Eisenhower travels to Greenville

Times Observer Photo by Steve Younger
Logan Penley has been the workhorse for Eisenhower this season as he’s rushed for 735 yards on 141 carries. He has also added seven touchdowns.

Eisenhower will make the long trip to Greenville for today’s 7 p.m. final regular-season football game looking for a win to even its record.

The Knights (4-5) will be facing a team that Eisenhower head coach Jim Penley says “plays tremendous, technically sound football.”

“They are not the biggest or the fastest team,” Penley said, “but they just do everything right. They are exceptionally disciplined and very well coached. They make very few mistakes.”

Greenville (8-1) is led by senior quarterback Nick Solderich, who has passed for 781 yards on just 43 completions (43 of 67) and 10 touchdowns. He has been intercepted three times.

The Greenville rushing attack is led by Solderich who has carried 67 times for 691 yards and 10 touchdowns and junior Rudy Gentile, who is right behind with 645 yards on 86 carries and nine touchdowns.

“They have some tremendous athletes who make plays when they have to,” Penley said. “We have to slow them down.”

The Knights’ offense is similar to Greenville’s in the sense that they are led by junior quarterback Caleb Jakubczak, who has accounted for 667 yards rushing and seven touchdowns to go along with 544 yards through the air. He has thrown for five touchdowns. Junior Logan Penley has been the workhorse for Eisenhower with 735 yards on 141 carries. He has also added seven touchdowns. Teammate Joe Gigliotti, a sophomore, has proven himself a threat to score anytime he has the ball as he has added 266 yards on just 17 carries.

The Knights are hoping for the return of their leading receiver, junior Tanner Lookenhouse, who has missed the last two games.

Eisenhower’s defense has proven to be a ball-hawking one, as it has 10 interceptions and five fumble recoveries. Jakubczak leads with six of those interceptions.

“In order to put ourselves in the best position to win, we have to play like we did in the first half last week against Mercyhurst Prep, which was some of the best football we have played all year,” Coach Penley said. “We need to be disciplined and get off the ball and focus on our responsibilities. If we don’t, Greenville will control the game.”