Post by Banana Cat on Apr 6, 2011 5:49:32 GMT -5
www.scbandits.com/coachesColumn.cfm
Coach's Column
(04/05/11)
What a Start to the 2011 Season!
Greetings Bandit Nation!
What a start to the 2011 season! We are very pleased with our team’s effort Friday night but are very aware of the work that still lies ahead. To those of you who were in attendance Friday night, you were able to watch a game that was very exciting and balanced. Both teams were almost equal in every statistical category except turnovers. It was critical that our offense was able to protect the ball. Scott was instrumental in managing the game while surgically taking apart the Blackhawks defense. Considering the size and experience of the Blackhawks D-Line, I couldn’t be happier with our O-Lines “rookie” debut performance. Scott was hardly touched all night. The thunder/lightning approach from our backfield with Bentley and Prohaska is going to be an asset to this team every single game and something defenses will have to take extra time to prepare for. From the first offensive play with WR Eddie Pertilla (for our 1st TD), to the final offensive play with WR Fredrick Bruno (for our final TD), it was easy to see the talent, speed, and ability we have within our receiving core. By the end of the night everyone in attendance was talking about the new Bandits in town! Coach DeGeorgia has done an excellent job thus far preparing his guys, and they shined Friday night!
Defensively, we played fast, furious, and physical football. Up front we rotated our D-Line personnel regularly to keep pace with the Blackhawks gigantic O-Line. We learned up front we will need to focus on hand fighting and squeezing down our rushing lanes to improve our pass rushing capabilities. Our secondary played very physical and did an outstanding job of taking the ball away; the two interceptions (Ardley and Schumacher) were a critical part of our victory. Even though we played well defensively, we showed moments of weakness; missing some calls and not having everyone on the same page. During these instances, we gave up unnecessary yardage at pivotal moments in the game. Tackling was also an area we will need to improve on. Too many times we dropped our head or left our feet during a tackle. The simple reason was that we had too many guys going for a knockout shot, which attributed to poor fundamental tackling. To our guy’s credit, they were flying around, swarming the ball, and giving 100% effort on every play. Some of these errors are simply first game mishaps and jitters, which often iron themselves out as the season progresses; however, the miscues will need to be addressed in practice and we will focus on fixing our breakdowns so we have a much more polished product for our next appearance.
Our special teams play was very good. We did leave some points on the field kicking, which can’t continue to happen, but I was very happy with our K-Off and Return teams. We also put in a long Field Goal Unit designed to cover like a punt team and make tackles to our opponents return man on the other side of the 25. This is by design due to the rule of placing the ball at midfield on missed Field Goals. Rahn Franklin made some fantastic tackles deep in our opponent’s territory and Marcus Watkins and Fredrick Bruno both had some very nice returns as a result of good blocking on our return team. It is my opinion that Special Teams is more important in Indoor Football than any other type of football and we played well there on Friday night!
It was a team effort Friday night! The product everyone saw on the field is a result of months of work, from the front office to the water boys on the field, we utilized everyone positively within our Bandits family to earn the victory. Now it is time to move on. Friday is done and is now old news. We must focus on using the lessons taught to us in the game to get better. As we look to our April 9th game against the Kansas Koyotes, we must understand that to continue winning football games we have to realize we are only as good as our next win or loss. Our heads cannot swell and we must remain down to earth, taking each game one at a time. After all, it is only one win. We are fortunate to have come out of the game healthy and should be able to travel well. I hope that our fans are able to travel as well, as we would be happy to see as many Bandit supporters at our next game as possible. Believe me, we hear you and your cheering is extremely motivational and helps contribute to our success. Our team needs you to find a way to get to Topeka! If you haven’t already done so, make arrangements to travel on April 9th, to support our team. I firmly believe we have the makings of something special this season and with our leadership, our teams work ethic, and your support all working together for a common cause, we can continue to move this thing in the right direction.
Coach Faulkenberry
(04/05/11)
What a Start to the 2011 Season!
Greetings Bandit Nation!
What a start to the 2011 season! We are very pleased with our team’s effort Friday night but are very aware of the work that still lies ahead. To those of you who were in attendance Friday night, you were able to watch a game that was very exciting and balanced. Both teams were almost equal in every statistical category except turnovers. It was critical that our offense was able to protect the ball. Scott was instrumental in managing the game while surgically taking apart the Blackhawks defense. Considering the size and experience of the Blackhawks D-Line, I couldn’t be happier with our O-Lines “rookie” debut performance. Scott was hardly touched all night. The thunder/lightning approach from our backfield with Bentley and Prohaska is going to be an asset to this team every single game and something defenses will have to take extra time to prepare for. From the first offensive play with WR Eddie Pertilla (for our 1st TD), to the final offensive play with WR Fredrick Bruno (for our final TD), it was easy to see the talent, speed, and ability we have within our receiving core. By the end of the night everyone in attendance was talking about the new Bandits in town! Coach DeGeorgia has done an excellent job thus far preparing his guys, and they shined Friday night!
Defensively, we played fast, furious, and physical football. Up front we rotated our D-Line personnel regularly to keep pace with the Blackhawks gigantic O-Line. We learned up front we will need to focus on hand fighting and squeezing down our rushing lanes to improve our pass rushing capabilities. Our secondary played very physical and did an outstanding job of taking the ball away; the two interceptions (Ardley and Schumacher) were a critical part of our victory. Even though we played well defensively, we showed moments of weakness; missing some calls and not having everyone on the same page. During these instances, we gave up unnecessary yardage at pivotal moments in the game. Tackling was also an area we will need to improve on. Too many times we dropped our head or left our feet during a tackle. The simple reason was that we had too many guys going for a knockout shot, which attributed to poor fundamental tackling. To our guy’s credit, they were flying around, swarming the ball, and giving 100% effort on every play. Some of these errors are simply first game mishaps and jitters, which often iron themselves out as the season progresses; however, the miscues will need to be addressed in practice and we will focus on fixing our breakdowns so we have a much more polished product for our next appearance.
Our special teams play was very good. We did leave some points on the field kicking, which can’t continue to happen, but I was very happy with our K-Off and Return teams. We also put in a long Field Goal Unit designed to cover like a punt team and make tackles to our opponents return man on the other side of the 25. This is by design due to the rule of placing the ball at midfield on missed Field Goals. Rahn Franklin made some fantastic tackles deep in our opponent’s territory and Marcus Watkins and Fredrick Bruno both had some very nice returns as a result of good blocking on our return team. It is my opinion that Special Teams is more important in Indoor Football than any other type of football and we played well there on Friday night!
It was a team effort Friday night! The product everyone saw on the field is a result of months of work, from the front office to the water boys on the field, we utilized everyone positively within our Bandits family to earn the victory. Now it is time to move on. Friday is done and is now old news. We must focus on using the lessons taught to us in the game to get better. As we look to our April 9th game against the Kansas Koyotes, we must understand that to continue winning football games we have to realize we are only as good as our next win or loss. Our heads cannot swell and we must remain down to earth, taking each game one at a time. After all, it is only one win. We are fortunate to have come out of the game healthy and should be able to travel well. I hope that our fans are able to travel as well, as we would be happy to see as many Bandit supporters at our next game as possible. Believe me, we hear you and your cheering is extremely motivational and helps contribute to our success. Our team needs you to find a way to get to Topeka! If you haven’t already done so, make arrangements to travel on April 9th, to support our team. I firmly believe we have the makings of something special this season and with our leadership, our teams work ethic, and your support all working together for a common cause, we can continue to move this thing in the right direction.
Coach Faulkenberry