Sports

Sheridan’s Season on Life Support Heading Into Game Against Philo


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Trying to avoid an unheard of third loss in a row, the Sheridan Generals will host the Philo Electrics on Friday night in Thornville.

After losing to Cambridge, 40-20, in Week 5 and being blanked last week, 28-0, by John Glenn, the Generals are in uncharted waters.  The last time that Sheridan lost two games in a row came back in October 2007, when they lost to Ti-Valley and Morgan in weeks seven and eight, respectively. 

On the other side of the ball, the Philo Electrics are one of the hottest teams in the MVL.  Entering Friday night’s matchup, the Electrics have a 5-1 record (4-1 MVL) with their only loss of the season coming at the hands of New Lexington in Week 3, 15-13.  Since that loss, Philo has won three games in a row, outscoring opponents 133-12.  Although the Electrics are riding high on their win streak, they are trying to stay levelheaded and focus on the task at hand.

“We’re constantly trying to make sure that they (the players) are focused on the next team that we’re playing,” Philo Head Coach Dirk Lincicome said.  “It hasn’t been hard this week because we respect Sheridan’s football program tremendously.”

The respect that teams around the league have for Sheridan leads to tough games for the Generals week in and week out.

“Everybody wants to beat Sheridan and they’re going to come in here with fire in their eyes,” Sheridan Head Coach Paul Culver Jr said.  “I’m wondering how we’re going to respond to that.” 

Coach Culver hopes that the team can come together and play better football.

“We just have to learn to play together as a team,” Culver said.  “We don’t have everybody on the same page, (be it) penalties in critical situations or giving up a long touchdown pass.”

If Sheridan can fix the little mistakes, they will have a better chance at winning football games.  But stopping Philo’s high-powered offense will be a difficult task for the Generals.

“They’ve got a very dangerous quarterback, a really nice set of running backs, and their offensive line has done a really good job of giving them holes to run through,” Culver said.  “We haven’t had a whole lot of success defensively stopping the run so that’s a major concern.”

As far as Philo’s offensive strategies go, they want to continue to play their game.

“We don’t change a whole lot from week to week—we try to keep it simple for our kids so that we don’t give them too much to think about,” Lincicome said.  “We want our kids to be able to go out there and play fast and not have to think too much.”

The Electrics’ success rests on the shoulders of their Quarterback Zak Sheridan. 

“He has got to continue to play at a high level like he has and continue to get us back in the huddle with the football and not make bad decisions,” Lincicome said.

Zak Sheridan will be under a lot of pressure on Friday night as this week’s game is the beginning of the toughest part of Philo’s schedule.  With River View, Maysville, and Tri-Valley still left to play, the Electrics need a win against the Generals.

“Every game from here on out is huge,” Lincicome said.  “We need to get a win on Friday.”