I'm Glad You Asked

And it just keeps going.

In a contest very similar to the Hamilton game, your Wildcats romped all over the Falcons and won it in a walk.

Going in at halftimee 24-0, we pledged to spread the offense, practice the various things we could do. We also managed to get a huge number of players in the game, and had many of them get the ball.

We used all three quarterbacks, two different fullbacks, three tailbacks, three tight ends, and half a dozen receivers on offense. We had eleven different players get the ball, if memory serves.

Although we played well, it is getting to be a bit of a challenge getting the team up for each game. They are forming the impression that they can win even if they don't play hard, and I don't want that. It has nothing to do with winning--it is about learning that hard work, in any endeavor, is worth it.

So, another one bites the dust.

This was much closer in the first half: we were only up 6-0 when we went in at halftime. True, we had marched down the field for some long drives only to sputter in the red zone, and we were in command of the game, but we hadn't converted that command into points.

Our defense held firm against a very slippery Pasadena team. I'm quite proud of our defensive unit managing to contain their runners and quarterback as well as they did.

Offensively, we managed to get it together in the second half and put the game away early.

The big scare of the night was when our starting quarterback was literally knocked out of the game. He lost consciousness for a few moments and had to be helped off. His family took him to the hospital, and I asked the dad to contact me. Most likely, the player will have a concussion.

Our #2 quarterback is a new guy we have been training. At one point, we wanted to see what he could do, so we let him air it out.

45 yard touchdown throw.

Okay, so we don't really lose a lot with this guy.

The real interesting thing about the night was the officiating.

It wasn't the typical "bad call" thing (though there were some, what are you going to do? It happens) but the philosophy of the referee crew.

At one point, the ball was marked ready for play, and we charged off our sideline to take up formation and go. Once the ball is marked ready, the ref blows his whistle, game on. We come out like the highly disciplined team we are to find Pasadena just sort of standing around. So great, we're gonna catch them off-guard.

Tweet!

Referee moves in to prevent us from starting until they are ready.

I shout out, "You've marked the ball ready for play!"

Ref comes back with, "Coach, I'm not going to let you take advantage of them."

That one sort of stunned me. I've never heard that. The whole POINT of the game is taking advantage of them! They couldn't seem to stop our off-tackle run, so we used it a lot. That's taking advantage of them. We weren't violating a rule or even the spirit of a rule by charging out, gung-ho, ready to play.

That happened on the first play. I should have known I should have shut up.

Later in the game, the referee called me to the center of the field and told me to turn around. This, again, I had never seen before. Usually the ref comes to the coach. I was being SUMMONED to the center. And then told to turn around. I was then admonished for pointing out the calls they were missing.

"Coach, we can't catch everything. All I have heard is complaining out of you. There are ony three referees today: if you had wanted a fourth, you should have paid for one."

I'm pretty proud of my comeback.

"We're the visitors. We don't pay for refs: the home team does."

"Coach, go back to the sideline and shut up."

So I did.

Later, our coaching staff got a penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct. And this one, too, I have never heard.

"What's that for?" I ask.

"I don't like the whole tenor of the sideline."

Again, I am aghast. I ask for clarification so we know what we're not supposed to do, and he tells me one of my coaches was coaching the players in a way he didn't like.

I was then warned that I was about to be thrown out of the game.

Gentle Reader, I think I am a nice guy. But I had had it with them. I decided it would not look so hot if I were thrown out, so I decided not to talk to the refs any more.

Still, a coaching first for me.

And, as always, I'm glad you asked.

Next week: Duarte! (Not sure of their mascot: the Fighting Evitas perhaps)

Well then.

We knew we were in for a bit of a blowout right away.

Put it this way...with exactly three minutes gone in the game (9:00 left in the first quarter) we had run ONE offensive play.

West Ranch 16, Hamilton 0.

Received the kickoff, fair return. Ran one play. 65 yard touchdown. 2-point conversion. Kicked off to them, they ran a 3-and-out series, punted.

