Preview: E-town vs. Solanco

(Photo by Bill Hunking)

OK, I didn't have room in this week's print edition for my weekly football game preview, so I decided to put it up here. If this is your first time in The Bears Den, I hope you found us OK. Welcome, and take your time to explore. Here's a glimpse at Saturday night's game between E-town and Solanco. Wondering why it's Saturday night? Because this is the week of the Solanco Fair, and the fair ends on Friday night. So rather than have conflicting events (and a ton of traffic), it was scheduled as a Saturday game. Now you know, and knowing is half the battle.

GAME DETAILS: Elizabethtown Bears (2-1 overall) at Solanco Golden Mules (2-1 overall), 7 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 20.

WEATHER FORECAST: Clear, low of 51. Chance of rain, 20 percent.

SEASONS AT A GLANCE:

Solanco: The Golden Mules are coming off of two straight wins, both in Monday night games, including their first shutout since 2002. Solanco started the season with a tough 14-13 loss to Penn Manor, but rebounded to beat Kennard-Dale 12-7 in week two and Oxford 25-0 last Monday, rounding out nonleague play at 2-1.

E-town: The Bears are also flying high, coming off a last-minute 28-27 win over Manheim Township. E-town started the year with a dominating 53-7 win over J.P. McCaskey and dropped a 28-27 decision in overtime to Muhlenberg in week two. E-town also got through nonleague play at 2-1.

E-TOWN ON OFFENSE:
The Bears are coming off a very physical matchup with Manheim Township, but one in which they found success on the ground and in the air. E-town had 191 rushing yards and 152 passing yards against the Streaks last week. The Bears spread the ball around on the ground to backs Shane Rosenberry, Conrad Heisey and Mitch Weidman, and will likely do more of the same against Solanco.

E-town will use its running game to set the tempo of the game, control the clock and set up quarterback Kyle McNeil and the passing game. McNeil's favorite target is senior Jeremi Jones, who already has four touchdown receptions, and caught the game-winning 76-yard score against Township. The Bears are still a run-dominant offense, but they are a threat to strike with a deep pass at any time, with McNeil's strong arm and Jones and fellow wideout Steven Nunez's speed.

Defense has been Solanco's strength so far this year. The Mules have allowed just 21 points in three games and are big and strong up front. And they're full of confidence after shutting out Oxford last week. Their defensive line is anchored by senior guard Bryan Boulden, but it's the linebackers that spearhead the defensive attack. Solanco returns five of them this year, including outside linebackers Jared Cartwright and Trevor Marsh and inside linebackers Mike Buffington and Sam Johnson.

The secondary is young (Solanco lost all three defensive back starters to graduation last year), but it is starting to come together. The Mules have yet to allow 100 yards passing in a game and McNeil has thrown for more than 100 yards in his last two games – so something has to give there. The Bears will take their shots downfield and test Solanco's secondary, and the weather calls for a clear night, which means the ball will be easier for McNeil to throw.

Players to watch: Jones and Nunez. E-town's two main wide receivers have shown big play ability already this year, and they'll be going up against a stout, but relatively inexperienced Solanco secondary. Rushing yards figure to be hard to come by so the Bears could find some big plays downfield in the air. To do so, Jones and Nunez will need to run good routs and make plays with the ball in their hands, which they both can do very well.

E-TOWN ON DEFENSE:

Solanco spreads the ball around extremely well and has a deep, diverse compliment of running backs. That said, Solanco is still a run-heavy team, so expect E-town to load up to stop the run.

The Mules' best runner is probably B.J. Enck, who had more than 100 yards and three touchdowns against Oxford. But expect John Kirk, Ryan Kutz, Jordan Elvey and Brock Snider to all see carries as well. Because they have so many capable running backs, the E-town defense is going to have to be ready for any one of them to get the ball at any given time. E-town cannot key on any one back for an extended period of time, because the ball could go anywhere.

Also, Solanco gets starting quarterback Ben Miller back, so the passing threat will be there as well.

In order to be successful, E-town will need good pressure from Alex Kirchner, Shaun Buller and the defensive line in order to squeeze the running backs into E-town's aggressive linebacking unit. If the Bears win the battle in the trenches, Solanco's offensive unit will find it tough to put points on the scoreboard. E-town allowed 27 points last week, but the defense played tough late in the game, coming up with a huge stop to give the offense a chance to win.

Player to watch: David Kennedy, LB. Solanco will be trying to come up with ways to keep middle linebacker Shane Rosenberry from hurting them. If they key on Rosenberry, Kennedy will be there to cash in. He is quick and physical and has been a terror for opposing offenses. Watch for Kennedy to be among the team leaders in tackles. Saturday night, he has to follow Rosenberry's lead and read the play at the line and try and anticipate and attack.

E-TOWN ON SPECIAL TEAMS:

The Bears are coming off of a very good special teams effort last week, converting on every extra point attempt and forcing a fumble on the second half kickoff.

If E-town can match what it did last week, the Bears will be fine in the special teams department. Its only Achilles heel in special teams had been converting extra points, and the Bears may have put that problem to bed last week. Kicker Shane Long looked excellent on all four extra point attempts, including his last one, which was moved back 10 yards due to penalties. Long's kickoffs have also looked good and the Bears have been doing a good job on kick coverage.

E-town's return game is also good, with Jones handling the bulk of the punt return duties and Heisey and Weidman deep on kickoffs. All of the Bears' returners are quick and skilled and can turn field position can turn in an instant.

Player to watch: Long. In the last two weeks, E-town has a one-point loss and a one-point win. Think extra points are important? But Long's confidence should be high after a fine performance last week. He'll be kicking in dry weather Saturday night on brand new turf, which should only make him better.

OVERALL:

What a way to start section play – a match up of the reigning Section Two co-champions. Solanco will be extremely fired up, playing its first home game of the year under brand new lights on on top of a new playing surface. E-town must match Solanco's intensity from the opening whistle. If the Bears can get an early lead, it could take the Solanco crowd out of the game and help the Bears take control.

In this game, expect a hard-hitting battle at the line of scrimmage and two teams trying to cram the ball down the other's throat. E-town's offense is more prolific than Solanco's and definitely has more of a passing threat, but the Solanco defense is very stout and physical. They will come up and hit the Bears in the mouth, but E-town has taken on two pretty good teams in Muhlenberg and Manheim Township in the last two weeks, so they are battle-tested.

E-town has played a tougher non-conference schedule, but the Mules have had to deal with two straight games on Monday and are coming off of a shorter practice week than the Bears are. Don't expect too much fatigue this early in the season from a short work week, though.

It appears that the Bears simply have more weapons than Solanco, but the Mules won't take anything lying down and they'll counter everything E-town has with whatever it takes to out-muscle the Bears. This is a key week for both teams, because they will know a lot about where they stand in the gauntlet that is Section Two after it's over.

PREDICTION: E-town 24 - Solanco 7.