PREP FOOTBALL: Meade County focusing on lowering the Barr (09/17)

By GREG CREWS gcrews@thenewsenterprise.com BRANDENBURG — It’s no secret as to who the Meade County Green Wave’s defense will be on the lookout for when they face the Central Hardin Bruins (1-2) in Cecilia on Friday. Junior running back Jeremy Barr has accounted for over half of Central Hardin’s points this season (36-of-69) and nearly half of its offensive yards (534-of-1,096). But when it comes to containing star players, nobody does it quite like the Green Wave (0-3). When Meade County squared off with the Bruins last season, it held Barr — who averaged 65 rushing yards per game for the season — to just 2 yards. After that, it held Nelson County’s Devin Boone (116 yard average) to 25 yards, Owensboro’s Yorel Shemwell (108) to 14 and Louisville Male’s Justin Green (127) to 12. Against John Hardin in Week 2 of this season, it held Elias Camper (113) to 66 yards. But when it comes to revealing the Green Wave’s secret, coach Larry Mofield is playing his cards close to his vest. “I’m not sure if it’s trying to stop an individual or if it’s just doing things right fundamentally on defense,” Mofield said. “It’s hard to stop those individual players, and (Barr) is a star player for them. “It’s hard to say you are just going to lock on him and try to stop him,” he added. “It’s not necessarily one guy. You recognize him, but you can’t focus too much on one guy. He makes plays for them, but they have other guys who can make plays, too.” As important as solid defense will be for Meade County, offense seems to be much more in the forefront. Through three games, Meade County has managed just 12 points, while failing to record any in the first half. Central Hardin, on the other hand, is averaging 23 points per game and has scored at least 17 points in each of its three games this season. For Meade County to come out on top this week, something will have to give. “When you are 0-3, you just need a win. We just need to win to try to get the ship rightened,” Mofield said. “We have been making a lot of mistakes and we are not executing very well. We are shooting ourselves in the foot a lot. We have to find a way to get some positive things going.” Though Mofield is trying not to put any extra pressure on his team, he knows just how important this game is. Meade County and Central Hardin are both 0-1 in Class 6-A, District 2. Whichever team loses the game will be in a serious pinch to make the playoffs, as only four teams advance to the postseason from the five-team district. “Obviously it is an important game, and it matters that it is a district game, but we just need to have something positive happen,” Mofield said. “Central Hardin is pretty sound overall. Their defensive front is pretty solid. … It’s going to be tough for us to get our running game going against them, but that’s what we are going to have to do.” Greg Crews can be reached at 505-1754