Do or die for South: Patriots need win vs. Princeton to make playoffs
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PARKERSBURG -- It's do or die for the Parkersburg South Patriots in their regular season finale on Friday from the Erickson All-Sports Facility.
PSHS sits at 4-5 on the season needing a win and some potential help to sneak into the Class AAA playoffs. The team standing in South's way? The 5-2 Princeton Tigers.
Princeton brings another run-heavy attack to the table and are looking to end a two-game skid and save its playoff seeding. While South's back is against the wall, head coach Nathan Tanner's crew was in a similar scenario last week against Wheeling Park. A loss would have essentially ended any hope of a postseason berth, but the visiting Patriots prevailed. Now, it's all hands on deck for the most important game of the year.
"Prior to the (Wheeling Park) game, we talked to the kids about playing with a level of passion and focus," Tanner said. "I think the kids went out there and did that. There were some times where we had some mishaps, but we didn't get down on ourselves. Our kids found a way to pull it out."
That same mentality will be in full effect on Friday, and the potential of getting back to .500 by the end of the regular season is staring the team in the face. That, coupled with a state playoff berth, could give them all the motivation they need. However, Princeton's bruising running back Brodee Rice could have something to say about South's chances. He's lifted the Tiger offense on multiple occasions and has season-highs of 157 yards against Hedgesville and 148 against Woodrow Wilson.
The South defense held off a late charge against Park, and it will need to apply that same method in this upcoming contest. Tanner believes his team will be ready for the challenges ahead.
"We're focusing on much of the same things that need to be done every week," he said. "(Princeton) has a great run game, and they also have a great quarterback (Grant Cochran). He's been starting since he was a freshman, and as a junior, he's a seasoned veteran. That coaching staff has been together for a good while now, so the kids are really coached up and are good at what they do."
Tanner stressed the need to play clean football. Back-breaking penalties from earlier in the season and turnovers that flipped field position are what Tanner wants to see end. A big positive from last week was quarterback Robert Shockey.
His continued growth as a signal-caller could go a long way to making sure mistakes are at a minimum. While Princeton's Cochran has proven to be quite the gunslinger, Shockey has taken a crash course in quarterbacking from the moment he was named the team's starter. It paid off last week in that victory, as the sophomore went 28 for 34 amassing 216 yards and a pair of touchdown throws. The spotless performance is something Tanner attributes to Shockey being relied on more and more throughout the season Cyrus Traugh, Gage Wright, Triston Walker, Aidyn Cooke and Tyson Maze all got in on the fun through the air, as all five got at least one catch in the win. Traugh's 70 yards gave him more than 1,000 yards receiving on the year in just eight games. Also, he only needs eight more catches for an even 100 grabs on the season.
However, the offensive strategy from South could come down to keeping the ball out of Cochran's hands. That could impact the flow of the game and how many times someone gets the ball, so Tanner says to stay tuned.
"We use tempo every game, but last week, we actually got into a situation where we had to hold the football. That's not typical for us, so we were able to get some practice with that. I think the kids will get better with that, this week."
Contact Josh Hughes at jhughes@newsandsentinel.com