Glendora Tartans 19, West Ranch Wildcats 6
Firstly, anyone reading this who attended the game saw an injury to one of our players (I will not name him here for privacy reasons). I am happy to report that he is doing well and expects to return soon. He suffered a dislocated knee, but it was a fairly run-of-the-mill variety. I visited him after the game in the hospital, and he had already had the knee put back in place and looked quite good.
Now, on to the game itself.
It wasn't a perfect game for us--we had too many penalties (some of which were inexcusable procedural ones: one of my great hatreds is procedural penalties) and we turned the ball over on too many times.
But it was a darn good game.
Glendora was, beyond a shadow of a doubt, the best team we have faced all season. They were big (very big, actually) they were physical, they were smart, they were reasonably fast. In other words, this was the first team that did not give us many chances to win.
Still, we did not make our own success like we need to. We fought hard all the way to the end (the final score doesn't quite reflect the reality of the game: this game was undecided until the middle of the 4th quarter) but we weren't able to wrestle a win away from a very tenacious Glendora squad.
Many of the Glendora players were varsity players brought down for our contest (this is perfectly legal as long as the player is not a senior) and Glendora was undefeated, as we were, giong into the contest. We have reports that their JV squad was undefeated last year as well.
This was a good indicator of the quality (if not the type) of opponent we will likely face in the Foothill. It is good to know that we are close to the level we need to be in order to challenge the league for the championship.
Now, as to the bruhaha regarding the forfeits:
As some of you know, we were forced to forfeit our first three games because we had inadvertently played an ineligible player as a backup/rotator on defense. At our school, grade checks are supposed to be conducted by the Assistant Principal (Athletics) and the Athletic Director. I was informed that they forgot to do this, and as a result, we technically forfeited those games.
As I told the team, this is a forfeit because we broke the rules: never mind that we didn't mean to or didn't know. We broke them, and the penalty is forfeiture. I think it is important for the boys to know that actions lead to consequences, and a real man (I can say "man" here because we have no girls on the team this year) stands up and admits his faults and takes the consequences. I myself have had to do this in my own life, and it is important to me the boys learn this lesson.
However, it is also important to remember what actually happened on the field. Lancaster, Corona, and Pasadena will, I am sure, be happy to post their JV games with us as a win, but each and every player that participated in those games knows the truth. Just as I didn't count the forfeits we received last year as "wins," neither will I count the forfeits we had to give up this year as "losses."
As far as I am concerned, we are still a very tough, very dangerous 3-1 team looking to go 4-1 into Foothill league action.
Next week: Grace Brethren (at Moorpark College, 5:00)!
P.S. For anyone keeping count, this game snaps my personal 11-game win streak at West Ranch. My record at WRHS is now 11-1, bringing my overall lifetime w/l ratio to 39-13, or 75% win/ 25% loss.
Now, on to the game itself.
It wasn't a perfect game for us--we had too many penalties (some of which were inexcusable procedural ones: one of my great hatreds is procedural penalties) and we turned the ball over on too many times.
But it was a darn good game.
Glendora was, beyond a shadow of a doubt, the best team we have faced all season. They were big (very big, actually) they were physical, they were smart, they were reasonably fast. In other words, this was the first team that did not give us many chances to win.
Still, we did not make our own success like we need to. We fought hard all the way to the end (the final score doesn't quite reflect the reality of the game: this game was undecided until the middle of the 4th quarter) but we weren't able to wrestle a win away from a very tenacious Glendora squad.
Many of the Glendora players were varsity players brought down for our contest (this is perfectly legal as long as the player is not a senior) and Glendora was undefeated, as we were, giong into the contest. We have reports that their JV squad was undefeated last year as well.
This was a good indicator of the quality (if not the type) of opponent we will likely face in the Foothill. It is good to know that we are close to the level we need to be in order to challenge the league for the championship.
Now, as to the bruhaha regarding the forfeits:
As some of you know, we were forced to forfeit our first three games because we had inadvertently played an ineligible player as a backup/rotator on defense. At our school, grade checks are supposed to be conducted by the Assistant Principal (Athletics) and the Athletic Director. I was informed that they forgot to do this, and as a result, we technically forfeited those games.
As I told the team, this is a forfeit because we broke the rules: never mind that we didn't mean to or didn't know. We broke them, and the penalty is forfeiture. I think it is important for the boys to know that actions lead to consequences, and a real man (I can say "man" here because we have no girls on the team this year) stands up and admits his faults and takes the consequences. I myself have had to do this in my own life, and it is important to me the boys learn this lesson.
However, it is also important to remember what actually happened on the field. Lancaster, Corona, and Pasadena will, I am sure, be happy to post their JV games with us as a win, but each and every player that participated in those games knows the truth. Just as I didn't count the forfeits we received last year as "wins," neither will I count the forfeits we had to give up this year as "losses."
As far as I am concerned, we are still a very tough, very dangerous 3-1 team looking to go 4-1 into Foothill league action.
Next week: Grace Brethren (at Moorpark College, 5:00)!
P.S. For anyone keeping count, this game snaps my personal 11-game win streak at West Ranch. My record at WRHS is now 11-1, bringing my overall lifetime w/l ratio to 39-13, or 75% win/ 25% loss.
