The agony of defeat

So now that I've had more time to think about what went wrong, I'd like to break down yesterday's game for you in more detail and point out the keys to success and the reasons for defeat at the Santa Bowl this year.

Keys to Success: With all their practicing the youth didn't stand a chance in the first half. The Adult's were clearly in control 12-0. But in the 2nd half everything changed.

The Youth had the run and that's the ONLY thing they had. But they used their speed well and won the game with it, because hey! If it works every time why stop it right? The Youth now have a plan to do the same thing year after year until the Adults show they can stop it.

Reasons for defeat: Albert Einstein defined insanity as "doing the same thing over and over but expecting a different result." This was exactly what the Adults did. Defenses in the past 2 years have been able to shut down the run. The Youth aren't stupid. They didn't just figure out the power of running the ball after 11 years! They've never run it successfully. The defense in the past was able to shut it down every year by bringing the secondary in and boxing the the run.

This year for some reason our secondary stayed way out in no man's land to "catch the run" when it came their way. Did it work? Sometimes, after the Youth gained 30 more yards! It was the worst defense we've ever had. They knew the run was coming but made no effort to try and stop it, lining up he same way every play.

The other reason for our demise is the play calling. Our final play ended up being a fake punt (that no one fell for) where are receiver was double covered and even if he'd caught the ball he was a full 10 yards away from the goal line and would have been down ending the game anyway.

I can only wonder what would've happened if we'd kicked the field goal. The Youth had only 5 on the line. Like I said NOBODY bought the fake kick.

But I'm glad the Youth won. They deserved it this year. They played tough and exposed our weaknesses we refused to correct. I believe our failings are linked to one need.

A coach.

Plain and simple that's what we needed. We needed someone who everyone on the team would listen to and follow on the field. Someone who would've told the Adults how to run a defense and what plays to call at critical times.

Finding a coach won't be easy. They'd have to dedicate their time to the team, running plays and analyzing the opponent. It'll also be hard getting someone everyone will listen too. It seems as though we have too many cooks in the kitchen and each one is cooking a recipe for disaster. This has to stop.

We could've won that game. We SHOULD have won that game, but we didn't due to ignorance on the field in offense and defense.

Something we'll have to work on next year....