Red Wolves look for stifling defense to propel Paw Paw to 3-0

PAW PAW, Mich. -- It's hard to start your season much better than the Paw Paw Red Wolves have in their first two games.

Two wins, and in both victories, the defense kept the opponent at seven points or less. Now, the focus shifts to week three, as the Red Wolves take on Niles.

Two games, two wins.

That's Just what the doctor ordered for a Paw Paw team which has deep playoff run aspirations.

But the postseason is months away. Red Wolves captain and senior linebacker Ben Newell is keeping the focus on Friday's matchup with Niles and locking in on a Niles team that left a bitter taste in Paw Paw's mouth last year.

"It was the only team that we had to beat to win the conference, and that was pretty much it, so coming into this game, this is the only team we have to beat to be the top team," said Newell.

Not only did the Red Wolves lose against the Vikings, it was also their only Wolverine Conference loss all year.

If Paw Paw head coach Dennis Strey wanted extra motivation for his team, they've got plenty of it.

"We want to go down there and show our best out there, because, let's be honest, looking back, at least the last few matchups, we haven't played really well. Hats off to them, they've played great, and had their way with us, but we're hoping that we're going to go down there and we're going to change things," said Strey.

Strey and his team plan to make things incredibly uncomfortable for the Vikings' offense, a unit that Newell has been a big part of this year.

"It's our front seven, that's where a lot of our veterans are, and we knew that the front seven was really going to be a strength for us defensively this year, and the great thing was too, the defensive backs jumped right in too, and have been exceeding our expectations since early camp," said Strey.

But two games into this season, Newell has noticed an advantage the Red Wolves have during the most important time of the game.

"When we come out there for that fourth quarter, we're always just perfectly fine, and the other team is just gassed, on their hands and knees, so we're just really conditioned," said Newell.

The Red Wolves and Vikings will kick off at 7 p.m. Friday from Vikings Stadium in Niles.