I'm Glad You Asked

Wildcat Junior Varsity Football Season Recap 2007
(With apologies to Paul Anka and Frank Sinatra)

And now, the season’s done:
And here we are all having dinner.
My friends, we’ve all had fun,
Each single one I call a winner.

You’ve played a season tough
You practiced in some scorching weather:
But that was not enough:
You played together.

Regrets, you may have some
But truthfully, I don’t think many.
If you will always come
And go full speed, you won’t have any.

This game that you all played
Involves much more than simple leather:
To win, just like in life,
You play together.

Yes, there were times, I’m sure you knew
When we bit off more than we’d chew.
But through it all, when there was doubt
We ate it up and spit it out
We faced it all, and we stood tall
And played together.

Our first game of the fall
We beat our foe, though only barely.
We then played better ball
And made mistakes much more rarely.

We then came into league
The first to do so altogether
And then, win, lose, or draw:
We played together.

For what is a man, what has he got?
If not a team, then he has naught
To fight the fight, to face the foe
He needs a team, the records show:
You played with heart, you did your part,
And played together!

Our season-ender against our cross-town rivals was perhaps not the closest contest we had been in all season, but it was an emotional game nonetheless.

Because Golden Valley had disbanded their JV program mid-season last year, this was actually my first meeting against them, and I applaud their growth to field a full program for all 10 weeks.

As far as we are concerned, we were quite happy with the play of the entire squad: we played our "killer B's" throughout the second half and cleared the bench when we came back from the halftime break. To the best of our knowledge, all players who wanted to got in the game for several plays on Friday.

Offensively, there was little that we did that didn't result in a score or a big play: we found early that we could outrun Golden Valley and did so often. We spread the ball around as well: I believe we may have had ten different offensive players touch the ball (not counting the two different centers!) and many, many more make blocks to spring runners. Defensively, we were able to stop most of what the Grizzlies could do, though their little slipscreen was a nifty play that required some adjustments on our part. Special teams play was unremarkable: obviously, we only returned one kickoff and we never punted, but our placekicker was 5-for-6 (his only miss came on a 35-yard attempt on a PAT following a suspect 15-yard penalty) and our punt return unit put us in good position often.

It's always bittersweet at this time: the season is over, most of the boys will move on to play Varsity football, and I will inherit a new crop of young players in a few weeks. There will be more posts here for the 2007 season: one more to announce the recipients of our awards, and another one to recap the season.

But to all those players who may be reading this: I loved being your coach this season. I am so proud that together we got to come into the Foothill League and announce that we were a team that needed to be taken seriously. I hope that the boys that finished through all the weeks of practice and games grew, learned, made friends, had a good and memorable time, and will take the lessons we tried to impart to them to heart. I respect each and every one of you and wish you the very best in your lives beyond our team.

Against perhaps their toughest opponent yet, your Wildcats were shut out for the first time all season in a hard-fought loss to league-leader Valencia Friday.

Defensively, West Ranch held the powerful Valencia offense (who had defeated Hart 34-0 the week prior) to a mere 13 points despite many Valencia possessions.

Like so many of our other games, we remained in the game until very late in the fourth quarter, staying within one score for nearly the whole contest.

We were unable to produce much offense, though we did drive the football a little bit here and there. Valencia's tough defensive front proved too much for our boys in the trenches, and we were not able to connect in the air as much as we needed to. We pulled out every idea we had, both in practice and in the game, and "emptied the gun" so to speak. Although this was not the result we wanted, I have no doubt all involved gave all they could.

As many of you know, we were playing with several players out for one reason or another, and their replacements stepped up to the challenege and exceeded our expectations. We could not be prouder of our young men who contributed to the game, either on the field, on the practice field, or on the sidelines (and, for that matter, we are grateful for the support we receive in the stands and at home: we know that some of us are being supported by parts as distant as Ohio, and it means a lot to us). These boys left their hearts on the field and played as best they could.

We have one week remaining, and that week will determine if we have a winning season (6-4) or not (5-5). We must continue to improve and play sharp, disciplined football.

Next week: Golden Valley (season ender)!