If this were a normal season, Nelsonville-York would be preparing for its next opponent as it tries to make its final playoff push. The Buckeyes would have four games left in the schedule and wouldn’t yet have a clear picture of what lies ahead.
This year, they have that picture, and what’s next is a bye week followed by a home playoff game against the winner of Symmes Valley and Southeastern.
Nelsonville-York earned the sixth seed according to other coaches in the league, who voted on playoff seeding for the first time ever. It comes as no surprise to head coach Rusty Richards, who expected to be ranked in the top seven.
“I like the computer points better,” Richards said. “It takes all the human error out of it, but I figured we’d be a five to seven seed, so I guess six is right in the middle.”
The bye week is critical to the Buckeyes who are looking to heal up some important players such as Christian Wiseman, who injured his foot, and Tucker Levering, whose hand has been swollen for a couple of weeks.
With no official opponent yet on the schedule, Richards has elected for a much lighter practice schedule this week that even allows for a bit of fun.
“We did a couple of little drills where we had a little contact with pads, and relay races,” Richards said. “The kids had fun, but we were still working.”
The fundamentals have become a point of emphasis for Richards and the coaching staff as they prepare for the more likely opponent in Symmes Valley. With a four-game win streak heading into the playoffs, it is the health of the players and the details that matter most.
“We don’t want to beat up on each other in practice,” Richards said. “We’re just going back and touching up all the fine things. Our traps, our counters, our sweeps and then all of our different protections. Sharpening the blade.”
The last piece that the Buckeyes need to sharpen as they head into the playoffs is the run game. Aside from the game against Meigs, Nelsonville-York has struggled to run the ball and it’s forced the offense to pass more than intended.
The Buckeyes also have to settle for the look the defense gives them, and when it commits to stopping the run, they are more than willing to throw the ball over their heads.
“I think a successful run game to us is 100 to 150 yards as a team, just to keep people honest,” Richards said. “The past couple of weeks, and even against Athens, I look up and they’ve got no safety, basically they are trying to stop the run. In that case, I’m throwing the ball.”
The defenses that have committed to stopping the run have opened up the offense to Drew Carter, who has gotten better seemingly every game this season. Carter had his best game of the season last week against Athens with 230 yards and two touchdowns.
Even though it is only week seven, the playoffs don’t feel like they are here too early. Richards said it feels like week 11, and the biggest difference may be the weather.
The reason the season has felt as long as the usual 10 game season is because of the preseason, according to the head coach. In most years, teams only get 10 full practices before the season. Then there will be a couple of 7-on-7s and most likely a scrimmage. Most of the offseason before that will be spent almost entirely doing strength and conditioning.
This year, due to the change in circumstances, teams were allowed limited practices. This meant that after lifting and running, the coaches were able to give 20-30 minutes of instructional time. The team only had one scrimmage this year.
This unusual monotony added to the build-up of the season, and made the offseason seem even longer than usual, Richards said.
The extended preseason was out of the Buckeyes control, but the length of the postseason is something they can change. They want to be playing football for as long as possible.
