Lions hold fate in own hands
BREMEN — When you are on a roll, you are on a roll and Bremen’s Lions have seen a lot of things go right the past few weeks.
A hard-fought win over Glenn two weeks ago and an overwhelming performance last week at Prairie Heights have left the Lions at 5-2 and in charge of their own destiny as far as a conference title goes.
“We are playing well, hopefully, we can continue that out,” said Bremen coach Jordan Leeper. “Things are going pretty well. The kids are buying in and having a lot of fun playing football.”
So far this season the Lions have gone the way of their defense. Allowing more than one score in only three games they have lost two of those (Marian and Jimtown) and fought through the other with Glenn.
“The defense is putting together a great plan,” said Leeper. “The kid’s execution is fantastic right now. Last week we gave up 14
but those were all in the fourth quarter when our JV kids were in there. It was a great, opportunity for them to see some varsity experience, and the varsity defense is playing very well.”
Not that the offense hasn’t had it’s fair share
of success, averaging just under 30 points a game.
“It allows us to be a little more aggressive when the defense is playing as well as they are,” said Leeper. “We only had one game where we didn’t play very well on defense and that is more a credit to Mishawaka
Marian than what we were doing.”
“It allows our offense to have a little more fun in what we are doing.”
The Lions are scoring those points thanks to a pounding running game, another staple of the Long Green Line over the years.
“The running game is where it’s at,” said Leeper. “We knew coming into the season our strength was going to be our offensive line. When we are healthy we are a pretty good offensive line and I think that’s really shown in the last two weeks in our ability to control the line of scrimmage and rush for almost 300 yards the last two weeks. That sets the tone for the game and we feed off of that.”
The win over Glenn two weeks ago had extra importance in that it put the Lions, the Falcons, Jimtown, and this week’s Bremen opponent, South Bend Riley, in control of their destiny. The team or team’s that wins out is assured at least a tie for the top spot in the NIC South.
“This is the best situation you can be in coming down to the last two conference games of the year knowing the power is in your hands,” said Leeper. “You go out and you play well and win you get at least a share of it. That was our goal was to be at the top of the conference.” Riley has just as much on the line this week. “They’ve changed things up a lot from what they’ve done in the past,” said Leeper. “They are a lot more power football a little more running the football inside. They have size. They have speed. We have to pay attention to those things. It’s really about doing your job and being disciplined on team defense to stop them.”
“Offensively we have to be able to get helmets on helmets and get off the ball and sustain blocks,” he said. “If we don’t they’ll be able to shove off and track us down with their speed. I like the matchup. it’s been a great matchup the last couple of years. I hope it’s going to be a good game.”