By Dave Morrison
Sports Editor
—
Oak Hill coach Casey Crane must have a vault full of sayings or quotes he has heard from different coaches over the years.
So when he was asked about his team Tuesday, he pulled one out from an odd source — this week’s opposing coach, Eddie Souk of rival Mount Hope.
“I heard Eddie say on TV a few years ago, ‘You can always tell what kind of team you have by how many cars you’ve got in the parking lot,’” Crane said. “And we have three kids who drive. I’ve held onto that over the years and it’s pretty much true.”
The two Fayette County rivals, separated by about 6 miles on U.S. Route 19, will renew acquaintances Friday night in the annual battle for the Little Brown Jug at Red Devil Stadium in Oak Hill.
Oak Hill, coming off a 47-20 loss to another county rival, Fayetteville (it was tied 12-12 at the break), is indeed young. The Red Devils will start two freshmen in the backfield — halfbacks Jerrell Green and Demarcus Hughes, who will be making his high school debut after missing last week’s game with a concussion. Four freshmen will start.
Mount Hope will be playing its season opener, and counters with its own freshman running back, Jalen Jones, who will be joined by veterans Demetri Gray and Josh Criss in the backfield.
Souk wasn’t so sure he liked an open week to start the season.
“Well, I’ve never had it this way before, so I don’t know if it’s good or bad,” the veteran coach said. “I’ll know Friday night. All I know is that our kids want to play. Right now that’s about all you can ask for.”
There are advantages both ways, as Crane pointed out.
“We had a chance to get out there and play in a game, so that is an advantage” Crane said. “On the other hand, we had a couple kids nicked up and I’m sure they’re ready to play with a healthy team. If we were 100 percent it would be a slight advantage, but then they had a chance to scout us in something other than a scrimmage game.”
Despite the lopsided score, Souk was impressed with what he saw from Oak Hill.
“I thought they were a good football team,” he said. “Sometimes it just takes one game to turn it around. We’re looking to get off to a good start and they are going to be working or correcting their mistakes. All you can hope is that your kids go out and have fun and nobody gets hurt. Then it’s a successful night.”
J.J. Green led the Red Devils with 142 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries against Fayetteville.
Crane saw Mount Hope in a preseason scrimmage against Liberty.
“They’ve got a real good line and they have three really good backs in their backfield,” he said. “It’s going to be tough.”
It could be the last time the teams battle from the Little Brown Jug since plans call for the two schools to consolidate, maybe as soon as next year.
“I certainly hope it’s not,” Souk said. “I’ve been talking Oak Hill-Mount Hope football since I was a kid. It’s something you talked about back then. There’s not so much emphasis on it anymore, but back then if you went 1-9 but beat Oak Hill you had a winning season. I’d like to see it continue, but I’m not in a position to make that decision.”
“It means something to the kids, it means something to the community,” Crane said. “It’s a good rivalry. I’d like to see it continue. But from everything I’m hearing, it is probably the last one.”
Crane said his team is focusing on not fading in the second half.
“I called it a rollercoaster,” he said of the loss to Fayetteville, in which the Pirates scored 35 second-half points to win going away. “I think we hit the peak at halftime. Most of your rollercoasters have a second hump. Well, we couldn’t find it in the second half. It was like we hit the down slope and it never went back up.”
For Souk, it’s the beginning.
“We’re going to tell the kids to gear up and let’s play hard and see what happens,” he said. “This is like the first step up a ladder that has 10 steps. Do we take a step this week or do we have to wait a week to make that first step? We’ll find out.”
“I hope they wait until week two to make their improvements,” Crane said.
— E-mail: demorrison@register-herald.com
