{"id":146766,"date":"2021-10-06T04:03:25","date_gmt":"2021-10-06T09:03:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=146766"},"modified":"2021-10-06T04:04:04","modified_gmt":"2021-10-06T09:04:04","slug":"preview-kenton-0-7-at-van-wert-6-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2021\/10\/06\/preview-kenton-0-7-at-van-wert-6-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Preview: Kenton (0-7) at Van Wert (6-1)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

SCOTT TRUXELL\/<\/strong>independent editor<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the first Ohio high schools to successfully run a no-huddle, high-scoring, five-wide offense is coming to Van Wert this Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kenton will be state-ranked Van Wert\u2019s homecoming opponent and while the Wildcats (0-7, 0-6 WBL) have struggled this season, they still run a system that makes many opposing coaches nervous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
A familiar scene for Van Wert has been Aidan Pratt (15) throwing a pass while Cooper Adams (61) provides a block. Bob Barnes\/file photo<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cKenton still runs crisp routes, they throw the ball on time, and do a good job of protecting against base fronts,\u201d Van Wert head coach Keith Recker said. \u201cIf we take a play off at any point, specifically in the secondary, they have the ability to hurt you. They do a nice job on the goalline with double move routes and have added different formations and run plays to their packages.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Freshman quarterback Korbin Johnston has completed 109-of-170 passes for 1,187 yards, 10 touchdowns and three interceptions, but the running game has been struggled. Through seven games, the Wildcats have rushed for a net total of -28 yards, including 11 carries for -61 yards by Johnston during last Friday\u2019s 48-7 loss to St. Marys Memorial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Wildcats have struggled on defense as well, giving up 38.7 points and 317 yards per game but despite a difficult season, first year head coach Zach Turner has found some positives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have seen a lot of growth from our kids,\u201d Turner said. \u201cI think when you hit hard times like this you find out who you are. Are you a person who is willing to fight through the hard times to get to the good times? Or are you a person who just wants to pack it up and say oh well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have kids that are willing to fight and that is great to see. They come into practice everyday and do not practice like an 0-7 team. So those are all good things that have come to surface. When you try to start something great it is always tough so you have to continue to get better every day.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

No. 8 Van Wert (6-1, 5-1 WBL) enters Friday\u2019s game averaging 42 points and 473 yards per game, best among all WBL teams. In five of seven games, the Cougars have scored at least 45 points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aidan Pratt continues to impress, completing 143-of-188 passes for 1,945 yards, 19 touchdowns and just three interceptions, with 49 of his completions going to Maddix Crutchfield for 537 yards and four touchdowns. Connor Pratt has 34 receptions for 609 yards and five scores and Garett Gunter has 19 receptions for 295 yards and five touchdowns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the quarterback position, Pratt also leads the rushing attack with 90 carries for 662 yards and 10 touchdowns, although running back Nate Jackson has come on strong (66-421, eight touchdowns).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey are well coached and they have players all over the field, so you cannot key in on one guy and say we have to stop him,\u201d Turner said. \u201cAidan Pratt is a great player and does a tremendous job on both sides of the ball. Same can be said of his brother Connor Pratt, a big play guy who can stretch you vertically down the field. He\u2019s also a great man cover guy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThen you have Maddix Crutchfield and Nate Jackson, both are hard-nosed kids who run the ball hard and get to the ball with authority on defense,\u201d Turner continued. \u201cYou can\u2019t forget about guys like Brylen Parker and Garrett Gunter. Both of those guys run well and have big play capability.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cProbably the most underrated piece of Van Wert is their line. They return a lot of guys up front. Turner Witten is a four-year letter winner so you know he is experienced and tough. You can tell the offensive and defensive lines follow his lead.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Along with all of the aforementioned weapons, kicker Damon McCracken is back after missing several weeks with a leg injury. McCracken, who kicked the game winning field goal in last year\u2019 state championship game, is 9-of-11 on extra points since his return two weeks ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDamon worked really hard in the off-season to continue to improve as a kicker and I’m happy that he is finally getting the chance to showcase his work,\u201d Recker said. \u201cHis consistency has really improved so it is nice having him back kicking again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While preparing for Friday\u2019s game, Recker also noted it\u2019s a fun week for the kids.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur school and community do a great job of putting together a lot of fun activities, such as the parade, powder puff game, pep rally, theme days at school, etc. that make this week a lot of fun and can break up some of the monotony that can happen during a season,\u201d Recker said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Friday\u2019s Kenton at Van Wert game will air live on WERT 1220AM\/104.3FM.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent editor One of the first Ohio high schools to successfully run a no-huddle, high-scoring, five-wide offense is coming to Van Wert this Friday. Kenton will be state-ranked Van Wert\u2019s homecoming opponent and while the Wildcats (0-7, 0-6 WBL) have struggled this season, they still run a system that makes many opposing coaches nervous. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-146766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-01 09:12:37","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146766","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=146766"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146766\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=146766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=146766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=146766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}