Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009

Nashville prepares to face unbeaten Sesser-Valier

It's been a long-standing debate among prep football fans in deep Southern Illinois: Which is better, the Black Diamond Conference or the River-to-River Conference?

Some answers may come today when the top team in the Black Diamond, 9-0 Sesser-Valier, plays host to Nashville (5-4) at 1 p.m. in a first-round game of the Class 3A playoffs.

Since teams from the 10-member Black Diamond don't face any nonconference opponents, it's hard to tell how good they are until the postseason. They also have smaller enrollments as five are in co-op agreements with other schools.

The Mississippi Division of the River-to-River generally has schools with larger enrollments, and teams play four nonconference opponents. Nashville's nonconference opponents were Mater Dei, Columbia, Benton and West Frankfort.

Nashville finished fourth in the Mississippi behind Du Quoin, Chester and Anna-Jonesboro. All three are playoff qualifiers.

"I definitely think the level of competition you play has to work to your advantage," said Nashville coach Matt Gajewski. "We've been competitive in the games that we've played, and the losses we've learned from.

"We're playing the Mater Deis and the Du Quoins and the Anna-Jonesboros. ... I definitely think facing the size and strength of the teams we play will be to our advantage."

In the playoffs for the first time since 2004, the Hornets won three of their last four games to make the postseason party. They have been successful operating their traditional double wing-T offense behind a junior-dominated offensive line that averages 250 pounds.

Junior running back Gannon Mamell has rushed for 1,044 yards and 18 touchdowns on 150 carries, while fullback Chris Storey (87-443) and Tyler Meyer (56-313) have been effective between the tackles.

"One of the big things is I don't know that (Sesser-Valier) has faced our type of offense," Gajewski said. "It's so hard to simulate our style of offense in practice, especially with scout-team players that are not as big and athletic. We're pretty big across the front and our guys can move.

"That's been the biggest thing that's turned us around is our linemen really came into their own and matured. We have all juniors in there and opened a lot of those holes for our guys to run through."

Nashville quarterback Brady Harre has completed 33-of-71 attempts for 628 yards and five TDs.

Sesser-Valier, which co-ops with Waltonville and Woodlawn, has the top passer in Southern Illinois in Kendall Gibson, who has completed 69-of-124 attempts for 1,116 yards and 11 TDs.

Dawson Verhines (22 catches 362 yards) and Dane Eubanks (21-307) are Gibson's primary targets. Brock Wheatley (101 carries, 884 yards, 17 TDs) and Tyler Rock (109-675, 11 TDs) are Sesser's top ball carriers.

"They're about a 50-50 type of team," Gajewski said. "They have a really good running back, and they have a quarterback who's mobile. They have some good receivers and they play with a lot of energy. We'll have our work cut out for us."