MUS Football

Play-Off Strategy

Over the years I believe we have found a play-off routine that works for us. Below is a copy of the post we have posted before.

 

As we start the play-offs it is important that we separate what has been accomplished in the regular season to what lies ahead. The regular season is more like a marathon. Each week we prepare not only for the team we are about to play but also work on the things that our team will need to be able to do throughout the season. It is about surging over the hills and relaxing on the flats knowing that the race is long. The play-offs are like the Olympic 100 meter dash. No one will remember who gets the silver or bronze medal, only who wins the gold. And the race is often lost by the field more than it is won by the champion . My point is that the play-offs do not reward the best teams but the "HOT" teams.

For us, the best way to be hot is to forget the regular season and surge ahead. None of the teams we may play will be intimidated by who we have beaten or by how much. They are fighting to keep their team alive to play another day just as we are. In the play-off games we have won, what really stands out to me are the heroic plays our guys have made to help win or secure a victory. We have a rich history at MUS of those types of plays. I believe that these plays are most possible when the player plays relaxed and each player is confident of how his teammates and coaches love him regardless of whether the play is made or not. Love gives him the freedom to go for it, to take the chance of making the big play knowing that he also risks the loss.

One of the worst things we can do for our team is try and make this a bigger deal just because it is a play-off game. That usually only adds stress and doubt that is not conducive to playing our best. The boys understand what is at stake and I have no doubt about how hard they will play. If we play our best we will have no regrets.

BCS Recap

With the 26-10 victory over Briarcrest last Friday we were able to finish the regular season with a 7-3 record going 3-0 in our region. Not sure anyone but our team believed in us when we were 2-3 but this group has hung in there and found ways to win. We had told the boys all week how hard Briarcrest would play against us and they certainly competed fiercely but our defense remained strong and we made enough big plays on offense.

The SouthernSun Players of the Game this week as selected by our radio crew were Ford Howell and Devin Perry. Congrats to both of these young men. Our Buzzard Player of the Week goes to sophomore defensive lineman Andrew Crosby. Andrew has worked hard all year as a member of our scout team helping the offense be prepared for the opposition on Friday. This season we have been able to honor 10 of these guys who contribute so much to our team and there are certainly many more that could have been selected. One of the things that make football a unique game in today's world is how many people it can take to contribute significantly to make a team successful. It is not all about who gets to play on Friday night.

BCS GAME STATS

8th Grade Season Recap

The 8th grade team this year finished with an undefeated season after beating Briarcrest this past Tuesday. Coach Wade had the following comments about this year's group.

"The 2011 8th grade owls finished the season undefeated (8-0), and more importantly we had fun and got better. This group is very talented. We had numerous playmakers, and quality lineman who did the hard work. As we started the season my goal for the team is always similar.

“Have Fun and get Better". As this season progressed a new slogan was born " Work to Win"

 It started with the adjustment to 6:00 am practices, but continued throughout the season as the whole team worked together to drive the sled, during our  “5 and 5 drill"

The team came together and continued to move forward.

Kids competed each week to earn playing time.

We owe part of our success to all the support of the parents. Thank you to all, and especially Lauren Keel, who helped coordinate numerous deliveries of pizzas and Popsicles.

Yes, that mean coach Wade was asking the moms to bring popsicles.

Some of the highlights of the season:

First ever team bus rides to away games

Film sessions-" The film does not lie"

Bomb pops after practice

The jumbo set

Coach Frasier's gifting of the " swag" sunglasses

Watkins dumping cold water on Coach Wade's head

 

Good luck to our varsity team in the playoffs. Please come out and support them.

Great job by all

"Have fun and get better" and continue to "work to win."

Coach Wade

7th Grade Recap

Our 7th grade team had to overcome many obstacles during the season but we were proud of them for their courage and tenacity. The team finishes with a 1 - 6 record that is somewhat misleading.

Below is a wrap-up comment from Coach Burnett that covers the season very well. A special thanks to all of the coaches for working with the boys this year.

“This season the 7^th grade Owls took the field against some formidable opponents in the PAA 7^th and 8^th grade league.  While outmanned most evenings they fought hard and will be better for it as their careers continue.  The 1-6 record does not reflect the effort put forth and the progress made throughout the season.  The offense was led by Cole Middlebrook at quarterback, with Steven Regis, Jack McCaghren, and Jalon Love providing much of the offense.  The line was led by dependable Jack Heathcott at both offensive tackle and defensive end.  On defense, the Owls were led by Evan Smith at LB and Burch Baine at DB.  Several players showed great improvement as the season progressed, notably John Walker Huffman and McCall Knowlton.  Brighter days are ahead for this group as they were put to a difficult test and did not get discouraged.”

Practice Plans for Bye Week.

First let me say that next week is a very important week of practice. We must remain focused, sharp in our execution, and keep our fitness level high. We will spend some time next week testing the guys in some physical areas as well as reviewing a lot of our fundamentals. Since we will not know who we play we will not spend a great deal of time on Scout work until the following week. We will not meet this Sunday. Please make sure we have the boys at practice each day Monday thru Thursday. We will not practice on Friday. Practice each day will end around 5:30.

