The 2-3 Dublin Lions taking to the road Friday night as they the 1-4 Merkel Badgers at 7:30 p.m. in the first district game of the season.
Head Dublin Football Coach and Athletic Director Greg Hardcastle said their Friday night foes hustle on the field and are scrappy so the Lions are coming prepared after a week of working on fundamentals and execution.
“We were able to focus on us and the not the appearance of an opponent,” said Hardcastle of practice in the bye week.
It also gave some players a chance to work on new roles. This includes Kaden Gaitan who is stepping up as a quarterback for the rest of the season while Chris Teten recovers from injuries.
“Being the first district game, we want to get out to a good start,” the coach said. The first order of business will be containing the Markel quarterback who likes to “take off and scramble sometimes.”
“They rely on the run a lot so a big key is stopping their running game,” Hardcastle added.
On offense, the Lions will show what they’ve been learning on execution and avoid turning over the ball — something Merkel likes to exploit.