Big game for the Oak Park Northmen tonight as they travel to Belton to face the Pirates. This will be the game that could be the turning point for the Northmen to get them back to .500 on the season. The Northmen still have some favorable match-ups still left as we hit the midpoint of the regular season.

OAK PARK OFFENSIVE  

The Northmen offensive plays a big role in this week's game. Game experience paid off for players like '22 KeAndre Braxton, '23 Marlon Gant Jr, '23 Xavier Williams, and '22 Lucas Oitker in week three. With help from their QB '22 Ty Clemens, the Northmen racked up four hundred total yards of offense.

With things moving forward on offense, expect to see some more involvement from key players. Including '21 Logan Willmann, the Northmen's leading receiver from a year ago with three hundred and eighty-seven  receiving yards in his junior postseason and '22 Bubba Bogart who could see some more opportunities in the passing game this week. 

Keep an eye out for '21 Alijah Manning, '21 Benjamin Foster, '21 Jackson White, '21 Michael Larson, and '23 Wyatt Rueter who could provide some issues for the Pirates tonight in the trenches, a key to a Northmen WIN.

OAK PARK DEFENSE

The defense came back strong in Week three for the Northmen, giving up only ten points. '21 Kage Diehl recorded four  tackles including a TFL and a sack. Also, '21 Logan Linard, the recently named BlueBlood, also had a good night recording four tackles of his own. The Northmen only allowed eighty-eight passing yards and sixteen rushing yards; a combined one hundred and four yards total for the Patriots. 

The numbers have been a bit skewed in the first three games of the season due to some rough third quarter performances in week one and two. If you dig into the numbers, Oak Park has only allowed a total of twenty points in the first half of football against the first three teams.

The silver lining of this Northmen's defense is their potential. We have seen glimpses of what these boys can do, and last week they managed to do it for four quarters especially with the younger guys like '22 Jett Sutton, '22 Paul Hernandez, and '22 Jermaine Harris being at the helm of that Northmen defense.

KEY MATCHUPS 

One matchup that could swing the game in the Northmen's favor tonight is the passing game. We saw '22 Ty Clemens throw the ball 22 times last week, his most attempts in 3 weeks.  '23 Marlon Gant Jr, '23 Xavier Williams, and '22 Lucas Oitker seem to be the favorite looks for Clemens with Gant leading the team in targets. Williams gives Oak Park a reliable receiver with 8 catches on his last 9 attempts in his last two games. Oitker opened some eyes last week, scoring his first TD of the season in convincing fashion, with a catch and run in the middle of the field.

The D-line is also going to be a key factor in tonight's game. Northmen will look to rotate '21 Johnathan Greene, '21 Christien Johnson, '21 Sam Brough, and '23 Sharo Mhadi up front to get the job done. The Pirates are going old school with a Flexbone offense, fundamentals and pressure from the D-line will be huge when it comes to stopping the inside run game. 

~~~

This is an opportunity for Oak Park to reset their season. The Pirates look young on paper, with a question mark at the skill positions. Oak Park will have to limit mistakes and take advantage of any miscues from Belton this Friday night.

Oak Park High School Northmen at Belton Pirates 

Kickoff: 7:00 pm

Streaming Provided by Belton Cutlass:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rti5fjbBisI&feature=youtu.be

Live updates on twitter @N2SportsOakPark