Strawberry Crest is a team searching for answers in the thick of a three-game losing streak. Right now, the hope around Dover is that the team’s finish will be better than its start.
That starts with tonight’s home game against Bloomingdale, a team in a completely different situation: riding a three-game win streak and coming off of a Monday blowout win over Middleton, 36-9. Granted, Middleton was down eight defensive starters and 16 total players after a brawl broke out against Jefferson last week, but the Bulls scored efficiently and often.
Crest has plenty of work to do on both offense and defense before that second win will come.
Defensively, the Chargers have to tighten up everywhere. The unit has given up 154 points in its last three games and its best effort to clamp a unit down that stretch — Durant’s passing game, which finished Sept. 22 with a 33% completion rate — still yielded two receiving touchdowns on big plays. Crest’s defense has shown flashes of potential in all three games, from pressuring quarterbacks to blocking kicks and forcing red zone turnovers, so the unit will need to find a way to stay consistent.
The most challenging puzzle for the Chargers to piece together comes with the offense, which has been kept out of the end zone in each of the last three games and is the only 7A-9 unit to have scored under 10 total points in district play. The unit totaled three yards against Plant City and didn’t have many more against Tech before Jarrett Rappe connected with Jamar Hart on a 61-yard pass late in the third quarter. If Crest can at least get its rushing attack working as it did against King in the team’s lone win of the season, it may be able to put some more points on the board against the Bulls.
Bloomingdale’s been on a roll lately, but one could argue the competition hasn’t been nearly as tough as what Crest has had in the same timeframe. The 45-17 win over Lennard Sept. 22 came against a Longhorns team that, unlike Crest, has not found a way to win a game this season. Middleton had a 3-0 record before the Sept. 28 brawl with Jefferson, a game where the Tigers trailed 17-3, but those wins came over King, Alonso and Leto — three teams with one win between them. To East Bay’s credit, the Indians were able to pull off an 18-15 overtime upset win over Durant on Monday.
The Bulls run a balanced attack picking up 12.5 yards per catch and 4.5 yards per carry. One area Crest could capitalize on is the passing game, as quarterback Tyler Hunter had thrown nearly as many picks (five) as touchdowns (six) before Monday’s matchup against a depleted Middleton defense.
With nowhere to go but up and a more favorable slate ahead of it, Strawberry Crest has a real chance to win multiple games in a season for the first time since 2013.