OAK PARK OFFENSE
The Northmen offensive plays a big role in this week's game, when the Belton Pirates sail into town.
Game experience paid off for players like '22 KeAndre Braxton, '23 Marlon Gant Jr, '23 Xavier Williams, and '22 Bubba Bogart in week three. With help from their QB '22 Ty Clemens, the Northmen racked up almost 600 total yards of offense.
As Oak Park continues to move forward on offense, expect to see some more involvement from key players such as '23 Marlon Gant Jr, the Northmen's leading receiver from a year ago with 533 receiving yards in his sophomore season. '22 Bubba Bogart could see some more opportunities in the passing game this week, as hes becoming the deep threat of this 2021 offense.
Keep an eye out in the trenches as '22 Ian Risner, '23 Wyatt Rueter, '23 Sharo Mahdi, '24 Logan Westling, and '25 Jalen Williams provide run support and keep '22 Ty Clemens clean in the pocket, both will be key to a Northmen WIN.
OAK PARK DEFENSE
The defense came back strong in week three for the Northmen, varsity defense only gave up 6 points to Truman. The Northmen defense picked up a good flow last week recording 50 tkls last week and only allowing 31 rushing yards. The Northmen defense needs to keep on this flow of winning and limiting opposing QB's.
This week, the Northmen have a Belton the team with an old, but complicated offense. It will require them to be disciplined and not be lulled to sleep by giving up the big play. Coaches have been busy at work all week teaching, we'll know very early if players have done their homework.
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 had tough time on critical downs. Poor tackling, penalties, and coverage mistakes have put the Northmen in tough spots on defense on several occasions this season.Â
Assistant Coach Jackson Newman on the defensive backs, "We have a young and very talented group of kids that have made a lot of plays this year, we have discussed simpler ways to play better, and this week, at practice, they have shown it."
The silver lining of this Northmen's defense is their potential. We have seen glimpses of what this team do, and last week they managed to do it for four quarters. We are seeing guys like  '22
Adriano Garcia and '24
Evan Cook making more plays, which is supporting guys like '22
Paul Hernandez and '22
Jermaine Harris who have anchored this Northmen defense to start the 2021 season. The Northmen Defense may be young, but if they keep learning, they have the pieces to make it really tough on opposing teams moving forward.
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Difference MakerÂ
SPECIAL TEAMS, SPECIAL TEAMS, SPECIAL TEAMS...
The team that wins this aspect of the game tonight will be waving their flag to victory. Belton does a lot of gimmicky things to put teams on their heels with their kicking game, and the Northmen will need to be ready for the volley. This is one area the Northmen have seen some improvement in 2021, and all everything kicker '22 Elijah Davis could be the difference maker.
This is an opportunity for Oak Park to reset the 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.
Belton Pirates at Oak Park High School
Kickoff: 7:00 pm
Broadcast tonight provided by N2Sports
https://GoNorthmen.org/watch
