.
There is a lot similar about these two teams, but when you look at overall talent and depth, the Bears have the advantage. Ship really only played three playoff-caliber teams this year and lost to all three of them. E-town has more running backs capable of hurting you and a clear advantage on defense.
Knowing the psyche of this team and its coaches, it's safe to assume the taste of defeat won't hurt the Bears, but only make them hungrier. Losing to Cocalico could have been a blessing in disguise for the Bears. Plus, it was a bit of a mirage. That game had all the makings of an upset – one team coming off an emotional win, on short rest, in front of another team's home fans and the last game for that team's seniors. Consider the loss more of a speed bump in E-town's road than a pothole.
The Bears are still the team that has score more than 200 points than their opponents and dominated the league for the first nine weeks. Now they're at home, with the pressure of going undefeated off of them and in the playoffs. The first 10 weeks are behind them and mean nothing now. It's a one game season from here on out.
Hallman's injury, however severe it might be, certainly could affect the Bears, but the depth that this team has is unbelievable and they do have the ability to win this game without him at 100 percent. Granted, they probably can't win many games in the playoffs without their premier playmaker at full speed, but they should be able to get by Shippensburg.
Watch for E-town to come out playing with a renewed fire and passion and looking to make a statement against Shippensburg. But this is the playoffs and no team gets in without being fiercely talented. The Greyhounds certainly have the ability to win this game if the Bears overlook them.
I see E-town exploiting Shippensburg's weak defensive front for a ton of rushing yards and controlling the game on the ground – which is just what they like to do.

E-TOWN 35 - SHIP 14