November 2, 2005
By Jonathon Hadley
Section 4 finals. Aaahhh,
feels good doesn’t it? Little bit of meaningless trivia – Delhi is 8-1 in
sectional finals/bowl games. Pretty good record that shows as well as anything
else the strength of the east. Our only loss was to Walton in 2000. Just like 2
weeks ago against Greene, I say again, it is here right in front of us for us to
grab and possess, or to give up. Problem is, this one is significantly harder to
take a hold of I think.
None the less, I think we
can be in the best position possible by simply doing what we can do. Play 48
hard minutes. Concentrate. Read keys. Play with intensity. Tackle surely. Pound
Morenus at all opportunities (but of course keep it clean). Look for a couple
picks. Execute on the blocks. Fight for extra yards, and fight to break a long
run. Get in the end zone. Throw for some first downs. And DON’T LOSE OUR COOL if
they get a couple big scores! I’m not talking rocket science – I’m talking good
old fashioned football, played to the best of our very strong ability. If we do
this, there are two possible outcomes – we win in the best way possible, or we
lose in the way that you can feel the best about when you’re
done.
No
loss in the final game is enjoyable, especially to a senior playing his last
game. But how awful is it when you whiff on tackles or drop passes or fumble the
ball? That kind of loss would be unbearable. If we play like I described and we
still lose, how can we feel bad? Sure, we would like to play in states. But
those boys over in Sidney are TALENTED. Probably the most talented in the state
in C, and perhaps the most talented set of skill kids in some of the higher
classifications as well. If we do everything we can and we still lose, we bow
out gracefully and say we did all that we could. Sure, the seniors and all the
team will be hurting for quite some time, but we will have done everything in
our control, and will have lost to football players that are first rate. I don’t
want it to happen, but the boys can take incredible pride in their season if it
does.
On
the better side is if we win a game like that. My senior year we started out the
season 1-2, losing to Walton and BG (after leading 28-14 with 4 minutes left).
We then improved steadily through the year, and in our last regular season game
we played Hancock, who was ranked 2nd in the state. We played a
brilliant game, and came out with a 36-24 win. At the football banquet, DK
described how several people had told him that the Hancock game was the best
team effort they had ever seen. Beating a team like that after improving so much
was one of the sweetest memories in all of high school. This could be the same
thing for us. Imagine a game of holding Sidney to 3 scores, where we score 4 and
run up 20 first downs and 350 yards of offense. Imagine how that would feel. I
personally have no idea what to expect.
Win
or lose, I hope we could find 15 or so first downs, and hold Sidney to 4
scores…..both would mean success in my book. Especially since Sidney’s lowest
output this season is 34.
I
don’t know what more I can say, other than that my stomach is in knots, and that
the players should realize how special it is to be in a situation like this.
Let’s just watch and enjoy…..
For
picks, I did not have a good week! I went 7-5 (0.583!). I close the regular
season at 137-43, or 0.761. Not too bad for me. For sectional games, I went 6-3,
or 0.667. For IVFINALS, I’m going with Vestal, Corning East, Forks, and Oxford.
Interestingly enough, in the offseason I picked Vestal, East, Forks, and Walton
for those 4 classes, so I guess I know a little something
anyway.
See
you in Bingo…..