Collinsville’s football season will not be won or lost Friday night on the candy cane-striped field at Lindenwood University in Belleville, but the game has the potential to have a big impact on the program.
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First-year head coach John Blaylock has been working to instill a winning attitude in a team that went 1-8 last season and has had scant success for decades. “It’s important for us as a program to get off to a good start,” Blaylock said.
Improving physical strength and endurance are large components of Blaylock’s strategy to have a team that believes in themselves. “The players have to be able to look themselves in the mirror and know that they look like their opponents,” Blaylock said.
Althoff Catholic High School will provide the newly confident Kahoks their first opportunity to prove to themselves that all of the extra weight training and conditioning can translate into results on the field. The Crusaders will not be an easy test.
Coming off a 10-4 season in which they lost in the Class 2A state championship game, Althoff has been bumped up to Class 4A for the 2013 season. The Associated Press preseason poll has the Crusaders ranked 5th in the state in their new classification.
To counter Althoff’s high-powered offense, led by senior quarterback Eric Mertens, the Kahoks hope to establish a solid running game. “Our best bet is keep them off the field, to run clock and put pressure back on them when they get the ball,” Blaylock said.
Collinsville will run the ball behind an all-senior offensive line that averages 247 pounds. Right guard Harry Uyehara is the biggest of the bunch at 6 feet 4 inches and 285 pounds. The line will pave the way for senior quarterback Connor Zabala, junior fullback Jordan Miller, junior running back Jamal Wellemaker and junior running back Devin Burch. Miller’s seven rushing yards last season are the most in the starting backfield.
Getting pressure on Mertenss, who threw for 22 touchdowns and over 2,600 yards last year, is the key for the Kahoks defense, Blaylock said. “He is more of a pocket passer than a runner,” Blaylock said. “We need to get him out of his comfort zone and not let him pick us apart. Open field tackling will be key.”
The Kahoks have reason to believe they can be successful stopping Mertens and senior running back Dennis Jackson, who rushed for over 1,000 yards in 2012. Collinsville returns seven starters from last year’s team that held Althoff to 49 rushing and 125 passing yards in a season-opening 20-13 loss to the Crusaders.
With a predicted high temperature of 95 degrees, the heat is an opponent Collinsville and Althoff will both battle. Blaylock said he does not start two-way players, which may give his team an edge.
“Our hope is that, in a game like this where it will be 90 or 90 plus, the platooning concept will be to our advantage,” Blaylock said.
Kick off is at 7 p.m. Friday at Lindenwood University, Belleville’s football stadium. The game will be streamed live at kahoksports.com.
