Indian Lake’s football team has struggled to replace last year’s talented senior class as the Lakers are off to an 0-4 start this season.
But Bellefontaine head coach Jason Brown expects to get the Lakers’ best shot when the two teams meet for their annual Logan County battle on Friday at Indian Lake.
“Indian Lake is a well-coached football team and they play hard,” said Brown. “They are doing a better job of getting stops defensively. They are trying to find their way offensively, but they have some guys that can hurt you.”
There have been issues on both sides of the ball for the Lakers. They have scored just 26 points and have allowed 135 points.
Indian Lake is averaging 189 yards of offense per game and is giving up 373 yards per contest.
Head coach Jonn Rapp said his team must remain positive and learn from their mistakes as it attempts to get on track.
“Learning how to stop the bad and start the good is a focus for us,” said Rapp. “We have to understand that not every play is going to end perfectly. When a play or situation doesn’t go our way, we can always get better at handling those situations. Also, learning from those mistakes and making sure those never happen again. Different mistakes will pop up but we’re working on not having repeats. We have to play and practice with max effort and energy.
“As coaches we must be tough but positive. We have to stay the course and make sure the players know that they’re not alone on this journey, understanding we are all in this together and that what we’re doing and how we’re doing it will all pay off at some point.”
For Bellefontaine (3-1), the goal is to continue to fine tune things after a 41-3 victory over Benjamin Logan.
“I thought for the most part we played really good complementary football,” said Brown. “We capitalized on their turnovers, our defense made some plays and we played clean on special teams. We just need to continue to play to our standard.”
The Chieftain offense has done a good job of showing balance, with 641 passing yards and 747 rushing yards on the season.
Despite missing last week’s game with an injury, junior running back Chris Fogan leads the Central Buckeye Conference in rushing yards with 579 on 68 carries. He has seven touchdowns.
In Fogan’s absence last week, junior Riley Neer ran for four TDs.
“We were proud of Riley for what he did last week,” said Brown. “We always preach team over self. We’ve had many examples of your young men doing what’s best for the team. When your number is called, you need to be ready.”
Sophomore quarterback Tavien St. Clair is completing 71 percent of his passes for 635 yards and six TDs.
Junior C.J. Wilson (21 catches, 301 yards, two TDs) and senior Collin Deitsch (17 catches, 181 yards, four TDs) lead a talented group of receivers.
“On film Bellefontaine looks to have a lot of talented skilled kids all over the field,” said Rapp. “They play with a lot of energy and seem to feed off of each other well.”
Most of Indian Lake’s offensive output has come through the air with junior quarterback Lane Tucci and receivers Caiden Nicol and Chase Baldwin.
Tucci is 51-of-100 passing for 597 yards and two touchdowns.
Nicol, a junior, leads the team with 17 catches for 268 yards and one TD and Baldwin, a senior, has 13 grabs for 165 yards.
“We have to play good team defense and make them earn everything they get,” said Brown.