Scouting: Richmond @ Hampshire

Richmond-Burton (3-1, 0-0) at Hampshire (1-3, 0-0)

When today at Hampshire Athletic Field

Last year Hampshire 21, Richmond-Burton 11

Last week Hampshire 32, Byron 0; Richmond-Burton 35, Winnebago 16

Outlook Hampshire notched its first victory of the season last week and hopes to make it two in a row against the Rockets, an experienced team that reached a Class 4A state semifinal last season. R-B is a physical rushing team. Senior running backs Kenneth Riordan (58 carries, 443 yards), Chad O'Kane (35-370) and Justin Russell (45-330) and their veteran offensive line have accounted for most of the yardage in an offense that averages 349 yards per game. "They're just big and physical," Whip-Purs coach Dan Cavanaugh said of the Rockets. "They run a wing-T and a lot of double-tight and they just come after you. They try to control the line of scrimmage. I watched them really control Oregon. We know what the challenge is. They're awfully good. They've got a lot of folk back from last year. The old saying is just improve every week and see what happens, but we're going in expecting to win." The Whips are improving on offense behind the passing of senior quarterback Ryan Burke (19 of 28, 305 yards, 2 TDs). "That's been a big key for us," Cavanaugh said. "We have been able to throw the ball. We want to be balanced, and we've been able to do that since the second half of the Oregon game and we built off of that in Byron." The Whip-Purs coach credited the strong defensive play of late by strong safety Ron Laramie and middle linebacker Cooper Smith.