From the Paper of Montgomery County
John Groth
Sports Editor
Crawfordsville
High School football coach Rex Ryker promises fans an eye-popping
season-opener against powerhouse West Lafayette.
With two
explosive, powerful veteran-laden offenses they could be in for a
scoring fest Friday night – which doesn’t help the sixth-year coach’s
nerves.
“This game will probably be an exciting one to watch
and a nerve-wracking one to coach,” Ryker said. “Two very good offenses
are going to be on the field.”
Crawfordsville (0-0) travels to West Lafayette (0-0) to open its season at 7 p.m. Friday night.
In each of the Athenians’ last two seasons, they have lost to the Red Devils in their opening game and then started 0-3.
Crawfordsville
entered last year’s season-opener trying to cement its starting
quarterback position, and after the first third of the season, found
junior Jordan Standefer could provide them with some firepower.
But this year, he’ll miss the team’s opener, along with their first four games after violating the school’s athletic code.
Senior Brett McKinney, who last quarterbacked in middle school, will take over.
Although
McKinney will make his first high school start at quarterback, Ryker
acknowledged he’s performed well during practices and in the Athenians’
scrimmage against Sheridan last Saturday.
“(Brett) moved the
offense as well against Sheridan as well as it’s ever moved,” Ryker
said. “He can complete every pass we need him to be able to throw. He’s
shown no limitations.”
Crawfordsville is still working on its
offensive line. With senior offensive lineman Brandon Wise on the mend
(recovering from surgery on his knee) and day-to-day for Friday night,
the Athenians may only have two returning starters back.
But the
most important aspect to Friday’s game will be turnovers.
Crawfordsville had five turnovers in last year’s game, along with four
dropped passes – including two that would have been touchdowns.
“Turnovers will be key,” Ryker said.
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