Return punt for touchdown. 2-point conversion.

So.

it was 32 to 0 at halftime, and we had stopped trying hard to score and were more or less working on our offense. We put in our second unit players (the guys who back up the main players and who don't usually get in much) and were planning to go the rest of the game with them.

When they gave up 16 points (two touchdowns and a field goal) inside of eight minutes, and had produced NOTHING on offense, we had to go back to the number ones when the score was 32 to 16 and Hamilton was threatening to come back.

I'm afraid I got to be a bit of a meanie when I told my guys to "get back in there and punish these miserable Hamilton bastards for daring to think they had a shot."

So we scored a lot.

Look, I'm not trying to run the score up, but fer God's sake...my number two unit is just awful, and my number ones are fantastic. I could train the two's to get better, but at the cost of not continuing to drill the one's.

Oh, well. A good win, I guess. Those of you who are counting, here are some stats on the year:

Points for: 98 (avg. 49 per game)
Points against: 28 (avg. 14 per game)
Record: 2-0
My lifetime record (I looked it up from my previous years, and lo and behold, I hit a little milestone tonight): 30-12. (win pct .714)

Next Week: Pasadena High School!

As always, I'm glad you asked.

Well, we got the jitters out.

After falling behind early 6-0, West Ranch managed to score 42 unanswered points in almost every way possible Friday night in the High Desert. Mojave scored six points at the tail end of the game against West Ranch's reserve unit players.

Now, the technical stuff for any of you who care.

We noticed early that when we moved our tight end from one side of the formation to the other, they overreacted by moving their front four, sending their free safety to the line of scrimmage to the tight end side, and rotating their rover to the tight end side. In other words, they had left their weak side (the side without the tight end) lightly defended because they were so worried about the strong side (the side with the tight end)

Two quick touchdowns later (one breakaway run for 60 yards, one breakaway run for 45, I think it was) Mojave stopped doing that.

Our defense was too aggressive at the start: we were flying through their line like missiles, and as a result could not tackle their backs. We were out of control and missing them. So we made the adjustment to rush under control, and strated trapping their runners. With nowhere for them to go, it was much easier to tackle them.

We got a boost from our special teams: after a kickoff of ours, their deep man coughed up the ball in a big pile. One of our quick-thinking kickoff cover players scooped it up and ran it in for 6.

We also intercepted one of the Mustang passes and ran it back 85 yards for a touchdown.

So, we start out of the gate pretty well, I think.

Next Week: Hamilton High!

Hello, folks.

I've been a bit busy with one thing and another, but as the football season is just about to start, I thought I'd convert this into a sort of update on my team and their progress. I apologize to those of you for whom this is a change for the worse; for the rest, well, I'm glad you asked.

The Junior Varsity West Ranch Wildcats had their first scrimmage against a very tough John Burroughs High School team. The scrimmage was unscored and was in a 10-play series format, so it is difficult to gauge a winner. I believe we each scored the same number of times as the other, but Burroughs turned the ball over more frequently, including an interception on our goal line that we returned 70 yards. So, I think it's safe to say we "won" in a squeaker.

As to the title of this post, I was interviewed by the local newspaper a few days ago. The article ran on the 31st of August, but I did not read it. I generally don't like to read myself in the paper for fear I said something stupid.

The reporter had asked me all kinds of questions, and as is usual, he took only some of the material and crafted a "theme" report.

I won't tell you the theme of the article right now, but I'll give you the first two lines. That ought to make the title of this post make some sense.

"Sean O'Brien isn't here to play games.

He's here to win them."

Ouch. Anyway, if you are interested, here is the link to the entire article. I think I may have bitten off a bit more than I can chew here, but we'll see.


http://www.the-signal.com/?module=displaystory&story_id=32461&format=html

The Wildcats play their season opener against Mojave (yes, as in, Mojave desert) Friday, September 8th, 4:00 pm. Any of you who wish to come out, let me know; I'll leave some tickets at will call. :)