Centreville hosts St. Joseph Lake Michigan Catholic (6-1) tonight and the Bulldogs have quite a challenge on their hands. At 1-5, Centreville is trying to piece together enough capable bodies to compete these last two weeks.
Head coach Aaron Hartong said starting middle linebacker Johnny Eicher is going to miss the rest of the season due to a separated shoulder suffered against Mendon. Left tackle Bodhi Chiddister is also out with a stomach ulcer. On top of that, two other key contributors recently quit the team.
“This week we are trying to fill in where we can,” he said. “We have had some people step up big in the last week, including Matt Clementz, who hasn’t played football since rocket, but tore it up on kick return the last two weeks and also ran the ball well against Bronson. Demarco Taylor is running harder and so is Zach Bauman, which allowed us to make a big comeback last week at Bronson, getting to within a touchdown before our air went out on a missed assignment for a long touchdown pass.”
Despite the setbacks, Hartong was encouraged by this week’s practices.
“Everyone is still positive, which is great to see,” he said. “LMC has speed and a large O/D tackle who was being recruited D1 even as a sophomore last year. They lost decisively to Brandywine last week and we could tell they weren’t used to being behind and didn’t know how to respond. If we can get out the gate with an early lead, that momentum will be the deciding factor. This is our last home game for the seniors and I expect great things from [Zach] Teadt and Bauman, and some jarring tackles from Bauman.”