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The Crimson Wave prepared all week to have their game against Hopewell be canceled.
Hopewell has a high number of COVID-19 cases and unlike the game against Booker T. Washington earlier in the season that was postponed, the game against Hopewell will not be rescheduled. Games are too close together now and anything rescheduled would violate concussion protocol.
Head Coach Mike Scott was looking forward to the challenge Hopewell would present to the Crimson Wave. Unlike previous quarterbacks, Hopewell’s is a bit more dynamic. He can run and has “really improved” to become a strong offensive leader for the Blue Devils.
“Mistakes you make in this game are going to multiply…,” said Scott after the game against John Marshall.
In the previous game, the Crimson Wave’s mistakes created a lot of potential opportunities for John Marshall to score and undermined the offense’s progress. Little things such as not tackling properly and being lazy will result in more holding penalties. With new players at various positions in the offense, miscommunication can lead to gaps in the offense, that a team like Hopewell can exploit.
“We understand that they are our rivals and we are gonna try our best to make it a good rivalry,” Scott said.
Hopewell typically performs better in rivalry games against the Wave and usually makes the playoffs. But working on having a strong offense to put up more of a fight against a team like Hopewell does not have to stop just because Petersburg could not play their rival last week. Now Petersburg has to look forward to their first road game of the season against Meadowbrook.
Meadowbrook does not have a win so far this season and the Wave keeps getting better so their game against Meadowbrook can be a way to show their growth the last few weeks. It can be a game where they continue their momentum and experiment with the playbook because the worst thing the team could do is deteriorate from the progress they have made.
Playing against a team that may not have the same skill set can force a team to be sloppy and not do their job because they think the game will be easy. But the best thing the Wave could do is force Meadowbrook to play to the level of the Wave. Scott has his players locked in for one week to prepare for Hopewell but imagine what being locked-in for two weeks can do for a team that is waiting to play tougher teams.
One thing that’s not so easy to prepare for is your first game of the season playing in front of a hostile crowd. It can impact players mentally because some thrive on the support. On Friday night Petersburg players will see how having two weeks before a game will help them and their skills can speak for themselves.
Zoe Collins Rath (she/her/hers) is a sports and education reporter for the Progress-Index. For times email her at ZCollinsRath@gannett.com or follow her on Twitter @zoe_jordan99.
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