Benton football coach Jeremy Clodfelder carried a ruler around all week.
“It was a reminder of how close we were to having a chance to beat a good program last week,” he said. “It’s frustrating when I think about how close we were to being 1-0.”
Benton failed on a big fourth down play when it needed just about a foot of turf to keep a key drive alive in a 10-3 loss to Carterville.
Now, it opens its home season against Sparta Friday night at Tabor Field.
Sparta also comes in 0-1 after a 7-6 loss to Columbia last week.
“They are athletic,” Clodfelder said of the Bulldogs. “They always are.”
Darius Jackson is the leader of the offense, taking over for quarterback Blake Shelton, who was lost due to graduation.
“He has a sling for an arm and he throws the ball well,” said Clodfelder. “He is good on his feet and sometimes they wait for pressure so he can scramble and find a crease in the defense.”
Jackson’s main target is 6 foot 3, 190 pound receiver Alek Sopiars when he does go to the air.
“He is big and he has the best hands on the team,” Clodfelder said.
Clodefelder said he hasn’t changed much after the first week.
“We just have to go out and play our game,” he said. “We can’t stub our toe now, we had a chance to get a little breathing room last week, but we stubbed our toe.
“The goal now is to get to 4-1,” Clodfelder added. “And you can’t be 4-1 until you go 1-1, so we have to play well this week and get one.”
Although Dylan DeForest had some good moments last week, Benton’s rushing game was not potent. Clodfelder said the game may evolve into a different animal.
“Maybe the run game turns into a quick pass and screen game,” he said. “We have to look at who we have and design our team around the players we have.”
Except for significant losses due to penalties last week, Benton’s passing attack looked good.
“Tyler Leffler had a good game,” Clodfelder said. “He maybe had one poor throw in the game, but, when you throw 23 times, that is going to happen. And our screen plays looked good except for losing 30 yards on penalties.”
Sparta will counter with a 4-4 defensive scheme.
“They play one safety high and play a lot of Cover-3,” Clodfelder said. “They come off the ball pretty well, too. They have a defensive end that is about 6 foot 4 and he bats a lot of passes down.
