Burnin’ the Clutch

September 7, 2006

 

 

I’m sure you’ve heard it said countless times before. It’s one of those football cliché’s that people love to spout (especially if their team can’t move the ball). It sure sounds noble enough.

 

“Offense wins games. Defense wins championships.”

 

I don’t buy it. In the history of football, at every level, from pee-wees to high school to NCAA to the NFL all the way to the elite level of Hadley backyard games, no championship has EVER been won with zero points! No Super Bowl has ever been won with less than 14 points, while winning defenses have given up as many as 31. As for NYSPHSAA championships 3 have been won with the winning defense giving up better than 30 points, and NINETEEN have been won when the winning D gave up 20 or better. So I’m sorry, but I just don’t buy it.

 

I don’t buy that it is all about offense either. Sidney had superathletes for a couple years before they could win section 4, with much of the problem being they couldn’t play defense against anyone good. Last year’s defense finally stepped up to a level to let the offense win them the big ones.

 

You certainly need both. Delhi in 1995 only allowed 3 TD’s in 10 games on the season, but didn’t make it past the state quarterfinals because the offense couldn’t get it done after driving inside the 20 on the last 3 drives. Walton’s 1997 offense was unbelievable, with a whole stable full of backs that would be stars by themselves, led by Rutgers-bound Seth Stanton. The didn’t make it past the state quarterfinals because their defense couldn’t stop a screen pass going for a long TD. I’m sure there are countless more examples of both sides of the equation.

 

So, okay, we need to be able to play great offense and defense. Wow, sometimes I amaze myself with my football insight. Trouble is, I thought last year we were great on both sides of the ball, and we didn’t win a championship. Granted, going against the Indianapolis Colts dressed as the Sidney Warriors offense didn’t help things. But what really happened that let Sidney win the state championship and us bow out in the sectional final? Simple, when it came down to the do or die times, Sidney came through. Their clutch play was outstanding, especially against us. I thought 3 different moments defined that sectional final. The first 2 were when we got down inside their 5 yard line. Normally excellent at scoring in that situation, we couldn’t get by Sidney’s wall. The 3^rd was when Sidney was facing 3^rd and 12 from our 42. They were clinging to a 20-16 lead, and probably would have punted had they thrown an incompletion. What happens? We cover very well, but Morenus somehow threads the ball in to Zurn for the TD. It was clutch time, and Sidney did it. And it wasn’t just against us. With Marcus Whitman, they had a 4^th and goal from the 7 go for a beautiful TD to Simonds. Then, in the 4^th quarter with the score tied, they set off on a gorgeous long drive to score with 55 seconds left and leave MW’s offense no time to respond. When it was time to reach out and win the game, they reached out and won the game.

 

How do we get there? How do we make ourselves win games when it’s all on the line like that? Last year we did it some and didn’t do it some. Hood had some great timely runs late in some games, and Nate Rockefeller had a gutsy 8-yarder against Greene that gave us a first down and let us close them out. Then against Unatego we nearly choked a few times, allowing a 4^th and goal from the 11 to score, and nearly allowing a last minute TD drive to go the distance. Against Sidney we didn’t really choke, we just got outplayed by super players in the defining moments. It’s hard to say how you get good in this way. I think one thing is to have a cool-headed understanding of what is going on and of your abilities. Sidney knew Simonds could make sick catches and Zurn could do just about anything. We are great this year, and we need that confidence, but without thinking it will automatically happen. We need to play as a team, and trust in the plan that the coach puts together. And we need to be in some pressure situations. That’s the tough part. That is why we NEED to pass this weekend. 15 pass attempts in the first half. Maybe let us go into halftime behind. O’Connell and Price and Chad Rockefeller and the other ball-catchers need to feel the heat. And they need to feel success through that fire. OK, someday I’ll get off of this horse.

 

I’m a bit surprised by some of the results this week. Oxford losing was a big surprise, but perhaps Greene is better than I thought. Deposit looks like they could be better than I had thought. Walton’s stock drops some in my mind. I had picked them to lose, but I didn’t think it would be that kind of domination by Unatego. Walton looked weak at blocking, and extremely vulnerable to speed. I’m very curious to see how they fare against Sully West this weekend. I’m starting to think Sidney’s stock is dropping a bit, but I’m not sure. If Mister is out for a while, they could be in some trouble. Outside of Burpoe, they averaged a little over 2 yards per carry, and that’s against a team playing their first game with a new coach. I don’t think that offensive system can live off of its FB. I think they lose by 2 TD’s to Norwich on Friday, but I could be wrong. I think it will still be a good game with us, as we always struggle with the double wing.

 

As for picks, I went a very lowly 15-13 (0.536), which is pretty bad even for the first week. I did pick Unatego though. For this week, I’m going with Proctor, Henninger, CBA (I’m a loyal IVFAN as you can see), Johnson City, Norwich, Corning West, Chenango Valley, Owego, Greene, END, Unatego, Watkins Glen, Lansing, BG, Candor, Oxford, Ithaca, Horseheads, Maine-Endwell, Windsor, Corning East, Newfield, Edison, Walton, and Moravia.