Marietta High will be an underdog when it hosts New Philadelphia in an East Central Ohio League football game at Don Drumm Stadium at 7 p.m. Friday.
The Adam Eichhorn-coached Tigers own a 1-5 overall record (0-1 ECOL) while the Quakers are undefeated at 6-0 (2-0).
"New Philadelphia is as good of a team that we will see this year," Eichhorn said. "They are a very well coached, disciplined football team. They execute and play with intensity in all phases of the game."
Since beating Morgan 41-35 in its season opener, Marietta has suffered five consecutive setbacks, including last Friday night's 41-7 defeat to visiting Cambridge.
Marietta's only score against Cambridge (4-2) was a three-yard touchdown run by freshman John Henry in the fourth quarter. Overall, the Tigers had only 144 yards of total offense compared to 358 yards by the Bobcats.
Against NP, Anthony Kimbrough is expected to take center snaps for MHS, and the junior QB's primary go-to guys will be Quinton Coffield and Chance Wright.
Cambridge's Trevor Hardesty rushed for 113 yards on 19 carries and QB Caleb Tingle gained 79 yards.
Marietta will be seeing another good running back in New Philadelphia junior Jamal Johnson, who rushed for 163 yards on 20 attempts and four TDs in a 42-0 Quaker win over Coshocton last Friday night.
Johnson has scored 22 touchdowns so far this season.
New Philly is quarterbacked by Caleb Beans, who passed for 172 yards and a score against the Redskins.
This season, the Quakers, who are No. 3-ranked in Ohio Division II, Region 5, are averaging 44 points a game.
"When you play teams like NP, you can't expect them to make very many mistakes," Eichhorn said. "We have to create our own opportunities and be ready to take advantage of those opportunities.
"NP is a good team, but so are we. We have the ability to play at a high level. Unfortunately, we haven't done that yet this year. We will approach this week just like all the others - with the attitude, mentality, and confidence that we will win."
Last season, New Philadelphia defeated Marietta, 44-7.
