"We feel it's a big challenge and we definitely want to play well because it's our homecoming game," said Crescenta Valley Coach Paul Schilling, whose team posted a 35-14 win over Glendale at Moyse on Friday, but played likely its most uninspired 24 minutes of football to this point in the season to open the game, allowing the winless Nitros to hang around into the second half.
The Tornadoes (1-3, 0-1) are coming off a 57-13 loss to league co-champion Burroughs at Moyse Field last Thursday in which their defense was stretched to the breaking point by the Indians' rushing game.
"We watched the film on Friday and we saw our mistakes and they understand the score should have been a lot closer than it was," Hoover Coach Chris Long said. "We're excited overall for CV."
Both coaches believe this game will come down to exploiting the other's weakness. For Hoover that would be stopping the run, while Schilling admits his own squad's Achilles heel is defending against the passing game.
Long said the Glendale game was an eye opener for him as far as the difference in the Falcons' offensive focus this season.
"The previous year they always seemed to throw the ball a lot and try to spread everybody out and do a lot of motion and stuff," Long said. "This year they're running the ball a lot more, so it's definitely a different offense than I was expecting."
The Hoover defense will have to shore up its tackling and keep the Falcons, who were led by 135 yards on the ground from Marro Lee against Glendale, from breaking large gains.
"We aren't playing the run that well, so of course [Schilling] would change his offense to the running offense," Long said. "The kids know we need to get better at it."
