photo by: Nick Henthorn

Photo by Nick Henthorn Harrison Central’s Jacob Quito (7) runs to the outside against Union Local during the Huskies’ road game on Sept. 13. Quito and the Huskies face Fort Frye on the road Friday.

CADIZ–Harrison Central enters Week 5 with a 1-3 record. It’s not exactly where head coach Anthony Hayes and company felt they’d be after four games.

Two of those losses easily could be wins, as defeats to Buckeye Trail and unbeaten Malvern came by a combined seven points.

The Huskies played well, but were guilty of shooting themselves in the foot multiple times. The momentary mental mistakes took their toll.

Then came last Friday’s humbling loss to unbeaten Union Local, 49-13, on the grass in Morristown.

That’s not one or two mental mistakes. What exactly happened there?

“Lots of really bad football,” Hayes admitted. “We played very bad defensively and offensively, we weren’t much better. We made a lot of mental and physical errors and my hat is off to UL, they played a really good game.

“I also think that we helped them in that area and helped them to play a good game and it doesn’t get any easier this week.”

No, it certainly doesn’t.

For most teams coming off a difficult loss, the last thing they want to do is make a multi-hour trek on a bus to take on a perennial small-school power that likes nothing more than lining up and playing smash mouth football out of a Wing-T, but that’s just what Harrison faces Friday when they take on Fort Frye.

The Cadets (4-1) too know how it feels to be humbled, courtesy of a 51-16 thumping at the hands of Barnesville in Week 1.

In fairness, all that seemed to do is anger an already dangerous football team. Fort Frye responded with three straight wins, a 72-6 hammering of Belpre, and most recently a 35-7 win against Waterford. Between those two was an impressive 38-19 win against Wheeling Central on the Maroon Knights’ home turf.

Not the ideal opponent following a disappointing loss, but Hayes and company don’t look at this normally. They are in fact, relishing the opportunity before them.

“Sometimes people look at going through a tough stretch and then, oh no, you have to play a really tough game and here we go again,” Hayes began. “But we look at it as an opportunity to come against a great opponent.

“We are playing a perennial powerhouse that is well coached. They are an outstanding football team and for us to go down and compete. There’s no reason we shouldn’t be able to compete against anybody if our kids are ready. We’ve done our best all week, now it’s time to go down and compete.”

While Fort Frye continues to punish teams on the ground out of its Wing-T, Hayes did note that this is one of the better passing teams out of the Cadets he’s seen in recent memory.

Sophomore Grady Hesson has passed for 426 yards and four TDs against three picks, averaging 106.5 yards per game while completing 61 percent of his passes.

He runs some, owning 104 yards on 33 carries but has reached the end zone thrice.

Senior Clayton Miller (481 yards, seven TDs) and Tyce Beardsley (306 and three) do the bulk of the damage, with both averaging better than 12 yards per tote.

Given Harrison allowed UL and Brody Perzanowski to average more than nine yards per carry a week ago, the run defense will be paramount this week.

“They are still a run-heavy team, but they throw it very effectively,” Hayes said. “The quarterback does a nice job, but they still hang their hat on the run.

“Up front is where we’ll need to win the game. We need to be a sound, disciplined football team with controlled aggression if we want to win. We must control the line of scrimmage.”