West Ranch Wildcats 41, Golden Valley Grizzlies 0
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.
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.
Posted by Sean
at 4:59 PM |
Permalink to West Ranch Wildcats 41, Golden Valley Grizzlies 0 |
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