By TYLER HENRY
JC Post contributor
With just two weeks to go in the regular season the Solomon Gorillas and Herington Railers, both officially 2-4, will look to gain some steam ahead of a loaded 8-Man postseason.
For Solomon, this game represents an opportunity to salvage a .500 regular season after the Gorillas dropped four straight following a 2-0 start.
“These next two weeks are big and we told the kids that each week of practice is going to be huge for us,” Solomon head coach Mike Kilgore said. “We want to be playing our best football now and we have to hone in on the opponent in front of us.”
For Herington, this game could very well be season-defining, as the Railers look to stay off the bottom half of the bracket in week nine.
“We told our guys that this week will make or break our season,” Railers head coach Boyd Peterson said. “This matchup is our Super Bowl. We know nothing is going to be given to us and we told the guys you’ve got to go out there and take this.”
While both teams have struggled on the field, each has also had to cope with a difficult district featuring teams like 5-1 Little River and 4-2 Goessel.
Solomon, who outscored their first two opponents 98-16, will look for a return to their winning ways, the key to which seems to be one critical thing.
“We need to be more consistent as a unit, it’s that simple,” Kilgore said. “We need to be able to line up correctly and to make sure we all have a real nose for the football. The game of football changes so much from quarter to quarter and we need to be able to adapt better over the course of a game.”
On the Herington side of things, the Railers will try to stay true to their identity as an offense, pounding the ball on the ground behind a strong O-Line.
“We’re going to do what we do to try and run the ball and chew some clock,” Peterson said. “We want to use our size and strength up the middle to our advantage.”
As it has been all season, the key to Solomon’s offensive success will center around the play of signal caller Spencer Coup, who has looked sharp when his line has given him time to work.
The Railer defense is all too aware of Coup’s abilities after falling to Solomon 46-26 in 2021 and will need to contain the dual-threat on Friday to give themselves a chance.
“Solomon has a bunch of different formations and their quarterback has a good arm and runs hard,” Peterson said. “We have to keep contain on him and we can’t let him escape to the outside. We also need our DBs to stay locked on their receivers, if we get caught with our eyes in the backfield it’s going to be a rough day.”
For the Gorilla defense, the name of the game is in keeping the Railers in front of them and getting off the field to give Coup and Co. more time to work.
“We have to prevent them from getting big plays, that’s been our weakness this season,” Kilgore said. “We have to get stops on downs like third and eight so our offense can get back out there and put more points on the board.”
Kickoff between the Gorillas and Railers is set for 7 pm at Herington High School.