For the second straight week, the Tekamah-Herman Tigers struggled offensively as they lost 14-8 at home to Homer Friday night.
The Knights scored all their points in the second quarter, and Tekamah-Herman got on the board in the third quarter.
The Tigers no doubt had their chances to win, but couldn't get the job done. It had to be frustrating for Tekamah-Herman to struggle offensively, and lose for the second consecutive week.
On the bright side, the Tigers played solid defense, or at least it appears they did.
Head Coach Graig McElmuray says his team has been decimated by injury.
"We have 19 possible positions on the field. They're not being filled by number ones and number twos anymore. We have seven seniors that are hurt, two juniors, and every single one of them's out for the season. So right now we're really playing kids that are young, and the mistakes that we're making show that in both games. We went into the Wisner game starting three kids that I didn't think we were going to start, or play much during the season. I really thought they were going to get a lot of JV time. And the next game we played about eight kids that I didn't think were going to play in varsity positions."
Tekamah-Herman (0-2) hosts Oakland-Craig (1-1) Friday night.
The Knights lost 41-12 at home to Battle Creek last time out after winning their opener at Fremont Bergan 22-6.
McElmuray says the Knights are tough, but he is optimistic.
"Right now I think we match up a little bit better than what some people are giving us credit for. Oakland-Craig has been a great team for a long time, and Joe Anderson over there will have that ship running really really well by the end of the season. They'll probably either get first or second in their district, and probably make it into the playoffs. And they're a great team obviously."
The Tigers have lost the last five meetings between the two schools.
Oakland-Craig is a good team, but the Tigers can't be afraid of them.
Tekamah-Herman's offense has to find some answers, and find them quickly. The young skill players have to step up and perform. It has been two games, and the Tigers should be improved by game three.
The defense also has to play well for Tekamah-Herman. The Tigers showed improvement from Week 0 to Week 1 on that side of the ball so there's no reason Tekamah-Herman can't play even better defense against the Knights.
The Tigers can't afford to fall behind big early or at any point in the game. Tekamah-Herman isn't exactly built to come from behind so they have to keep things close if at all possible.
The Tigers have to stop the run. Tekamah-Herman gave up 237 yards on the ground against Homer, and that has to improve if the Tigers hope to knock off Oakland-Craig.
Tekamah-Herman has to do whatever they can to hang in there and make things close. If the Tigers can put together four excellent quarters of football, and hang around until the fourth quarter, they may have a chance to win.
Tekamah-Herman has to play their best game of the year though, and has to catch some breaks.
Another thing the Tigers have to do is create turnovers. Tekamah-Herman has to win the turnover battle Friday night if they hope to win the game.
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