WINNING AGAIN 17-16

 

17-16 VICTORY!

 

WOW.  We squeaked out a hard-fought victory over PSL Centennial on Friday night.  We desperately needed this victory to get our program turned into the right direction.  It was great to see the kids smile and celebrate for a change, and the ride home from PSL seemed a lot shorter.  Coach Brown and I even stopped for a 7-11 hotdog and drink to celebrate the victory ourselves.  (7-11 has the best hotdogs in America.....bar none) 

 

Coach Brown and I arrived at South County Stadium before the buses arrived.  I pulled our new team trailer down to PSL, and it was loaded with everything we need for a road trip game.  Either Coach Miller or myself pulls the trailer (with our personal vehicles) to the away games.  The number of seats on a public school bus is very limited, so a few of the coaches drive their own vehicles (trucks)  to the games to haul equipment.  (Of course we get reimbursed for the fuel we use! LOL.  That's funny!)  Once we arrived, I was pleasantly surprised to find the field in fantastic shape.  I was a little worried because we had so much rain the past couple of weeks.  The field was nicely crowned, so the water drained very well.  The dark green Bermuda grass was almost perfect.  We unloaded the trailer and I prepared for team stretch. (Our school buses were a little late arriving at school, so we were running behind on schedule.  Miller and I usually take the specialist out a little early; however, we were forced to go directly to team stretch.)

 

 

After team stretch, we went to a very short Indy Period and then directly to our Team Period.  Randy usually wants me to call the plays for the TEAM Period, and I generally keep it VERY basic.  This period is not for teaching, for this period is used for warm-up and knocking off some of the nerves.  We look for simple things like good QB/Center exchanges, alignment issues and so forth.  I have no idea what the DEFENSIVE guys do during this period, but it looks good!  Once we are done, we line up for a punt and follow the team to the endzone.  From there, the players line up two by two and walk to the locker room.  We generally have about 10 minutes until game time from here.  Outside the locker room, the coaches will circle-up and join hands for a prayer led by one of the local pastors who travel with us.  From here, I generally go out back and THROW UP.  Then, I am ready to go. 

 

The game was back and forth for awhile.  Hakeem started out strong, and he was playing with a little swagger in his step.  He completed a nice pass to Chris to get things rolling.  The offense was moving the ball, but we were still making the stupid mistakes which kept us from scoring.  We did get a field goal early to make the score 3-0 at the end of the first quarter.  Hakeem had three TD passes dropped during the game, but he never wavered and kept his composure.  OJ ran the ball well, and Nick Cooper had a nice game.  Our big linemen had a good game too.  Big Phillip Norman (our offensive tackle) dominated his opponent all night long.  Our other OT Brad DeMarco pass blocked like a beast all night long for Hakeem.  We had three perfectly placed TD Passes that if caught, would have been a big difference in the game. 

 

Defense.  What can you say about those guys.  They played great last night.  I think they had something like 5 take aways or some something crazy like that.  The Defense also got James Clark back for the first time this year....and it showed.  He was a dominate player all night for sure; however, we still have to get him in shape.  Javonte King had two interceptions, and my boy Dion Jones had a nice TD.  Gage and Chop played like a beast too.  Then, there was Bookie. 

 

I have been coaching football for many years; Of course, I have seen my share of big hits on the football field.  On Friday night, the PSL QB made a serious mistake and turned his back on Bookie to boot the other way.  Bookie hit the QB so hard, the whiplash from his neck completely knocked his helmet off and it rolled another five yards or so down the field.  Truthfully, I thought this kid's head may still be inside the helmet.  The QB layed motionless for awhile until he was able to walk again.  Luckily, the player was OK, and he returned to the game later that quarter.  The hit Bookie put on the QB was a completely legal and vicious football play.  I would never be happy to see ANY player hurt, but it is part of the game.  Still, I would have to rank that hit in my top three of all time. 

 

OK  More Tomorrow.  It's 4AM. 

 

GZ