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Preview: Anderson at Turpin

The Blitz 5 Tour stops at Turpin this week in the battle for East Side pride as the undefeated Spartans take on Forest Hills School District rival, the Anderson Redskins.

Get out your running shoes because this one promises to be a track meet between the Eastern Cincinnati Conference’s two highest-scoring squads. The winner will ensure themselves of a share of the league title and an open path to winning the ECC outright.

Records don’t matter in this affair. This is all about bragging rights. Something tells us this may not be the only time that these two schools meet this season. Don’t be surprised if they face off again in the playoffs where the outcome could be quite different. The 2019 chapter of this story is far from being over.

#16 ANDERSON REDSKINS (5-2, 4-0) at #11 TURPIN SPARTANS (7-0, 4-0)
Kickoff: 7:00 p.m.
Spartans Stadium
Follow on Twitter @TSFootball

PLAYERS TO WATCH: The high-flying Anderson offense is led by junior QB Jackson Kuhn, who has thrown for 1,753 yards and 17 touchdowns . His top target has been WR Bennett Snyder. The senior has 55 receptions and at least five catches in every game. The Redskins can hurt you deep with WR Cooper Bushman, who is averaging 22.3 yards on 24 receptions. Junior RB Andrew Williams is having a breakout season with 453 yards rushing, 178 yards receiving and 10 touchdowns.

Anderson loves to bring the heat on defense. Senior DL Elijah Willis has a league-best five sacks. Classmates DL Evan McHugh and LB Harrison Stith each have 3.5 sacks. That has created opportunities in the secondary for DB Leyton Wheeldon and DB William Knott, who are tied for the ECC lead with four interceptions. Knott has six of the team’s 18 takeaways.

Turpin star RB Reece Evans tore his MCL early in the Spartans’ game two weeks ago. He was well on his way to ECC Offensive Player of the Year accolades. Junior RB/WR Kaidan Naughton was the Spartans’ leading receiver when he was called upon to fill in for Evans. Naughton has responded with back-to-back rushing performances of 256 (fourth-highest single game mark in school history) and 226 yards with seven touchdowns, including five last week against Loveland. His classmates WR Max Gundrum, WR Logan Hurley and senior TE Josh Bell have seen their numbers increase as pass catchers in the past two contests. Senior QB has Justin Silverstein is just three touchdown passes away from becoming just the third player in school history to throw for 40 or more in their careers.

A quartet of Spartans’ defenders–DL Keegan Slaney, DL Ethan Arbruster, LB Will Myres and LB Phil Messerly–have combined for 10.5 of the team’s 14 sacks. Slaney leads the squad with four sacks.

TEAM TRENDS: Anderson has won four in a row by an average margin of 24.5 points while averaging 47.25 points in that span. The Redskins are averaging 35.3 points per game on the season.

In just seven games, Turpin became just the 10th team in program history to score 330 points in a season. The Spartans are averaging 41.2 points while allowing just 13.0 points per contest. The Spartans’ defense has been very good in the first half of games holding five foes to seven points.

ANDERSON’S KEYS TO VICTORY: Quick scores and a big early lead will make all the difference in the world for the Redskins. Making Turpin play from behind will allow Anderson to take more chances with a defense that has been very opportunistic. Pressure, put it on, keep it on and do it for 48 minutes. It is a tall order to maintain that kind of pace. The Redskins have proven that they can do it though in wins over Simon Kenton and Kings.

TURPIN’S KEYS TO VICTORY: The last thing the Spartans want to do is give Anderson extra possessions. Taking care of the football is priority number one. The Redskins are aggressive on defense, keeping them honest and staying at home will mean Turpin must execute some misdirection plays, it is an area of the game where the Spartans will need to pay utmost attention to in order to be successful. The defense must contain the corners. They need to force the Redskins’ backfield into the middle of the line and make Anderson beat them vertically, not around the ends.

Prediction: Turpin 38, Anderson 33

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