Arch-rival Jimtown next up for Lions
BREMEN - Bremen’s football team quickly put away any leftover feelings from its only loss of the season by establishing its running game and clamping down on defense against Triton last week on its way to a convincing 41-0 win.
“Our kids got better as the week went on and executed it on Friday night,” said Bremen head coach Jordan Leeper, whose team is now 3-1 overall and ranked No. 11 in Class 2A this week. “We want to work on getting a faster start. We’ve been struggling getting going in the first quarter. We need to take that energy from warm ups and apply it to the first couple of drives of the game, especially offensively.”
After leading just 7-0 after the first quarter against the Trojans, the Lions erupted for 20 second quarter points and another 14 in the third while the defense held a team to seven points or less for the third time in four outings. The victory marked the 11th straight in the series with Triton.
“Defensively, I think we are going a pretty good job,” added Leeper. “We’re just working on playing fast, playing physical and getting to the football then letting the chips fall where they may. The defense is going to carry us and we’re going to lean on them. Hopefully, our kids will be ready this week as well.”
It shouldn’t be too difficult motivating the Lions this week as arch-rival Jimtown (1-2, 0-1 NIC) pays a visit to Don Bunge Field for a Northern Indiana Conference South Division tussle.
“It’s always a good environment for a football game,” continued Leeper.
“Hopefully our guys are getting ready for a slugfest Friday night.”
The Jimmies’ record doesn’t look that impressive, but one loss was in overtime (to Class 5A Concord, who is 2-1) and the other to a John Glenn team (3-1) having its best start in 30 years.
“I see a tough physical team,” Leeper said of Jimtown after watching film on them. “They want to be physical and they want to run the football. That’s where their strength lies. They have a good tail
back (senior Ethan Devol), who is a tough runner and runs the ball hard. He doesn’t need much of a hole to create one. We definitely have to stop the run game. That is kind of a key. We don’t want to give up any big plays. We want to force them to put together long sustained drives. When they are able to get big plays they are a dangerous team. If we can take that away, especially longer runs or throwing over the top to (Johntu) Reed, who’s a pretty good receiver, we’ll be in a good spot.”
Jimtown is averaging around 19 ppg and allowing 17. Bremen has been scoring 32 ppg and allowing an average of 15.
Blake Dingus leads the team in rushing (86 ypg, 5.2 yards per carry, 6 TDS). Quarterback Ethan
Nunemaker has completed 55 percent of his passes for around 70 yards per game. He has thrown five touchdowns and no interceptions. Hunter Bennitt is the leading receiver with 12 receptions (3 TDS), averaging 15 yards per catch. Punter Trevor Devine is averaging 42 yards per boot.