Cal's Call: Blazers in search of a miracle

Note: Game postponed until Saturday morning due to rain

On Friday night, the Blair Blazers will face their toughest challenge of the season. Blair will play the legendary Seneca Valley Screaming Eagles, in their house, for their homecoming. At one of the toughest high school football arenas in the nation, the Blazers are looking for an upset.

So far this season Blair has been able to dominate up front with the big men and run at will with the inside outside combination of senior running backs Felix Ruiz and Jermaine Jack. So far this season the tandem has dominated the Montgomery 4A/3A division with over 500 yards on the ground.

The running game for the Blazers has carried them to their 2-1 record averaging almost 300 yards a game but against a defense like Seneca's the ground game will not be enough to succeed. The Blazers MUST throw the ball. If they they are to improve their record to 3-1 and upset a perennial powerhouse then they have to have an aerial attack. The Blazers must find away for senior playmaking wideout Avon Jackson to get his hands on the ball and get involved in the passing game.

Senior Quarterback Arie Piesert is known around the county as more of a running quarterback than a passing threat but in order for Blair to have a shot he must do both.

The Seneca Valley coaches have most likely gotten their hands on some film of the Blazers first three games and what that means is that the Eagles will come out stacking the line, geared to stop the run. They already know to look for the renowned crackback sweep, the guard traps and all of the Blazers' bread and butter plays.

So in order for Blair to even have chance at victory they have to mix it up. The Blazers must find away to put points on the board in the passing game and mix up the running attack even more.

Defensively, Blair has only given up 16 points this season (6 came from blocked punt) and they were all against a tough Northwest team. The Jaguars exposed the suspect Blazer secondary and revealed to the county the Blazer susceptibility to a mobile quarterback and the run/pass option. Seneca's quarterback is a converted wide receiver so the Blazers should be prepared for lots of bootlegs and QB draws.

The Blazers have been very stout against the run with big and nasty defensive linemen like junior Ralph Furtile and senior Max Pollock. With middle linebackers Senior Ricky Campos and junior Hansel Cedeno manning the middle, running will be hard even for the tough Screaming Eagles who boast one of the most talented backs in the county, senior Justin Warren.

Cal's Call: The Blazers must step it up completely to compete with the Eagles. They need to run the ball, pound it up the middle and when Seneca starts to put 8 and 9 guys in the box throw it over the top to Jackson. Blair needs to step up the secondary and not give up the big plays in the passing game. The Blazers can and will win this game. This game will be the biggest upset in recent Blair memory. On Friday night at one of the toughest places to play football there will be an upset. Blair Blazers on a game winning field goal by Junior Noam Dror will be beat Seneca Valley 24-21. Go Blazers!!!