BCS Preview

The team travels to Briarcrest this week for our final regular season game. Game time is 7:00pm. I have often referred to the regular season as a marathon and the play-offs to a sprint but we could also say this year the regular season has been a 10 round boxing match. We took some knockdown punches in our early rounds but we got off the deck and kept fighting. Against Briarcrest we have the opportunity to finish the fight strong and prove we won the fight! The credit for this goes mostly to our players who have hung with each other through thick and thin. I am also proud of our coaches who have made some changes over the season which have put our team in a better position to use our talent.

BCS enters with a 4-5 record and we know they will be motivated to get that 5th win especially against us. On offense they have an outstanding runner in #21 Alex Huggins. He is averaging 140 YPG which ranks 4th in our league. At receiver #12 Andrew Foster has been the favorite target of QB #7 BJ Nagle. The leading tacklers for the BCS defense have been DE # 45 Gray Martin and LB #10 Hunter Bledsoe. We can always expect a good effort from Briarcrest and I expect our team to be ready to show continued improvement.

GO OWLS!!

White Station Recap

This game was every bit as tough as we expected. White Station had played good defense the entire season and certainly battled us giving us some problems with their quickness and speed. Thanks to the continued stellar play of our defense we were able to weather a tough first half and finally got some things going as we went back to our spread offense. For those who enjoy tough, hard-nose football this was an enjoyable event.

I was very glad we were able to celebrate a victory on Senior Night. This group has hung together after a rough start and I am proud of them. Also proud of the dads who managed to squeeze into those jerseys!!!

The SouthernSun Players of the Game this week were Toby Baker and Nicholas Vergos. Both made some big plays down the stretch to secure the win. Our Buzzard Player of the Week is Drew Richmond. Drew is a 9th grade offensive lineman who works hard each week going up against our starting defense. Congrats to each of the award winners.

Next week we travel to Briarcrest to close out the regular season. With a bye week the next week we need to play this game at a high level to keep ourselves in rhythm for the challenges ahead. We also know the Saints will come out ready to play as well.

WHITE STATION GAME STATS

White Station Preview

The Spartans of White Station visit MUS tomorrow evening for a match-up between 2 teams gearing up for the play-offs. With the victory last week over SBA we were able to secure 1st place in our region for the season. White Station has a little tougher road to make sure they are in the play-offs but have certainly shown for most of the year they are ready. Big wins over Ridgeway, CBHS, Briarcrest and a tough loss to Whitehaven proves their mettle.

On offense WS has several big play threats in running back #1 Antonio Cheatham, QB #3 Jerry Thompson and athlete #23 Donald Gray. WS has had a balance of running and passing. On defense the Spartans are a pressure defense and have relied on the solid play of MLB #5 Quartez Benton and corner #4 Ryan Hill. Another big contributor this year is kicker #88 Max Cohen who has consistently kicked off for touchbacks.

I am of course very proud of our team for the improved play we have seen the second half of the season. But we cannot be satisfied where we are now. We must continue to raise our level in order to compete with the best when we are challenged.

We will also recognize our seniors before the game on Friday. Be sure to be there early. Fan Tunnel will be about 6:45 with Senior introductions starting a little before 6:50. Join all of us in letting these guys know we appreciate their commitment to the TEAM.

GO OWLS!

SBA Recap

The team earned a hard fought victory over SBA Friday night 35-0. SBA has improved a lot over the last couple of years and certainly when you have a player the quality of Jordan WIlkens you always have a chance. I thought we looked a little rusty at first but the defense always stiffened when SBA made a little progress or when we turned it over early. The offense began to execute better and we ended up with a victory that on paper looked easier than it did in person.

It appears to me with the CBHS victory over BCS that we have locked up the region title and will have the first place West seed in our play-off structure. That means we have a bye the first week and then host the winner of the 4thEM vs 6th EM first round game. At this time that looks like it will be a game between MBA and BGA. First up though we need to keep improving as we host a very dangerous White Station team this week. More on them later in the week.

The SouthernSun Players of the Game were Peyton Klawinski and Shane Tucker. Both played well as they have all season. Our Buzzard Player of the Week this week is Bobby Lewis. Bobby plays the D-Line on the defensive scout team spending most of his time line up against Daniel Cunningham and Ben Still so he has earned this award the hard way.

SBA GAME STATS

Frosh Team - What's next?

We met with the boys this morning to outline where we go from here now that their game schedule has concluded. If you have questions about what follows please do not hesitate to call.

1. Five of the boys have been dressing out on Friday nights all year and are members of the varsity team. as such they will continue in that role. They are Darian Bradburn, Colton Neel, MaLeik Gatewood, Brant Newman, Chris Turner

2. The rest of the guys can choose to continue on the practice squad, move into their other sport's phy-dev, or go back to PE for the rest of the semester.

For the boys who choose to stay on the practice squad we will practice Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday as we have been and they will be off Thursday and Friday. We hope most of the boys will choose this as it is a great time for us to keep drilling fundamentals. We do not have a spring football practice so this sort of serves that function.

We will meet with them on Monday so please help them with this decision over the weekend.