Cal's Calls

On Friday night the Blazers will go to Magruder to face the Colonels in a match up of 4-3 teams. With all hopes of a playoff berth tarnished the Blazers are in search of their first season above .500 since 1994. Last year the Colonels embarrassed the Blazers 49- 14 and the loss only added to the dismal 2000 season.

This year however is a different story. On Friday night going into Magruder and coming out victorious is not such a long shot. The Blazers enter the game with quarterback James McCrae leading the charge with his army of running backs behind him who seem to come up big in every game.

The keys to this game are simple, defense and a decent ground game. As explosive as the Blazer backs have been this season, managing to put together a ground attack should not be too difficult. If the Blazers run the ball effectively and every once in a while are able to complete a screen or dump pass then they can compete or even upset Magruder.

On defense the Blazers have to stop Magruder's star wide receivers that have combined for over 612 yards of receiving this season. That means cornerbacks Jermaine Jack and Cedric Mack will have to step it up. These two stars have excellent speed and should be able to effectively play bump and run coverage. If Jack and Mack have big games the Colonels may be forced to keep the ball on the ground and the Blazers linebacking core should be able to clean that up. The secondary's success is the key to this game.

Magruder is coming into the Blair game with a lot of confidence from their big win over Damascus two weeks ago. The Colonels were also able to upset a tough Gaithersburg team in the season opener but history has proven that after big wins Magruder has not responded well the following week. Magruder has been able to beat some traditionally tough teams but the Blazers are right on their level this year and should fare well on Friday.

Cal's Call: This game really ought to be a war. I'm sticking with the Blazers though. Blazers 35-41 in OT.