Battle of the Hot Spring County rivals Beavers face Lions once again
Beavers focusing on themselves as they prepare for Lions
Working on themselves has been the focus of the Glen Rose Beavers this week as they prepare to host Hot Spring County rivals the Bismarck Lions in 5-3A conference action.
The Beavers enter the week with a 4-1 overall record and a 2-0 conference record. The Beavers recently defeated conference opponents Jessieville (43-13) and Genoa Central (42-0) to start conference play perfect. The Beavers host a banged up Lions team who have lost four straight games (1-4 overall record). Two of the Lions’ losses came from conference opponents Genoa Central (lost 40-33) and Jessieville (lost 57-29).
The goal for the Beavers this week as they prepare for the Lions is fixing themselves and working on their mistakes. “We’re really focusing on taking care of our business and fixing our mistakes,” Glen Rose assistant coach Joe Lewallen said. “We’re trying to fix ourselves this week.”
One mistake the Beavers are trying to fix is turnovers. The Beavers turned the ball over twice in the first half against Genoa Central, once on a fourth down and once on an interception by Glen Rose quarterback Wesley Launius. “We’re always trying to do that,” Lewallen said about fixing turnovers. The Beavers have had five turnovers against conference opponents this season.
This week, the Beavers are looking at doing a few different things according to Lewallen. The Beavers have been working on their short passing game as well as their run game. “That’s what we’re working on,” he said. He added that the Beavers’ offense is also working on scoring early in the game. During their game with Jessieville, the Beavers only held a seven point 14-7 lead at the half. Against Genoa Central last week, the Beavers only held a 13-0 lead at halftime. “That’s the big thing for us this week,” Lewallen said. “Getting on the board early and not wait ’til the second half where we’ve been dominating. For the past two weeks, the Beavers have outscored their opponents 58-6 in the second half.
Defensively, the Beavers are looking to attack Lion’s sophomore quarterback Ian Smith. “We’re wanting to attack the quarterback as much as we can because he’s young,” Glen Rose lineman Andrew Weatherford said. Weatherford paced the Beavers last week in tackles with seven total and three going for a loss of yardage. “If we can hit him hard and get him kind of worried a little bit he won’t be able to throw it as deep. He can throw it fairly well,” Weatherford said. “But if we hit him, I don’t think he’ll be able to do as well.”
This week’s match up will be the first in two years between the Beavers and the Lions. The last match up went the Beavers way at Doyle Henderson Field in Bismarck as the Beavers won 51-14. The Beavers then moved conferences for two seasons before returning to the 5-3A. This is a much anticipated match up between the two teams and the two head coaches. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. at Beaver Stadium.