Junior running back Calvin Strong of Omaha North is one of the best running backs to say the least. With 2791 rushing yards and 42 touchdowns off 314 carries, Strong averages about 8.9 yards per carry and a touchdown every 7.5 carries. Per game, Strong averages 232.6 yards per game. Strong contributes to a run-heavy team that averages 316.4 yards per game rushing compared to 99.8 yards passing per game. Omaha North’s run offense can seem like an unstoppable force.

On the other side of the line of scrimmage lies the Westside defense, the immovable object. Westside’s defense is good against both the pass and the rush. It averages 132.8 yards per game against the rush and 114.6 yards per game against the pass. Westside stops the opposing run with only 3.5 yards per carry and a touchdown every 26.5 attempts. Last game, Westside did not let Millard West score a single offensive touchdown.

With Strong going up against this Westside defense next Tuesday, something will have to give. It starts with winning the battle at the line.

“Other teams tend to get tentative against them since they are all going to attack… We can’t get tentative against [Omaha North],” said Westside defensive coordinator Rick McKeever. “The main thing we have to attack them. We can’t sit back and let them smash us.”

Westside’s line’s strength is not found in its size. Rather, its line competes by being more athletic and more agressive than its opponents.

“We have been very physical all year,” McKeever said. “We just aren’t that big. We are predicated more on our aggressiveness… and speed.”

Omaha North’s offense is a power run offense comprised of pushing its way up the field. Stopping the run will be up to more than the line.

“We’ve seen teams like this before,” said captain and linebacker senior Matt Connelly. “They have a tremendous running back. But we have a real physical corp of linebackers.”

The linebackers of Westside are the next crucial component into stopping Strong. Fortunately, there is a lot of experience from within the starters.

“Cody [Cramer] and Brady [Novak] have been starting for three years,” Connelly said. “I’ve been starting for two.”

Connelly, senior Brady Novak, senior Cody Cramer and senior Jalen Cox-Martin have combined for 380 of the 1008 total tackles by Westside. These linebackers are quick, agressive players who will need to use their athleticism to take down Strong.

Omaha North is weak with its passing game. Omaha North’s weak passing offense will lend to a strength within Westside’s defense. The Warriors will be able to use their secondary to stop Strong.

“They don’t throw a lot,” McKeever said. “Maybe 10-12 times a game.”

Like the linebackers, the secondary is equipped with three returning starters: captain and strong safety senior Drew Fitzmorris, free safety senior Kenny McDowell and cornerback senior Jamal Conway-Smith. These starters have been able to teach the two other cornerbacks, senior Keynan Scott and junior Andrew Combs, into becoming crucial components of the defense. This secondary has combined for 347 of the total tackles for Westside.

“Throughout this season our tackling has matured,” Fitzmorris said. “Now, our secondary isn’t afraid to hit people.”

McKeever is confident that the secondary will be able to contribute to the run defense.

“Our secondary all year has been outstanding in supporting the run… Drew Fitzmorris is one of the leading tacklers in state… Kenny McDowell, Jamal [Conway-Smith], [Andrew] Combs and [Keynan] Scott are outstanding against the run,” McKeever said.

Inevitably, Westside’s linemen and linebackers will not be perfect. Strong will be able to break though at times. When that happens, the secondary will need to be able to make the open field tackle.

“When in open space, we have to bring [Strong] down,” Fitzmorris said. “I think we are the [secondary] to do so.”

Along with backing up the players in front of the them, the secondary will be able to push forward to add more pressure on the ball.

“We have to get eleven guys to the football,” McKeever said.

This season, Fitzmorris has been responsible for 143 total tackles, 89 of those unassisted. Along with these tackles, Fitzmorris and the returning starters’ experience has matured the secondary as a whole.

“If we see a trick play coming, we are less deceptible to fall for it,” Fitzmorris said. “We are also less prone to play actions. The maturity  has gone up.”

In the end, a solid defense will help the offense. Westside doesn’t need to shutout Omaha North, they just need to hold them off.

“We just have to get stops,” McKeever said. “We have to get turnovers. Every possesion we can stop and give another possession to our offense, which I think can score on [Omaha North]. They have had issues against spread [offense] teams.”

To find more about how the offense will compete against Omaha North, check out the offensive preview.

The Warriors play in the Class A State Championship tonight at 7:15 p.m. at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln.