JV Dogs win at home

Varsity Dogs blank Sherwood 41-0

by Head Coach Kelley Beckner

Before getting into Friday night’s game, this past Monday the ElDo JV Bulldogs took on a very aggressive, strong Adrian JV squad at home. The team faced some adversity and played hard for four quarters of play coming back from a 6-0 deficit to win the ball game 14-6. Ian Esry and Jimmy Lavallee both had receiving touchdowns in the game. I was very proud of the way the team came together and finished the game. They got better each rep they played and one of the things I was most proud of, is that each one showed up to school Tuesday on time and with a great attitude coming into practice, understanding how important their roles are to the varsity squad getting prepared for Friday night’s contest.

Friday the Bulldogs traveled to Sherwood High School. It was a very special night as the team won 41-0. It was my first varsity victory as a Bulldog and as a Head Coach. The boys played with great effort for the majority of the contest and executed early and often. Part of our game plan was to stretch the defense horizontally as I thought we could use our athletic abilities to mismatch our opponents. It was vital to the run game to have success throwing it early as it opened running lanes as well as caused fatigue in the defense. Even though our completion ratio is not what I want it to be quite yet, Clayton Collins is getting more comfortable in the pocket and with his reads of the defensive backfield. Through two games he is averaging over 100 yards per game throwing and the offense is averaging around 300 total yards. Haiden Overton found great success running the ball (14 carries, 144 yards, 2 TD) as the offensive line did a great job of opening up running lanes and finishing their blocks. Gaven Morgan also added two rushing touchdowns as he is starting to find his grove as a slot receiver within the offense. Even though seniors Brayden Housh, Derek Hayes and junior Preston Robison did not have the numbers to show it, their route running and threat of always throwing it deep showed how vital each position within this offense is when looking at the whole picture. The defense had to adjust what they did to cover each of them, which opened up the opportunity to run the ball effectively.

As many positives as there were Friday night, there are still multiple things I believe we can work on. After jumping out to an early lead, I felt as though our team relaxed and ‘let off the gas pedal’ a bit. We had way too many penalties and still had some execution errors. I am extremely pleased to get the victory; however, we have much larger goals for this season and in order to achieve them we must get better in the turnover column as well as remaining focused throughout the contest. Again, however, attitude and effort are things we preach to the team on what they can control, and I believe they did a good job of both of those. The errors in penalties, turnovers, and execution come back to me and helping them find a way to overcome and advert them.

This Friday we travel to Buffalo for another conference match up. It will be a big game for the program as well as a great atmosphere as it is their home opener. They are a very well coached team with some great players. We are were fortunate to come out with a victory last year at home against them and I know they have had this game on their calendars for a night of redemption. Our staff started game planning immediately coming into Saturday and I feel we have a great game plan in all three phases of the game (Offense, Defense, Special Teams). If we can the limit our turnovers and penalties, while executing the game plan it will be a very fun game to watch in the stands. I encourage everyone who is able and willing to please come out to Buffalo Friday night and to be LOUD while cheering on the Bulldogs.