Hilliard Davidson Preview (1 of 3)
The preview of Hilliard Davidson is part one of a three-part series leading up to the Kirk Herbstreit Kickoff Classic preview of Davidson-Westerville South.
Today: Hilliard Davidson Preview
Wednesday:Westerville South Preview
Friday Night:Preview of the South-Davidson game that takes place on Saturday, 3:30 ET at Ohio Stadium (can be seen on ESPNU)
After ending the 2008 season on a heartbreaking 7-3 loss to Pickerington Central in the regional finals, the Wildcats of Hilliard Davidson look to take the journey one step further this time around, getting the program back to the state championship level like 2006. The 2006 season was a thriller for Davidson, winning the 2006 D-1 title in dramatic fashion, with a gutsy call of going for the 2 in double OT, which paid off, giving the Cats a 36-35 win over Mentor.
The ‘Cats of 2009 are shaping up to be one of the key front runners in Region 3, returning 14 starters from the 2008 team. However, they lost their defensive backfield, the same story going into the 2008 year. “If we can match the leadership and chemistry we found last year, we should be able to compete for a spot in the playoffs for the sixth time in the last seven years ,” head coach Brian White said. There is no doubt this team is going to post a record of 9-1, or at worst 8-2.
The key, like it was last year, is to run the gauntlet and take down the teams in the OCC-Central, one of the best divisions around the state. This conference sent three teams last year to the playoffs, and should have sent a fourth in Dublin Coffman, but was snubbed by the computers, sending Grove City instead. However, Davidson made the Hounds pay for stealing the final playoff spot from Coffman, drubbing GC 38-7 last year in the first round, including two interceptions that were ran back for touchdowns, one from 105 yards. The next week, the ‘Cats got to beat a fellow Central division member in Worthington Kilbourne 21-7, setting up the tough 7-3 loss to Pickerington Central.
Luckily, they don’t have the daunting task of playing games at Coffman and at Arlington, two of the more intimidating places to play at around the OCC. However, through weeks 7-9 are still very very difficult, including a trip to Worthington Kilbourne in Week 7, and home games against Coffman and Arlington in weeks to follow that. With the failure of Issue 2 for SWCS, Davidson’s schedule got much tougher by comparing records of 2008, before w/CC and Westland (54-46) and now with Lancaster and Delaware* (59-34). The final problem for Davidson is an open date still because of the levy, in Week 3. However, the 9 games they have now seem to be tougher than the 10 they had before.
*according to JJHuddle.com
