Saturday
October 24, 2009
Tough Loss, Coaching Mistake
First, the coaching mistake…for many years, I have always felt that if you have a game on a day when you have no school, make sure you have practice in the A.M. The reason is that you want to run a schedule similar to a school day and keep your players from lying in bed till noon. Well, we had an unexpected day off on Friday when a tremendous storm came through Thursday. We couldn’t practice and the rain came so hard that our school got flooded. School was called off Friday. We did not have an A.M. practice because I did not have a plan on how to contact all of our players.
The first thing I noticed 1 ½ hours before game time was our kids seemed flat. Listless might be a better description. Yet, we only lost 7 – 3 and held our opponent to the fewest yards that they had all year. One thing that has stuck out all year is that our players do not quit – they play hard!
We still have a shot at the play-offs. Injuries have finally arrived and we will have to work out some player moves there. However, mental errors were huge in our 7 – 3 loss. Focus on our position responsibilities will be our emphasis this coming week. Playing hard but forgetting your responsibility in a team sport like football will give you nothing but close games where you end up with “coulda, woulda, shoulda” feelings that we could have won, but we did not because of “little things.”
Big week, big homecoming, and “Big” win! First, our 3rd win of the season, 39 – 6, with 21 first downs and 479 total yards. It felt and looked good to see an opposing team our size and as young as us. The difference was Tyler Harrington and Tyler Vincent, two bruising backs with an imposing attitude. Other players played excellent football, too. Additionally, our defense was suffocating and ran with a purpose to the ball. The biggest moment was after the game ended, the opposing coach asked if they could pray with us. People from the stands, Father Theriot, cheerleaders all joined in for a post-game prayer. Isn’t the USA a great country!!
Homecoming was AWESOME! Our little school community is into it: parade, bonfire, powder puff, a golf scramble (raised $13,000), and a “community” participating in the Homecoming Dance. At the dance, I witnessed grandparents, parents, small children, alumni, teachers, etc. there in our small gym with beautiful decorations. Handsome men and beautiful women all sharing their high school Homecoming with the V.C. family. My highlight was slow dancing with an 8-year old girl. The music was country western and I could actually hear the words. I walked out of the gym after “burning up the dance floor” thinking, how lucky am I to experience this past week? V.C., you are something else!
Fourth Straight Loss – Light @ End of the Tunnel
Many positives in our 27 – 23 loss to a very talented Central Catholic football team – 23 first downs, 59 rushing plays, 79 offensive plays in all, four freshmen and seven sophomores playing with no fear, Senior leadership everywhere, overcoming some very difficult calls – TD called back – three of our best players not playing at the close of the game, but we did not QUIT!!
After 41 years of coaching, you would think I would be mature and reasonable after a close loss… no, still seething like a hungry Tiger, anxious to kick something – I didn’t – anxious to say bad verbs – I didn’t – it never leaves you, losing sucks!
Homecoming is this week. Always a coach’s nightmare! Will the players focus on football or concentrate on limousines, tux’s, parties, pretty girls, bonfire, parade, powder puff game, etc? It’s a great time of their lives for our young people. I am sure that all will figure everything out for the week – play hard and have a ball at Homecoming.
Monday night will be our last time for Football 101 which is for ladies only…except this time men can come too. We will have raised close to $2,000 from the five Monday classes with all proceeds going to academics.
Third straight loss to a very talented 2A team… Final score 27 – 14…Halftime score 20 – 14
We only had the ball for 9 or 10 snaps in the second half. A powerful running game by the other team kept our offense off the field. We are still making youthful mistakes – but the reality is that we are very small and size does matter in the trenches. When we looked at our tape Saturday morning we found that one important attribute – we played hard and with courage.
Our fourth Ladies Night is coming up. We have made around $1200. The money is going to a specific, academic goal: a total of 48 civics leadership students are going to use the money for their school renovation projects. Each of our groups is assigned areas of the school to paint, create motivational murals, etc. so that we can enhance our school’s physical appearance. I am really excited about this because, as their civics teacher, the students are really understanding the make-up of a good citizen – work for the “common good.”
Congratulations to our granddaughter, Hannah Jo, who has made the Olympic Development Soccer Team for the state of Washington.
The month of October is crucial for Louisiana football. During this time, teams play schools that are in their district. District success determines play-offs. Our next 5 games will be more intense and passionate.
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