Sports

Warren Faces Tough Road Test Against Gallia Academy

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Through seven weeks of play, four of the five Southeastern Ohio Athletic Conference teams remain eligible to take the conference crown, making Friday’s matchup between Warren (2-5, 0-1) and Gallia Academy (5-2, 1-0) all the more important to each side.

Should the Warriors lose, their shot at an SEOAL title will be gone and a second consecutive losing season will be clinched.

Needless to say, Warren head coach Andy Schob’s squad has a lot riding on its road trip to Memorial Field.

Schob’s defense, which is allowing 36.8 points per contest, will have its hands full against a high-flying Blue Devil offense, which is putting up a whopping 44.1 points per game.

Leading the offensive machine are quarterback Wade Jarrell and wide receiver Logan Allison. The dynamic duo have combined for 1,058 yards and 22 scores of the ground, and 662 of Jarrell’s 1,801 passing yards and 11 of his 21 touchdowns were caught by the secure hands of Allison.

Gallia Academy head coach Wade Bartholomew liked what he saw from his offense in the team’s first seven games and insisted that a balanced attack will place stress on Warren’s defense.

“It’s tough. You have to take away either our passing or running game (to contain us),” Bartholomew said. “We need to put our athletes in space, so that they can make plays is space early and often.”

An impressive offensive performance will be necessary to top a Warren squad that has scored 40-plus points twice this season. Containing dual-threat quarterback Austin Klintworth will be the No. 1 objective for a Gallia Academy defense that is coming off of a 49-point gashing from Portsmouth.

Bartholomew noted that his defense must improve upon its open field tackling this Friday and for the rest of the season.

“We have to make plays when we have the opportunities to do so,” Bartholomew said.

Kickoff from Memorial Field is set for 7:30 p.m., and other SEOAL fans will surely keep an eye on the progress of this conference battle.