“We try to forget about that streak,” said Maloney, a senior quarterback. “We have great senior leadership this year keeping everybody positive. Every day in practice, from start to finish, is full go, full focus and full everything.”
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The Middies absorbed a 34-14 body blow from visiting Lima Senior last week. Now Springboro, a 31-21 loser to Mason on opening night, is coming to Barnitz Stadium on Friday.
It’s a unique game for Middletown coach Lance Engleka. He lives in Springboro and has two children in school there — senior Cam, a starting safety, and freshman Rachel, a trainer.
“You always hear about coaches who have sons on their team, so sure, this is a little different,” Lance said. “But I’m one coach this week and we’ve got 14 other coaches and 80 players, so what affects me personally doesn’t play in at all during the week. I’ll talk to my son before the game … and then it’s just a game.”
Cam had an interception in the Panthers’ 45-27 win over the Middies last year.
“It was a big moment for him to share that with all of his buddies,” Lance said. “When I was in high school, I went to Miamisburg and our dad taught and coached at Centerville, and we always played them. Anytime you could beat dad, that was a big deal.”
Springboro doesn’t return much experience this year. Panthers coach Ryan Wilhite said he technically has no starters back on offense and four on defense.
“We’ve got some guys who are making mistakes on Friday night that normally make those mistakes on a Saturday morning in a JV game,” Wilhite said. “That was kind of evident in the second half of the Mason game.
“We’ve got a lot of potential. I’ve told our coaches that we could be a vastly different team by the end of the year. You’ve just got to hope you’re able to win enough games along the way that you have the potential for a league championship and a chance to play in Week 11.”
Wilhite said senior linebacker Payton Standifer (5-10, 200), senior end Cameron Piper (6-3, 220) and senior linebacker Joe Poelking (6-1, 215) are among the players to watch in Springboro’s 4-4 defense.
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Senior quarterback Cameron Rountree (6-1, 180), a Wright State University baseball commit who started a couple games at cornerback in 2016, threw for 182 yards and rushed for 80 while directing the Panthers’ spread offense against Mason.
“He’s a dual-threat guy who does things that are hard to teach,” Wilhite said. “He’s probably got the most ability to create on the run as anybody I’ve had in 12 years at Springboro.”
Wilhite believes the Middies are a dangerous team on the verge of taking the next step. He compared Maloney to former Springboro quarterback Elijah Cunningham, who’s now at Bowling Green.
Lance Engleka said there were things to like about his squad’s performance against Lima, starting with winning the turnover battle (4-2) and showing an improved running game (155 yards).
“Things are never quite as good as you think they are and never quite as bad as you think you are,” Engleka said. “One of the immeasurable positives right off the bat was just the intensity and focus that our kids came out with. If you’ve seen Middletown teams over the past few years, that’s something that’s been lacking around here.
“We had some kids that were going both ways on the lines, and that affected us on both sides of the ball. That’s a big reason why they scored 21 points in the second half and we didn’t score any.”
The Middies are mostly healthy. Engleka said junior linebacker E.J. Hill won’t play Friday after getting his wisdom teeth pulled.
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The Middletown coach said the Panthers are a formidable squad, but he doesn’t believe it would be a major stretch for his team to emerge victorious Friday.
“We felt like we were the better team last week,” Engleka said. “Coming into this game, we feel like we’re the more athletic team, we feel like we’re the bigger team, and we feel confident that we can come in Friday night and get a win.
“There’s no magic fix from one week to the next. The teams that changes schemes or personnel, they’re unsure of themselves. We’re not unsure of ourselves. We’re going to stay the course.”
Friday’s game
What: Springboro (0-1) at Middletown (0-1), 7 p.m.
Where: Barnitz Stadium, 1211 S. Main St., Middletown
Last year: Springboro won 45-27
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