Any rabid football fan looking to dive head-first into the start of the high school football season by taking in a high-stakes, high-flying shootout could do worse than head to Caldwell Field for Friday night’s Class B North season-opener between Cony and Mt. Blue.

The Rams are among the favorites in B North in large part because of their stockpile of offensive weapons. The Cougars are widely regarded as a team on the rise under new head coach Scott Franzose, in part because of his spread offensive scheme, the “pistol.”

Cony, which lost to eventual regional champion Brunswick in last year’s B North semifinals, 21-13, has most of the key playmakers back from the conference’s highest-scoring offense (32.4 ppg). Junior quarterback Riley Geyer played well as a sophomore and has most of his top targets back, led by senior wide receivers Dakota Andow and Adrian Larrabee.

The Rams’ defense was also a league-leading unit in 2018, allowing a paltry 7.4 points per game. But they return only two starters on that side of the ball. Perhaps that plays into the hands of the Cougars, who have bought into the offensive scheme Franzose ran effectively as Madison’s head coach for seven years.

Senior quarterback Hunter Meeks gained a lot of valuable experience last year as the starting signal-caller under former coach Nate Quirion but will need to have command of Franzose’s new scheme to make the offense run efficiently. In addition to reading the defense and finding open receivers, Franzose expects his quarterbacks to be running threats and keep the defense from keying on senior halfback Caleb Haines and/or senior fullback Kevon Johnson.

When Meeks does go to the air, he’ll have a number of options, including Haines and Johnson out of the backfield. But Cony’s biggest concern may be senior wide receiver Kyle Fox and junior wide receiver Keegan Roberts. Fox’s quickness and athleticism makes him a big-play threat whether he gets the ball on a flanker screen or a deep post. Roberts, a slot receiver, has impressed Franzose with his football IQ and vision. If the offensive line led by senior Eddie Hebert and junior Sam Wrigley can give Meeks time, the scoreboard operator could be very busy.

Haines, Johnson and junior Zack Delano lead what could be the strength of Mt. Blue’s defense, the linebackers. Johnson, in particular, could be moved around to pressure Geyer. Shootouts often come down to who wins the turnover battle, so even if both offenses are regularly moving the chains, the defense could still make the difference.

Cony has won the past two meetings between the two teams, who did not play each other last year. Mt. Blue’s last win came the last time they were the home team, 20-6, in 2015.

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