In one of the most underrated matchups in the area, this appears to be one of the most intriguing games you should have your eyes on this week barring any madness.
After getting shut out 17-0 @ Leo, Norwell has outscored their opponents 88-8, including an impressive 43-8 win over New Haven. Norwell is 4-1 for the first time since 2009 in which they did beat East Noble 31-22 that year. Norwell has lost 6 straight to the Knights, and they haven’t won @ East Noble since their state title run in 2006, which they won 56-15. Norwell’s opponents have won a combined 8 games, but can they push EN to their limits?
For East Noble, they are coming off a very disappointing outcome @ Leo 24-0 and have lost consecutive games for the first time since 2008. That has only happened 3 times since 2002, and they haven’t been shut out in a conference game since 1998. Do you know the last time they’ve lost 3 straight conference games? 2007.
East Noble really needs a better performance in this game if they want to keep their conference title hopes alive, and they may still have to without Rowan Zolman again.
East Noble leads the all-time series 17-14, including 6 straight wins. The Knights are 9-6 all-time at home vs Norwell compare to their 8-8 record @ Norwell.
Norwell
- Get after the quarterback
What we saw in that Leo game was one of the few nights that a team was able to put enough pressure to frustrate their offensive attack, albeit it was Leo after all. The East Noble Knights were held to just 188 yards of total offense, the fewest in a conference game for EN since week 3 of the 2011 season against Homestead. Dalton Stinson, who is a solid quarterback as a junior, had three picks and had a QBR of 23.2, the next closest is 70.3.
Against New Haven, Norwell’s defense only allowed New Haven to produce 153 yards of total offense (41 yards rushing) compare to Norwell’s 401. New Haven was a team that came into that game averaging just under 163 yards passing and nearly 175 yards rushing. Outside of the Leo and New Haven games, Norwell’s defense has held everyone to under 100 yards of total offense, though it was against bad competition.
If the Norwell Knights can get to the quarterback and get some good coverage on their talented receivers, they will have a chance. In the last 2 meetings with EN, they have allowed on average 259 yards passing per game. While Stinson isn’t Bailey Parker, he still has enough weapons to burn this stingy Norwell defense.
2. O-Line must help Eli Riley contribute in the pocket and in the running game
When the Knights do a good job protecting the quarterback, the offense looks pretty lethal as was the case with the New Haven game. The Knights ran for 273 yards, while the passing game produced for 128 yards and 4 scores.
However, Norwell has struggled to score on this EN defense. Dating back to 2018, Norwell has scored 22 points combined, allowed a combined 11 sacks, 5 picks, and lost a fumble. Another thing Norwell will need to do is limiting mistakes and not shooting themselves in the foot. This was evident in this year’s Leo game, and that was one of the things Leo did not do against EN. You can’t extend drives and eat up clock if you don’t take care of the football against really good teams.
East Noble
- Regain some of the confidence back on offense. Period.
At some point, we knew someone would come in and really create a ton of problems on this East Noble offense. I said coming into the 2020 season that Leo had the best odds of doing just that, and they completely dominated them defensively last week.
After all, this is a younger football team compared to the one from 2019, so the Knights do need to learn how to respond from a rough performance. I think how the Knights do in their first drives will be key, especially when Rowan Zolman may still be out for this week as well. So, expect more of the same with the “next man up” mentality.
2. Play a better all-around game
The last 2 games, I have noticed that the Knights have gotten off to some slow starts in the first half of games. Against Penn, I didn’t take it as critically, but it was definitely more glaring last week.
I look for the Knights to do a little better job tackling from the line of scrimmage and creating pressure from the pocket. I also look for the Knights to limit mistakes that were costly against Leo, especially with the 5 turnovers, which will not win you ballgames.
While the loss stings, the Knights don’t have time to reflect on that game. The Season is far from over. Instead, they need to move forward to this week. How they play against Norwell will be critical. Again, another conference loss will eliminate their title hopes.
One Player to Watch
Isiah Brege Norwell
Against New Haven, Brege caught 5 passes for 81 yards and a score that led everyone in receiving yards. Brege is also capable of running the ball, but he is not their go-to-guy there compare to Eli Riley and Max Ringger. He could make some vital catches if Norwell gets their offense going.
Justin Marcellus EN
One of the big eye openers from last week was how nonexistent the offense looked at times against Leo, albeit give more credit for that Leo defense. He had his worst game since the state finals (which he was hurt that day as well) by rushing for 24 yards on 14 carries as well as 2 catches for 17 yards. Outside of the Huntington North game, he has yet to have that wow game that we saw many times down the stretch last season. In his career against Norwell, he ran for 91 yards on 24 carries and scored 2 big TD’s. I think he’ll be a guy that they’ll look to get him back on track against a tough Norwell team.
Another one to watch would be Nick Munson. In the Penn game, he had 12 catches for 129 yards. However, against the best secondary he’s played against all season, he only caught 1 pass for 13 yards and 1 carry for 2 yards. Ethan Nickles led the Knights in receiving with 37 lasts week, and he can be another to watch as well.
Conclusion
Both teams have been trending in different directions since their game against Leo. For Norwell, it appears they have learned a lot from that 17-0 L @ Leo by outscoring their next 2 opponents 88-8. Now, we will see how the reigning 4A state finalists do in response to their loss to Leo. I have very little doubt that the Knights can rebound and stay alive in this race as they prepare for another crack at a very competitive 4A sectional 19.
Norwell has kind of hovered under the radar as a team that can break out, but not everyone is seeing Norwell and saying “Yeah, they can make a run at state in 3A.” or “They can beat Concordia!”. I have heard none of that. This is one of those ‘measuring stick’ games that can really show how much they have improved from week 3.
For East Noble, you do not want this streak to pepper to 3 or more and let the community down. Knowing Coach Amstutz and this team, I expect a bounce back from the Knights, and I look for them to get the EN crowd going. Then, we shall see how Norwell handles this.
Around the NorthEast Corner 