September 20, 2005
By Jonathon Hadley
We
are well on our way to a winning season, but if we want more, we need to get our
heads going in a different direction. We need some 1999.
We
went from dominating overachievers in the scrum and in week 1 to looking like
the last few seasons the last two weeks. I certainly won’t pin anything on any
individuals, because I don’t even know what the tangible thing that is wrong
even is, if there even is anything tangible wrong. I don’t know the formula.
What I do know is that, while I think we have a good deal of talent, I also know
that there is TONS of talent in Sidney, in Trumansburg, and, on the state level,
in LeRoy. If we hope to play with these folks, we need to get back to
overachieving. That 1999 team was ready to go out and play anyone. They had
gotten their butts kicked overtop of their shoulder blades on a few occasions
that season, and they knew they had to be AT THE VERY PEAK OF THEIR GAME
EVERY GAME if they were to have a chance. Every block was done
with authority and intensity. The backs ran purposefully. Every tackle was
executed with skill. The throws were on. The passes were caught. Coach Kelly’s
schemes were listened to and followed. There was URGENCY before
and after the games. If we can find that, we can do a whole lot. If we don’t,
we’ll be 6-3 with a first round playoff loss, and that’s if we don’t lose to
Greene.
I
know I’m cruelly being a realist, but that is how I see it after watching 120
games in a row. And don’t get me wrong, good things are happening – we scored a
big win over a decent TriValley team and a close win over a good Unatego team. I
have very little complaint about TriValley and how we responded. Sometimes a
half of football will just not go like you want it to. I wish we could have put
Unatego away better though. Stop them on 4th and 11. Get the first
down on 4th and 4 (or 9) and run out the clock. ‘Tego very nearly had
the first down at the 10 with 25 seconds left, but the guy was out of bounds.
The game nearly slipped out of our hands, and I didn’t feel like it was our
dominance that kept it for us.
I’ve just seen good teams go
south (1998 comes to mind). I don’t think the seniors on the team would like to
see that happen. For all the games I’ve watched, I am far from a coach. But I do
tend to see certain trends in teams, and I think the team leadership needs to
get the boys ready to go this weekend, weak opponent or not. 500 yards of
offense this coming Saturday, and we still aren’t happy until we get 400 when
the orangies comes to
town.
AAAGGGHHH,
ok……
Not
too many comments from around the area. Greene/Sidney went much as expected.
Greene was without their 3rd-year starting QB, so don’t take them
lightly. They could be a handful come week 8. Seton is getting desperate and
will want a division win, so they should give Greene a good game.
Walton/Sullivan West continues to show Walton’s vulnerability to the pass – now
there is some new news, eh? I think Sullivan West will do ok in their
division…..should be a good race with them, TriValley, and a Pine Plains team
that returns most of the kids that beat Delhi last year. Look for Sidney/Unatego
to be a good one – a strong rivalry, and almost do-or-die for
Unatego.
As
for the weekly picks, I actually had a very good week, going 21-3, or 0.875,
missing Windsor, Odessa, and Edison. For the season I am 56-20, or 0.737. Maybe
I’ll shoot for 0.800 by year end, not counting playoffs. For this week, I’m picking Binghamton, CBA (sorry Vestal,
hope you can prove me wrong), Corning East, Oneonta (Owego may be better, but
Oneonta wants a W), Norwich, Forks, Elmira ND, Greene (tempting to pick Seton in
an upset), Unatego (yep, that’s what I said), Trumansburg (no one in their
division is even close), Edison, Candor, Maine Endwell (on their way back),
Corning West, Windsor, Watkins Glen (man the IAC can really bring it
J ), Deposit, Newfield,
Moravia, Oxford, and Union Endicott. Again, for matchups, you can go to http://www.section4football.com/2005/
.