Ray Hamill/HumboldtSports.com – The Loggers play at Foothill on Friday.
By Ray Hamill — The Eureka Loggers will see plenty of travel in the coming weeks, with four of their next five games away from the comforts of Albee Stadium.
They kick off that stretch at Foothill on Friday night, a team they beat 62-14 a year ago in Eureka.
Head coach Jason White, however, can expect a closer battle this time around.
“They’re improved over last year,” White said of the Cougars, who are 0-1 after losing their opener 20-14 to West Valley. “Their quarterback is very athletic, and their running back is pretty good.”
White is referring to the senior tandem of Bryce Henderson and Brandon Merryman who combined for 125 of their team’s 151 rushing yards in their opener, including a pair of touchdown runs by Henderson.
“They moved a senior receiver (Henderson) to quarterback, so he definitely can scramble,” White added.
Room for improvement
The Loggers have done plenty right despite an 0-2 start to the season, but also have plenty of room for improvement, something they’ll need to see if they are to secure their first win of the season on Friday.
In particular, White is hoping to see better tackling from his defense and better execution from his offense.
The Loggers ran into trouble a week ago switching from their wing to spread offenses, with junior Chase “Biscuit” Steubing playing both tight end and offensive line and having to switch jerseys.
Steubing has been filling in along the line after a recent leg injury to all-star lineman Miles Meynell, who remains week to week but will not play at Foothill.
The Loggers, however, are close to full health again with the return this week of Holden Davis, Austyn Burns, Jacob Woden and Willie Magana, each of whom has missed time early in the season.
“That definitely alleviates some of the depth issues,” White said.
Without Meynell, one of just three returning starters from a year ago, the line has been limited, but has stepped up at times.
“Our offensive line is protecting (quarterback) Trevor (Bell) for the most part pretty well,” the head coach said. “And defensively we bend a lot but we didn’t break, but we feel like we’ve got to get our defense off the field quicker.”
Friday’s game is set for 7:30 p.m., with the JVs in action at 5:30 p.m.
