Bluestreaks hope to take last week's success into Deer River game

CHISHOLM—After beating Ely 26-18 last week, the Chisholm High School football team got to feel a little positivity in their play.

Bluestreaks coach Nick Milani is hoping that carries to today when Chisholm hosts Deer River, beginning at 7 p.m. on Joel Maturi Field.

Milani said that victory gave his team a big boost heading into the final four games of the regular season.

“That win was for the confidence of our guys,” Milani said. “You could see that post game. They were enjoying themselves. Winning is fun, but one game doesn’t make a season.”

Especially with the perennial Section 7A champion Warriors coming into town.

This game has been scheduled last for the Bluestreaks, but the past two seasons, it has been the fifth game on the schedule.

Is there any advantage to playing Deer River now rather than at the end of the season?

“In my experience with Deer River, every week they get a little better,” Milani said. “We’ve got four or five of their games on film, so we can watch them. Right now, we’re healthy, which might not be the case at the end of the season. We usually have guys banged up.

“It doesn’t matter when you play them. You have to beat them eventually. You have to play your best game.

What type of team is Milani looking at?

“In the past, they’re physical, and they run the ball well,” Milani said.

The Warrior have added another wrinkle to their game.

“Their quarterback (Caiden Schjenken) is throwing the ball well this year,” Milano said. “I wouldn’t say they’ve been one-dimensional, but if they’ve been able to run with success in the past.

“They haven’t needed to use their quarterback much. We have to be ready for both.”

What will be the key for the Bluestreaks’ defense?

“We have to make sure we’re communicating on defense,” Milani said. “They do a lot of pre-snap motion, so our linebackers and secondary have to communicate. Last week was our best week defensively.

“We have to make sure that we’re lined iup correctly. They show unbalanced formations, so we have to recognize that and line up correctly. It’s being in the right spots and communicating.”

Offensively, Chisholm quarterback Lawrence Oberg and receiver Dominic Pascuzzi were a formidable combination against the Timberwolves.

“We were able to throw the ball last week,” Milani said. “They had some good connections, but we need to be able to run the ball better this week than we did last week.

“It starts up front. We need our double teams on the line of scrimmage to translate into the second level. Charlie (Pearson) is still getting comfortable running between the tackles, but at the same time, our line can help them out a little more.”