Friday Knight!

Well.........not what I expected...on several fronts.  #1) I didn't expect our opponent to be quite as good as they were.  I didn't overlook them, we're not good enough to overlook anyone, I just thought maybe we could play up to their level.  They were far stronger and more athletic than I thought they would be by looking at the films.  #2) I didn't expect us to not show up in the first half.  They were good....but not that good.  We made them look unstoppable.  No disrespect to them, I'm not sure how the game would have come out if they played their worst game and we played our best.  But.....we certainly didn't play our best.  I was very disappointed with a lack of effort and enthusiasm during the first half of play.  #3) I didn't expect the lack of technical play on our behalf.  What I mean is that we didn't execute our game plan.  At times it didn't look like we even tried.  We didn't tackle well at all.  There are sometimes when I suspect we are the worst tackling team in America.  I can't get over how hard we work to improve our tackling.  It's something we emphasize and drill every day in practice, yet we tackled horribly on Friday.  #4) I didn't expect what the other team did.  On film, they were a Rocket Toss style of flex-bone feeling offense.  They showed up pure Wing-T.  On film, they lined up in an even front on defense, yet they showed up in a pure 3-4.  I guess that has something to do with #2 and #3 above, but I still say there's no excuse for not trying to hustle and trying to execute our game plan.  Other teams are going to do things that we don't foresee, what we have to do is overcome and persevere. 

Perseverance is something that we spoke at length about on Monday.  We have to keep going, and not just keep going through the motions.  We have to practice harder, prepare better, and believe that good things will come to those that persevere.  We talked a good bit about how life is tough and if we just don't try (as in #2 above) or if we don't do the right thing (#3 above) we won't make it in life.  We have to stand up and fight for what is right and what we believe in.  The world will try to knock us down at every turn, but God calls us to be transformed from this world.  We must persevere, we must fight back, we must take steps forward and toward the next Friday Knight!