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The Capital-Journal

Shawnee Heights may have lost last week, dropping a 28-12 home decision to state-ranked Lawrence-Free State.

But the T-Birds did enough right to get the attention of Hayden coach Tom Stringer heading into today's 7p.m. Centennial League contest at Hayden.

"They played them tough," Stringer said of the T-Birds, now 1-2 and 0-1 in the league. "They do some things well on offense and they can be aggressive on defense."

Heights forced seven fumbles, recovering four, and also intercepted a pass and blocked a punt against Free-State, which led just 7-6 at the start of the fourth quarter before scoring three touchdowns down the stretch.

T-Bird coach Frank Crosson would settle for a similar defensive effort tonight, but Crosson knows Heights will need to be better offensively against the Wildcats to have a legitimate chance to win.

Shawnee Heights managed just 149 yards of offense against Free State, including 33 rushing yards on 31 carries.

"We were pleased defensively because they continued to compete," Crosson said. "We gave up some yards and there's some concerns we have over there, but they forced turnovers, they hung in there and they made some plays.

"They gave us a lot of opportunities. We just need to do the same things offensively. We have to be a little more consistent on moving the ball, getting it in the red zone and then punching it in the end zone."

With several new players in the lineup this season, Crosson is not completely surprised by the T-Birds' inconsistency on offense.

"We have some real quality players, but they're spread pretty thin because a lot of them have to play both ways, and we're filling in with some p eople that just haven't had much experience."

Shawnee Heights senior quarterback Ryan Finan has passed for 340 yards, third in the city.

Jim Kilmartin has been a leader defensively, including blocking punts in back-to-back games.

While Heights will be aiming to snap a two-game losing streak tonight, Hayden comes into the contest on a two-game winning streak after losing its season-opener to Marysville.

"You know Hayden's going to be well-coached, No. 1," Crosson said. "They do what they do pretty dang well because the coaches know what they want to get accomplished.

"No. 2 they've got great tradition over there so the young kids coming up realize that they have big shoes to fill and they have to raise their level of play to meet that. "

# posted by Medical Information : 4:45 AM