Keys to the Game: Harrison Raiders

Westfield will kick off it's season this Friday up in West Lafayette to face the Harrison Raiders. Last year, Harrison was the bottom feeder of the Hamilton Crossroads Conference when they had there worst season in school history at 0-10. This year, looks like it could be the same fate for the Raiders.

The Raiders graduated many key players last season. Nick Bartolone (Quarterback), Joe Dinkel (Wide Receiver), and Matthew Collicott (Cornerback) were three of many other Raiders that have graduated.

Led by coach Tony Martin, it will be interesting to see how this young Harrison squad matches up with the Shamrocks on Friday night.

Here's WLFI TV's quick two minute season preview of Harrison. It's headlined by interviews with Tony Martin and players.


Check out below Westfield's keys to victory against the Harrison Raiders.

Keep Harrison's Defense Honest: Harrison will expect Westfield to come out swinging with a passing barrage led by Nick Ferrer, but the Shamrocks will have to keep them honest. A platoon of Frank Grimes, Adam Horkay, and Johnny Crawford should be able to decimate the Raiders defense.

Don't be surprised at all if Coach Gilbert starts off the game with him trying to slam the ball down Harrison's throat with a powerful running game. If the running game gets early success, it could be a long night for the Raiders.

I wouldn't be shocked at all to see Westfield run for 100 plus yards on the ground and make it known early that they will be balanced.

Play Fundamentally Sound Football: The Shamrocks will certainly have some opening game jitters with it being the season opener, but they will have to avoid mental mistakes. Not much penalties and the defense has to tackle fundamentally sound.

If the Shamrocks can play mistake-free football, look for them to break it open early against Harrison.

Feed The Ball to Devin Reece: I don't think anyone in the HCC should be able to stop wideout Devin Reece, especially not Harrison's young and small secondary. From what I've seen on film of the Raiders secondary, Ferrer and Reece should hook up many times.

Reece should be targeted at least 10-12 times on Friday night to exploit Harrison's weak secondary. A possible all-county receiver in Reece needs to be fed the ball on every drive.

Expect Devin to have a field day with this Harrison defense Friday. Don't be surprised to see him maybe even set a school record in receiving yards in this matchup. Coaches, feed Devin the ball!

Final Score Prediction: Westfield Shamrocks 38 - Harrison Raiders 7
Westfield should be able to dominate this game from start to finish. I expect to see some JV guys get some reps in the fourth quarter of this one.

The Shamrocks hurry-up offense should give Harrison's defense problems all night. Game plan for Westfield should be to assert themselves in the running game the first few drives and then break it open with the passing attack.

Will see how right I am or not on Friday night up in West Lafayette for the season opener.