WACO finds ?mirror? image of itself in semis

WAYLAND ? The WACO Warriors have met several familiar teams in their 2010 post-season run with North Tama (Traer) being a part of that list. Though North Tama was the team who knocked WACO out of the 2009 playoffs, coach Chad Edeker says that it does and doesn?t provide for motivation heading into Friday, Nov. 12?s semifinal game.

?We had a ton of seniors last year, our core juniors playing here played against them [last year] but they had a ton of seniors [too]. I think we both have five returning starters from last year?s teams, I think that?s what our coaches counted up,? said Edeker. ?But honestly, that hasn?t come up, we haven?t brought last year?s game up at all. We?ve just talked about this year and how we?ve really mirrored each other.?

The mirroring is evident when looking at most of the major statistics of both teams, especially in rushing yards. WACO has gained 3,430 yards on the ground, compared to North Tama?s 2,002 yards but North Tama?s quarterback Brendon Boerm presents a dual threat to WACO. So far this season, Boerm has completed 61.5 percent of his passes for 2,012 yards with 25 touchdowns and only five interceptions while rushing for 1,251 yards with 17 touchdowns. Though the statistics may say the teams are very similar, especially in rushing, Edeker says the numbers are a bit deceiving.

?Their numbers say they?re split run vs. pass but they?re heavy toward the pass. They get a lot of runs late in the game when they?re up or like that first playoff game when it was super windy so they ran the ball a lot more. If you take the first half numbers and look when the game is close and stuff on what they want to do, they want to throw the ball,? said Edeker. ?They will run the ball and they are a decent running team [but] their quarterback has 1,200 [rushing] yards. You can?t get to 1,200 yards and not be pretty good, it?s not a small number.

?They are a passing team, I guess, in my eyes so that?s what we?re going to have to defend, defend the pass and stop the run with our d-line and our linebackers.?

Given North Tama?s tendency to pass the ball, Edeker says the Warriors for the most part are sticking to what has gotten the job done so far.

?We don?t want to run our old defense we?ve been running for 12 weeks and put in a whole new defense because then you?re asking for trouble. We?re just going to use our defense, tweak it and do the best we can. We?ve faced a few passing teams before but nobody passes as much as these guys do but you know, we?ve fared well against the pass,? said Edeker.

For more on this story, see the November 11 issue of the Mt. Pleasant News.