Hounds defense ready for athletic offensive attack

DALTON VITT/DAILY FORUM
Junior quarterback Trey Oglesby throws a pass off his back foot for Maryville in its 63-0 win against Cameron on Friday night at the Hound Pound.

On paper, the Benton football team sits at 2-3, appearing stuck with a sub-.500 record as a bland Midland Empire Conference competitor. But on film, Maryville head coach Matt Webb sees the threat an athletic Cardinals team poses in a Week 6 matchup for the unbeaten Spoofhounds.

“The first thing you think about when you realize you’re playing Benton is that specific thing — that talent and athleticism they have on the football field,” Webb said. “As a coach — everybody sees the skill positions, and the receivers, and the running backs, and the quarterbacks and the talent they have — but it’s very impressive to see how well their offensive line moves. … I look at Benton realizing a Matt Tabor-coached team is going to be very creative on offense.”

Benton enters riding a two-game losing streak with 38-7 and 24-13 losses in Week 4 and Week 5 to Smithville and Savannah, respectively. The Cardinals captured victories in Week 2 and Week 3 against Grain Valley and Lafayette, but dropped their opener against Harrisonville, 17-14.

With that athleticism, Benton relies on explosive offensive plays to generate the lion’s share of its scoring chances, evidenced by a pair of touchdowns from 20-plus yards out against the Savages last Friday. The Cardinals got on the board in the fourth quarter in the 11-point loss with a 23-yard pass from senior quarterback C.J. Reynolds to junior receiver Devon Burton and a 50-yard run from Will Jones.

“They create those opportunities where they’ve got some athleticism in the open field,” Webb said. “What we’ve got to do is create an opportunity where we’ve got more than one person there and play good team defense. … We’re just going to have to play a very sound brand of football against them because they’re very creative and they’ll get you mismatched if you’re not careful.”

One way to stop the Benton attack — other than disallowing explosive plays — is to force turnovers, something the Spoofhounds found success doing in the 62-28 win over the Cardinals last season.

Maryville forced three turnovers in the blowout victory, including a pair of interceptions from former defensive back Brody McMahon.

“That’s always something we want to strive on every week is the turnover margin,” Webb said. “Here halfway through the season being plus-11 now is where we want to be, and keep getting that number up, then being able to score off those turnovers. It’s one thing to get the ball back. On offense, we want to be able to make those hurt and make an opportunity to where those turnovers turn into points for us offensively.”

On the flip side, the Spoofhounds have been stingy with their offensive possessions, turning the ball over just three times in 2015 to equal the plus-11 turnover margin so far this season.

That careful ball security has been crucial to a Maryville offense averaging 49.4 points per game behind junior quarterback Trey Oglesby and a stable of talented backs.

“It’s the No. 1 statistic that wins and loses football games at any level,” Webb said. “We’re coming off of a college football game where Alabama turned it over five times and you look at it lost the football game. Those stats don’t ever lie. When you get more opportunities for your offense to score, the chances of you scoring are higher, and when you score more points than the other team, you win the football game.

“No. 1, our quarterback takes care of the football. Trey’s done a great job of making sure that his read is correct before he makes the throw, and if it’s not there, he doesn’t force it. … Our backs aren’t fumbling. We’re doing a good job of listening to coaching and the fundamentals. That’s all part of the process is taking care of the football and getting it back on defense.”

Kickoff between the two MEC foes is set for 7 p.m. Friday at Benton in St. Joseph.