Northeast, Rutland looking for first win

The Northeast Raiders and Rutland Hurricanes face off Thursday with both looking to get in the win column for the first time this season and get their seasons back on track.

Northeast is coming off of a heartbreaking loss against Southwest, and the game was marred by a melee that occurred after the conclusion. Northeast will be without some of their key players this week as head coach Bruce Mullen has suspended those players for their involvement in the altercation.

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at the Ed DeFore Sports Complex.

“We have a lot of young guys that will be playing,” Mullen said. “We had a few of our guys suspended, and we’ve just got see if some of these young guys can step up and play for us.”

The suspensions will not affect the game plan for Rutland head coach George Collins.

“It does not matter who those guys put on the field,” Collins said. “Coach Mullen and that staff over at Northeast will have them ready to play.”

The Hurricanes are coming off of a 38-19 loss to Westside. Rutland will try to get its offense off the ground after managing just 40 yards of total offense last week, none through the air.

Collins has his team focusing on limiting penalties, which were a problem against Westside as the Hurricanes finished with nine penalties.

“We played a tough team in Westside, and they made us pay for our mistakes,” Collins said. “Coach Mullen is a great coach. He will do the same this week if we make any mistakes. We just have to limit our mistakes.”

Mullen knows that Rutland will be out for a win this week, and he believes Rutland will be ready to play.

“They are going to be hungry for sure,” Mullen said. “Any time you lose a game, you’re going to come out hungry. As a coach, a win makes everything better.”

Northeast relied on the ground game last week as Jerome Grayer accounted for three scores and 148 yards on 26 carries. The game plan for Northeast this week has not changed much.

“This week is business as usual,” Mullen said. “We looked at video on them, and we are trying to work on some things that will help us be successful against them.”

This story was originally published September 2, 2015 at 7:32 PM with the headline "Northeast, Rutland looking for first win ."