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Tigers seek bounceback victory vs. Parkersburg

JORDAN HOLLAND The Marietta Times Marietta’s Dominic Vanfossen tries to break tackles during a high school football game against Williamstown earlier this season at Don Drumm Stadium.

PARKERSBURG — Neither Parkersburg nor Marietta lack motivation when the schools get together for the 114th gridiron meeting at 7:30 p.m. Friday night on the turf at PHS Stadium Field.

“I was very upset,” said PHS wide receiver Brenton Strange, who was on the team last year when the Tigers pummeled the Big Reds, 49-13. “They beat me my freshmen year too and I wasn’t happy about it. I want to beat them this year.”

“We definitely have to stay focused. We always overlook them and that is probably why we lose.”

First-year Big Red head coach Mike Byus knows the Tigers have his team’s full attention this season.

“They beat us pretty good last year,” said the Big Red leader. “I don’t know if you can overlook someone like that on your schedule. They most definitely outplayed us last year. The bottom line is you have to go out there and execute, play well and not turn the ball over. You have to understand the situations throughout the game and make plays when it is playmaking time. You can’t let them set there and pick you apart.”

On top of last year’s loss, Parkersburg is currently in the midst of a two-game losing streak. After slow starts against Capital and Huntington, the Big Reds bounced back in the later quarters against both the Cougars and Highlanders.

Strange played a big part in the second half against the Highlanders. He scored twice, while pulling in four catches for 123 yards.

While he is happy with the team’s effort, Byus is less than pleased with some of the mistakes the Big Reds have been making.

“We bounced back,” said Byus, of the two games. “But I am not happy the way we started. We are still making a lot of mental mistakes. That has to stop because we have been practicing long enough. Some of the mistakes we are making there is no excuse for and maybe it is a focus thing. We have got to learn to focus for the entire game – beginning, end, and middle. And play each play with a sense of urgency.”

If the Big Reds aren’t urgent, their leader knows Marietta has plenty of weapons to make his team pay for any mistakes.

Quarterback Corbin Alkire popped up on his radar right away. Byus quickly complimented on Alkire’s intelligence and ability to get the ball out quickly to his skill players. Tanner Stack is one of the Marietta signal-caller’s main targets so far in 2017.

“We can’t sluff off on pass coverage though as their running back is very capable too,” said Byus of Marietta rusher Dominic Vanfossen. “We are going to have our hands full.”

On the other side of the field, Jason Schob felt his team shot themselves in the foot a few times last week in a 63-19 lopsided loss to St. Marys Thursday night.

“We have got to clean those things up,” said Schob of the three-turnover performance against the Blue Devils. “It is important for us to get back on track where we were before the St. Marys game.”

The Tigers come into this contest healthy with an extra day of recovery time after playing one day earlier than usual last week. The players needed time to get refocused and ready for PHS.

“They (PHS) are a pretty good ball club,” said the Tigers’ head man. “They are balanced when it comes to running and passing the football. Both quarterbacks (Jake Johnson and Kam Mace) bring different dynamics to the offense. The Moler kid runs hard too. Strange is one of the best receivers we will see all year.”

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