Mitchell battles conference opponent West Washington in losing effort

Coming off the Bluejackets' last game, a 45-6 loss against Springs Valley, Mitchell coach Kevin Kling noted the play of the offensive line as an area he was targeting for his team to improve upon heading into their week three matchup Friday against West Washington.

Despite the final score, a 38-8 loss to the Senators, the team showed visible improvement in that area.

"Yeah, we changed some things up in our protection to help our passing game and you saw our passing game start to emerge tonight," Kling said. "Again, it's just gonna come down to consistency in preparation. You know, I mean, we had some big runs that were there. But we've got to decide that we're going to stay on blocks for much longer than two seconds. We got to stay on blocks for six, seven seconds. Guys have to choose across the board that that's what they're gonna do and it's our job as coaches to show them how to get there."

Notable performances

With the improved protection, Bluejackets' quarterback Ethan Turner was able to throw for 69 yards, with a completion rate of 56% on 16 passing attempts. This is in contrast to the previous week when Turner attempted just two passes, one of which was intercepted.

Mitchell's lone touchdown against West Washington came from junior running back Wes Hallett, who found the endzone on a 25-yard carry. Hallett racked up 50 rushing yards on four attempts, all of which came on Mitchell's scoring possession in the fourth quarter.

Bluejackets running back Kale England was also a standout for the team's offense on the night, amassing 100 total rushing yards across 20 attempts.

West Washington was led by junior quarterback Kenton Chase, who accounted for five of the team's touchdowns — two through the air and three on the ground — the highlight of which was a 30-yard scoring pass to running back Greyson McCoy.

Chase also led the Senators in rushing yards, carrying the ball for 92 yards on 11 tries.

Coach's observation

Though Mitchell is off to an 0-3 start, Kling said his young team is improving each week but will need to work to be more consistent as the season continues to progress.

"Yeah, I mean, we're getting better every week. But, you know, until we decide that we're going to do the little things all the time, we're going to be up and down. And the kids know it and we've talked about it," Kling said.

The first-year coach continued: "We've got to decide that we're going to be consistent in everything we do and then you'll see consistent play, because there are flashes, we do flash. And, it's not just at the end of the games either, in the middle of games, beginning of games we do things and then, you know, we just aren't consistent yet. And, that's a product of young kids and our experience. But at some point, they've got to make the decision."

Looking ahead

The Bluejackets' banged-up offensive line will continue to be a point of focus as they look ahead to next week's matchup against Eastern Greene.

"I don't know what the condition of Lucas Morrow is, we'll find out more as we go into next week, but we've lost another starting lineman. You know, when it rains it pours," said Kling. We're just going to continue to work through it. We've fought through adversity all season and we'll just continue to fight through it."

This article originally appeared on The Times-Mail: Indiana high school football: Mitchell vs Washington, IHSAA scores