The Miami Trace Panthers will bus to Plain City Friday night to take on one of the best teams in central Ohio, the Jonathan Alder Pioneers.

Alder is 3-0 on the year after a 13-0 win last week over St. Paris Graham.

The Panthers are coming off their first loss of the season, a 38-3 decision to the Tecumseh Arrows on a rainy Friday, Sept. 5 at Panther Stadium.

“First of all, Tecumseh deserved the victory last week,” Miami Trace head coach Mike Bernard said. “They were the better team on the field. Usually the better team on the field wins the football game and they certainly were (the better team) Friday night.

“We’ve had a chance to sit down and look at the tape of the game,” Bernard said. “We saw some things we can correct. But, again, take nothing away from Tecumseh because they played a good football game. We knew going in they were a good football team (now 3-0).”

Bernard then turned his focus to the Pioneers.

“Jonathan Alder is a good football team,” Bernard said. “They have a good football program. They are one of the premier football teams in this part of the state. They’ve been going to the playoffs on almost a yearly basis for several years now.

“They are back again this year with another good football team,” Bernard said. “They do almost strictly two-platoon. This is the year where their defense is mostly seniors. Their offense includes more juniors. They like to do that. They kind of rotate that so that one of those groups is very much senior-dominated.

“It was the other way around last year,” Bernard said. “Last year their offense had a bunch of at least two-year starters on it. This year, it’s the defense, which is outstanding. They’ve been holding people pretty much at bay. Teams are having trouble moving the ball on them.

“Offensively, they are starting a sophomore quarterback,” Bernard said. “Early in the season, they were kind of bringing him along. In the first game, it was mostly running plays with some passes. They kept it pretty much on the ground.

“Now they are starting to open it up,” Bernard said. “They’re going back to more of their spread offense, letting him throw and run around and make plays. It sure looks like he’s going to be a good quarterback somewhere down the road.

“Offensively, their evolving as the season goes along,” Bernard said. “Defensively, with all the returning starters they have back, they’re pretty formidable.”

Miami Trace is 1-2 in the last three years against the Pioneers.

“We beat them three years ago and they’ve won the last two,” Bernard said.

“We’re going to continue to work on the things that we’d like to see improvement,” Bernard said. “We’re going to work hard on our slants and angles and stunts and try to get our kids moving a little bit.

“Offensively, we’re working hard to find the right balance for this team,” Bernard said. “We’re sorting our way through what we feel will be the most effective weapons for us as the year goes along.”

Last week Trevor Milstead led the Panthers with seven tackles. He had one interception.

Jared Knisley, another senior, recovered a fumble for the Panthers. Grant Jones had six tackles.

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