“(Miamisburg) is a good team and they’re playing really good right now,” Douglass said. “They’re 6-2 so they’re doing a good job as a staff. They’re rolling in the right direction.”
The Vikings have already surpassed their win total from last season when they finished 4-6.
Defensively, the Vikings are allowing 16.9 points per game, which ranks second in the GWOC behind Centerville (13.3 ppg). The defensive unit is led by senior linebacker Peyton Hoskins who ranks first in the GWOC with eight sacks.
“We’ve got to play sound,” Douglass said. “First of all, we’ve got to win the turnover battle. It’s like I said last week, the team who wins (the turnover battle) is going to win the game. We created some turnovers last week and still came up on the short end of the deal because we made more than what we created (on defense). We’ve got to be sound defensively, be in our gaps and be responsible for whatever we’re supposed to be responsible for. … We’re going to have to be really, really sound and get some momentum going into the playoffs.”
The Wildcats will face another challenge in defending Vikings senior quarterback Preston Barr, who ranks third in the GWOC with 1,299 passing yards with 11 TDs. He’s also rushed for 353 yards and nine TDs.
“He’s the guy who makes this thing roll,” Douglass said.
Springfield junior quarterback Brent Upshaw returned to the lineup last week after missing four of the last five weeks with an injury suffered against DeMatha Catholic in Week 2. He went 11-for-21 for 133 yards and four interceptions last week against Centerville.
“Hopefully we can knock some of that rust off and he can get some rhythm this week and have a good performance,” Douglass said.
With two weeks remaining in the regular season, Douglass hopes his squad can hit its stride heading into the postseason. They’re currently projected to finish 15th in Region 2, according to Drew Pasteur at Fantastic50.net, a website which provides unofficial playoff seeding projections and probabilities.
The Wildcats have faced the 12th strongest schedule out of 71 Division I teams, according to Pasteur’s site. Springfield has lost four games this season by eight points or less.
“We’re just trying to get in, get some momentum, some positive energy going in our direction heading into next week and heading into the playoffs,” Douglass said.
The team will be motivated to send their seniors out on a strong note, he said. The Wildcats host Northmont in what will likely be their final home game of the season next Friday night.
“We want to send those guys out right,” Douglass said. “What better way to do that than to win these last two games going into the playoffs.”
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