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Playoff Preview: Shadyside preps for East Knox

File Photo/KRISTIN MAZGAJ SHADYSIDE’S Mason Vannest (right) and Jordan Joseph (left) have been key contributors on both sides of the ball for the Tigers. Shadyside will be back in action Friday at Howard East Knox in a Division VII, Region 27 quarterfinal.

SHADYSIDE — Coaches always want their teams playing their best at crunch time. Mark Holenka is no different.

Shadyside’s veteran head coach watched his team start the 2020 campaign at 1-3, but the Tigers have been on the prowl ever since. They’ve put forth three straight impressive efforts heading into their Division VII, Region 27 quarterfinal matchup Friday night with second-seeded East Knox in Howard.

But Holenka knows getting a fourth consecutive victory won’t be easy.

“We’ll have our work cut out for us. East Knox is a very good football team. They were in the state semifinals a year ago in Division VI and they’ve got a lot of those kids back,” Holenka said. “They like to spread it out. They run from multiple sets and are very balanced offensively. They are very quick on both offense and defense.

“We will have to be able to tackle in space and cover their receivers really well,” he added. “We need to put some heat on the quarterback and we haven’t been real good at that this season. If we have to blitz all the time we could be in trouble.”

Holenka said East Knox doesn’t remind him of anyone the Tigers have played this season, but they do remind him of the old Danville teams they played.

“They do some things that other teams we played haven’t,” the Tigers boss continued.

The Bulldogs (6-1) advanced with a come-from-behind 20-6 decision over Toronto last week.

“They came out in their 5-wide attack and just went full throttle,” Holenka said of East Knox’s second half performance against the Red Knights. “They used the pass to set up the run. They have a quality quarterback and their receivers run very good routes.”

That quarterback is 6-2, 165-pound junior Peyton Lester. He has thrown for 1,170 yards and 11 touchdowns on 60 of 118. He has been picked off five times, though. He completed five of 11 tosses last week for 100 yards.

Shane Knepp, a 5-10, 135-pound junior, has a team-best 28 receptions for 327 yards and a TD. Weston Melick, a 6-2, 220-pound senior, has caught 18 passes for 406 yards and three touchdowns. Brandan Kannady, a 6-1, 175-pound senior, has landed 17 passes for 268 stripes and a trio of six-pointers. Ian Toller, a 6-1, 220-pound senior, has rushed for 349 yards and two touchdowns on 76 totes. Freshman Cole Delaughder, a 6-1, 175-pounder, has 279 yards on the ground. Lester has 195 and four scores.

East Knox opened with wins over Fredericktown (34-7) and Northmor (13-0) before losing at Centerburg (35-28) in double overtime. The Bulldogs have collected four straight wins over Cardington-Lincoln (33-18), Mount Gilead (56-7), Danville (7-6) and Toronto.

The Tigers, meanwhile, rolled past visiting Frontier (48-14) as senior Jacob Visnic enjoyed a breakout game. The 4-year starter had three short touchdown runs and took an interception 60 yards to the house that gave the hosts a 20-0 advantage.

Visnic finished the night with 149 yards on 15 carries as the workhorse in tailback Wyatt Reiman’s absence. Visnic now has 308 yards on the ground and six TDs. Reiman, whose status still remains uncertain, leads the Orange with 617 yards and 10 touchdowns on 106 carries.

“Jacob just shows the quality of kids we have that we might not use enough sometimes,” Holenka said. “He’s very capable of carrying the load, but we hope that we have two backs to use this week.”

Sophomore quarterback Rhys Francis passed for 131 yards and two scores on just five completions. He found classmate Mason VanNest on scoring strikes of 43 and 65 to get the ball rolling. VanNest finished with three catches for 117 stripes.

For the season, Francis has completed 52 of 110 attempts for 898 yards. He has thrown six touchdowns and three interceptions. VanNest has caught 20 passes for 415 yards and four of the scores. Alec Shepard, Reiman and Visnic are also options.

After suffering back-to-back losses to Martins Ferry (22-16) and Bellaire (20-13)to start the season, the Tigers rolled past Magnolia (50-20). They then fell to Wheeling Central (35-17) before defeating East Hardy (21-7) and River (27-25) prior to last week’s win.

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