“It’ll be good for our kids,” he said. “Sometimes you don’t know what you have until you’re put behind the eight ball. We’re not necessarily behind the eight ball totally, but we’re in a place we’re not familiar with. We have to continue to keep bringing this thing together, circle the wagons, let’em lay and see what we’ve got. I think our guys will continue to battle and persevere because that’s what they do.”
The Wildcats will look to get back on track this week against one of its biggest rivals. Springfield will face Wayne (2-1) in the GWOC opener at 7 p.m. Friday at Heidkamp Stadium in Huber Heights.
“We want to get off to a good start in GWOC play and let it go from there,” Douglass said.
Springfield has won six straight games against their Montgomery County rivals since 2018, including a second-round playoff victory in 2020. The Warriors won seven straight from 2011 through 2017. Since the 2008 merger, the Warriors lead the series 9-7.
“It’s the closest team we play in the conference,” Douglass said. “With that being said, it’s allowed us to have a little bit of a rivalry. There’s no bad blood because I have the utmost respect for (Wayne coach Roosevelt Mukes) and their kids. It’s just a good old-fashioned, go to the YMCA, drop the ball and we’re going to play.”
The key, Douglass said, will be taking care of the football. The Wildcats have struggled in that area with nine turnovers in back-to-back losses to DeMatha Catholic (Md.) and Trotwood-Madison. Last Friday night, the Wildcats had five turnovers in a 21-20 loss to Trotwood.
“We’ve got to cut our turnovers down and win the turnover battle,” Douglass said. “We have to win special teams, win third down situations on defense and offense and put ourselves in favorable situations to be successful. The game is really easy; if you take away the turnovers you’ve got a chance. We’re not good enough to give somebody four, five turnovers a game and expect to comeback to win — even though we came awful close last week to pulling that off. You can’t put yourself in those situations when you’re playing from behind and you’re having to do things you’re not comfortable with. We’ve got to get rid of the turnovers.”
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
Wayne is one of four GWOC teams to score 100 points in the first three weeks of the season. They’re led by junior quarterback Tyrell Lewis, who ranks second in the GWOC with 704 passing yards. Warriors junior Teaunn Hunter leads the GWOC with 267 receiving yards — right in front of Springfield seniors Duncan Bradley III (250 yards) and Da’Shawn Martin (214 yards).
“(Lewis) is making good decisions with the ball,” Douglass said. “He’s done a great job over the offseason working on his throwing technique and motion. … He’s done a good job of making decisions with the ball and his selection of who he’s trying to get the ball to and seems to be distributing the ball pretty evenly.”
Springfield’s defense is led by senior shutdown cornerback and Ohio State commit Aaron Scott, senior linebacker Kyron Dolby (35 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss), and junior defensive end Jackson Heims (3.5 sacks, 6.5 tackles for loss).
A year ago, Wayne took an early 7-0 lead, but Springfield scored 21 unanswered points to earn a 21-7 victory.
“We’ve had some good battles the last five, six, seven years,” Douglass said, “and this will be another one.”
WEEK 4 SCHEDULE
Friday’s games
Springfield at Wayne
Kenton Ridge at Northwestern
London at Shawnee
Northeastern at Greenon
Fairbanks at Catholic Central
Southeastern at West Liberty-Salem
Tecumseh at Indian Lake
Graham at Urbana
Mechanicsburg at Cedarville
Madison Plains at Triad
Greeneview at West Jefferson
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