Devils look to avoid trap game

Unbeaten B-A can’t overlook 1-5 Warriors

Ali Wagner

Quarterback Shawn Wolfe leads the unbeaten Blue Devils against West Branch.

Colin McCaulley, Sports Writer

The undefeated Bellwood-Antis Blue Devils look to take down the 1-5 West Branch Warriors at home tonight, looking to avoid the dreaded trap game.

B-A has a big ICC game on the horizon next week against Mount Union, so focus tonight is the key.

West Branch’s Derek Yingling is the centerpiece of the offense with an astounding 103 carries for 713-yards, compared to B-A’s feature back Thor Schmittle who has 56 carries for 484-yards.

It is tough to say the Warriors stand a chance against a strong BA squad, but Assistant Coach Nick Lovrich warns against being overconfident.

“Yes, it is great to be 6-0, but we cannot be satisfied,” he said. “If we want to be playing in November we need to improve every week. Improving ourselves individually will make us better as a team and that will help us take care of business this week.”

West Branch’s only win this season came against Glendale. The Warriors are being outscored this season 2:1 by opponents, and their offense has struggled, scoring only 107 points.

The Blue Devils have been on a roll, putting up at least 42 points in their last four wins. The defense hasn’t allowed more than 20 points yet this year.

In total the Blue Devils are outscoring their opponents 4:1 at this point in the season’s campaign.

BA’s defense has been the centerpiece of the success, only allowing 59 points, on average about 10 points a game.

Coach Lovrich knows the Blue Devils need to focus in order to not let the trap catch the Devils off guard.

“West Branch has some good athletes so we need to respect our opponent no matter who it is. Trap games occur when you get caught up looking at a team’s record. We try not focus on the records of the teams we play,” said Coach Lovrich.

The game tonight is a home game for the Blue Devils, come out at 7 p.m.to support B-A at Memorial Stadium.