Outmatched

Before I get too much into my take of tonight's game, let me say this- the two toughest jobs on the football field are the head coach and the referee crew. No matter what, someone will question every decision you make and will definitely have an opinion. Therefore, if you should happen to choose either as a vocation, you better have thick skin and the ability to let things slide off your back like water off a duck.

The Jacket head coach has my respect based on his overall record and honors that he has received and I'm fairly, if not completely certain that he has thick skin and would not have a problem admitting that there are things on his staff that need to be examined. The refs, I don't know and frankly don't give a damn what they think or how they feel because they need to get better and not take a team out of a game the way they did tonight.

As you know, your Jackets played Perkins (team not restaurant) and actually played them well considering the weapons Perkins has. The final score was 3-14 but the game never felt out of reach until the closing minutes of the final quarter.

The Jackets defense held Stevenson in check for the most part considering he is one of the top running backs in the state. I'm not sure of the final stats because honestly I don't have the stomach to look them up but if the Perkins QB had more than 2 incompletions I would be shocked. However, with our DBs giving 5-10 yard cushions on their receivers, they shouldn't have had more than two dropped balls, if any.

Before I get too deep into MY thoughts and opinions I will admit a few things. I never played football other than intramurals in college for just part of one season. Didn't even play pee-wee or school football, just against the neighborhood kids. I couldn't tell you the difference between a dime, nickel, zone, Mike, Sam, wham bam thank you ma'am, slot, flanker, scatback or anything else for that matter when it comes to football. I have a basic knowledge of the game from years of watching it on tv.

BUT, what I do know is competition and preparation and making adjustments based on what the opponent is giving you. I'm also a guy that doesn't take non-wins very well.

Historically, the Jackets have never been a team that is willing to make adjustments but have had experienced athletes in place that could make their own individual changes as the game progressed. The current Jackets, while athletic, are not experienced enough to identify what changes need to be made.

But here's the thing, the defense played well enough to win the game! If you asked any other 3A team if Perkins scored only 14 points would they have won the game- most, if not all would say that Perkins would've been beaten. So while things could have been better on defense, they played good enough to win.

Offensively, we couldn't have been more plain vanilla and unimaginative if we tried. We have yet to play to our strengths on offense and continue to waste too much time relaying plays in or calling audibles.

The Perkins defense was big and fast. We have some speed but our sweet spot is size and strength. The offensive coaches have not come close to taking advantage of our strengths and trot out the same spread offense that looks pretty good against teams like chizzum but is ineffective against most other teams. The Jackets are blessed with multiple weapons running the ball. Jax and Dallen have speed and are elusive. Ethan and Harrison are bruisers who hit the line with extreme violence. That alone should give opposing defenses fits trying to figure out how to stop them and I'm not even going to bring up the very athletic and talented receiving corps. Tonight, the Perkins line would sometimes not even get into a three or four point stance and would stand away from the line basically daring the Jackets to run at them. So what did the Jackets do? Try to run a sweep or throw a little flair pass that Perkins was able to read and use their speed to swarm our backs and receivers. Our offensive line was so much stronger and bigger than them, had we recognized what they were doing and just had the line jump up and punch them in the mouth off the snap and hand the ball off to Karcher or Evans it would have been a completely different game. It would have forced them to try to combat our line rather than just run around them. Instead we played right into their hands and could only muster 3 points.

Had our coaching staff had the imagination to try to change how the Perkins defense set up, I feel the game would've been much different. Now, the statement said coaching STAFF. The buck stops with the head man and I'm sure he accepts and expects that to be true. But it appears that he has a staff of yes men who are afraid to suggest something different, which is a problem.

You only have to look at the boys basketball coaching staff to see how it's supposed to work. You will see those coaches argue and yell at each other during a game but that's because the head coach allows and wants that to happen. They all have the same goal and that goal is to win games and championships. Judging by the results of the past six years, I'd say they definitely deserve the title of the best basketball coaching staff in the state. Each coach is able to give their opinions on what needs to be done and a group decision is made.

It takes a team to win on the field and it also takes a team to coach. One guy isn't able to do it alone and if the people around him aren't capable of voicing their opinions based on their experience and knowledge, something needs to change.

Now I'm not saying that people need to lose their jobs or anything, this isn't major college or professional football. This is high school football made up of kids who love to play and have worked hard to get where they are today. I also feel that the coaches love the game and want to be successful. But things need to be different than what we saw tonight and have seen in seasons past. The players deserve that. The school deserves that. The town deserves that. And, the coaches deserve that as well.

Enough about the coaches. I could write all night long what I think should be done but in the end I might as well be arguing about how Major League Baseball is being destroyed by stupid new rules and how the art of small ball is lost. Both will produce the same result- nothing. These are our coaches and they deserve our support and respect, I'm just venting here. Now to the next object of my frustration- the individuals wearing the striped shirts.

The referees were brutal. There's no other way to describe it. How a referee can justify keeping the clock running after the ball carrier is PUSHED OUT OF BOUNDS is beyond me. Once would be bad, but for the entire third quarter was absolutely ridiculous. The center referee (see I don't even know the correct terminology but keep an eye out for an interview with a college and high school referee this week) was consistently spotting the ball in the advantage of Perkins throughout the game. No sour grapes here but watch the replay and tell me I'm wrong. I'd also wager that there were less than 15 penalties called during the game. Football, being a game in which a hall of fame referee once told me that holding could be called on every play. Shout out ODB, RIP.

Do I think the refs were purposely screwing the Jackets? No. They were just horrible referees which can probably be attributed to the shortage of quality, experienced officials in all sports. It, unfortunately, is something that we are probably going to have to get used to due to the current state of affairs. Unfortunately, many fans will become frustrated with such poor officials and they will more than likely become more and more verbal towards the referees and probably become aggressive and inappropriate. To make matters worse, the OSSAA has implemented a policy to curtail such behavior that could potentially have punishments handed to the team as well as the offender. Hopefully though, it won't come to that.

Time for good news, because there's always good news after a game. There is no such thing as losing. You either win or you learn.

The Jackets defense stood up and held a strong team to 14 points. The offense got more experience and hopefully the team as well as the coaches can both learn from tonight. The score differential was a positive for when it comes to district standings towards the end of the season. Granted, the Jackets will need to learn to find a way to hang half a hundred or more on teams that they are supposed to beat but the defense proved they can tuck their ears back and hold the line when they need to. These are things, in my opinion, that can be accomplished. It will take the team, both the players and the coaches, to make the necessary adjustments to make it happen and I, for one, am optimistic that it can happen.

The time to cry and mope about the loss is over. It's now time to learn and prepare for another road game at Mount St. Mary next week.

Until then, SofaKing loyal readers. Keep an eye out for scouting reports on MSM, interviews, and general time wasting entertainment produced for your enjoyment. Keep your head up, you're a Jacket for crying out loud, own it and act like it and let's win a game next week.