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Episode 10- 8-0 For the Season So Far! · Friday Night's At The Creek

• 0:12
  Speaker 1: Hello, everyone, and welcome back to another edition of Friday
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: Nights at the Creek with Coach Gooden. Coach, first of all,
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: welcome back to the podcast, but more importantly, congratulations starting
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: the season at this. 8- 0.
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: Thank you. You know, we've got one more to finish
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: out the regular season the way we want to, win
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: an outright conference championship, and looking forward to putting in
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: another week of work.
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: Absolutely. Well, you had the big win. against Beach Grove
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: this past week, 32-7. Again, congratulations on that victory to
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: go 8-0 in the season. And maybe just kind of
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: give us your thoughts of how that game went on
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: Friday night.
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: Yeah, Beach Grove played incredibly hard. We knew going into
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: the game that they had a very good defense. They
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: were missing their quarterback on Friday, which kind of threw
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: some things out of whack. But they came to play, man.
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: They played with a ton of pride. I thought that
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: it was a really, really tough conference opponent that came
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: ready to play and was really impressed with them. But
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: I thought our kids handled a little bit of adversity
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: really well. It wasn't a ton, but, you know, things
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: didn't go perfectly. We had to make adjustments. And kind
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: of the message that I had to the kids was like,
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: no matter what's happening in the game, just believe that
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: we're going to get it fixed. Believe that we're going
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: to get it done. And just, you know, we kind
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: of learned a little bit about ourselves and know what
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: we need to apply and where we need to get
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: to in order to make things right.
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: Absolutely. And, you know, you said things didn't always go
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: the way you wanted them to go. And we obviously
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: understand that in the game. But at the end of
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: the game or excuse me, at the end of the day,
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: you just got to play your game, play the way
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: that you prep for and believe things are going to
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: work out the way that you anticipate them to. Absolutely.
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: And, you know, some of the things that we took
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: away is, hey, we need to make a couple adjustments
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: earlier on. We need to see a few other looks,
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: you know, probably earlier in the game. And I think
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: we just learned a few things about ourselves as coaches
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: and players and everything that we can apply. And, you know,
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: you never stop learning about yourself and just different things
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: that we saw throughout the game and ways that we
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: can get better and areas of improvement. Yeah.
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: Well, Coach, you have a chance on Friday night, like
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: you said, to outright win the conference title outright. In
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: terms of that, I assume you've got to be feeling good,
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: not only of your chances, but where you are and
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: how you're playing football right now at such a late
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: stage of the season.
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: Absolutely. And, you know, you want to be playing your
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: best ball come October and November. But I think that
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: what's good for us and when you get a game
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: that is tighter like that against Beach Grove, is, okay,
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: let's reset, recalibrate, and see some areas that we can
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: improve on, things that we focus on. And I think
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: when you get kids that are excited about that and
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: excited to show up every day and get better, that
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: is what will carry you with momentum into the playoffs.
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: Absolutely. We keep talking about you being 8-0, and it
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: sounds pretty solid to me, but I'm sure as a coach,
• 3:27
  Speaker 1: hopefully as a player, you know, you can always get better. Absolutely.
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: And I think that, you know, we always say you
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: either win or you learn, but I think when you
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: are having success and finding momentum like that, you are
• 3:43
  Speaker 2: having to find ways to, you know, if it's not broken,
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: how do we make it better? And we're constantly trying
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: to do that. So are we, are we nitpicking on
• 3:55
  Speaker 2: different things? Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. But you've got to build
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: to where you want to go. And, you know, it's
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: playoff time for as far as we're concerned. We're playing
• 4:04
  Speaker 2: for a trophy this week, a conference championship. And it's
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: against the team that won the conference last year. So,
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: you know, I think it's that time of the year. And,
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: you know, put all your chips in the middle of
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: the table.
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely. You know, you were talking about Nick picking.
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: I think that really at this point, That's what you
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: got to do as a coach is just start looking
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: at little things because either the big things you either
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: got fixed or you're never going to fix them, in
• 4:33
  Speaker 1: my opinion, at this point in the season. And now
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: it's just a fine tuning. You know, it's like in
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: a race car. You got dialed in, but now you're
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: just finding that little extra boost of energy here or
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: there where you just fine tuning things.
• 4:50
  Speaker 2: Well, I think when you... have that sectional draw for
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: the kids, for the coaches, for anybody. I think that
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: that is kind of the light at the end of
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: the tunnel where it's like, okay, I got my next
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: boost of energy. We know what to expect now. Um,
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: and I think everyone's excited at this time of the year. And, uh, mentally,
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: I think across the state of Indiana, it's playoff time
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: for everyone.
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: Absolutely. Absolutely. And we'll talk a little bit about this, uh,
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: here at the end of the episode, but right now
• 5:18
  Speaker 1: you've got a first round by, um, that was announced
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: this past Sunday during sectional draw. Do you feel pretty
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: good about that, or would you have rather played in
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: round one?
• 5:32
  Speaker 2: We had one last year. The fact that we got
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: to buy in back-to-back years is pretty remarkable, especially in
• 5:39
  Speaker 2: a seven-team sectional. It's not like we're in.
• 5:41
  Speaker 1: A five-team sectional.
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: It's very unique that we have experience with it. What
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: I'll tell you is, The fact that we have a
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: mature team, that we have a veteran team, a team
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: that's experienced this before, I think that's a better feeling.
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: If we were a team where I was like, hey,
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: we need more reps and to do this again. And,
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: you know, I would say, you know, maybe I'm a
• 6:04
  Speaker 2: little bit more concerned, but I think it is nice
• 6:07
  Speaker 2: to allow kids to recover a little bit. I'm shut
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: it down a little bit and, you know, do those
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: different things. Now, how you manage it, that's completely up
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: to you and the team and what they feel like
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: they need. And we may even dictate that after, you know,
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: we get out of the game on Friday night. So,
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: you know, last year we gave them a couple of
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: days off. I think we did Monday and Friday. this year,
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: you know, we're kind of looking at the same thing,
• 6:35
  Speaker 2: but you really don't know what you want to try
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: to accomplish or what you're going to need to accomplish
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: until you get that feedback from the final game.
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: Of the season.
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: Sure.
• 6:44
  Speaker 1: Yeah. There's a lot of football between here and there.
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: And like I said, we'll talk a little bit about
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: this a little more at the end of the episode
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: about the sectional draw. But as you've said, before you
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: get to sectionals, you still have a game to play
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: this coming Friday night. against Triton Central, 7 o'clock kickoff.
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: You know, their schedule or their record is 3-5. They
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: just got beat by Tri-West last week, 45-12. Coach, what
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: are you seeing? What do you feel going into Friday
• 7:16
  Speaker 1: night's game?
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: So Triton Central is a historically very, very good program. Obviously,
• 7:24
  Speaker 2: 3-5 on the year. We talked about that we're in
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: a good conference. They've scored a lot of points. Um, and,
• 7:31
  Speaker 2: and I think the thing that I would tell you
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: is that they show up, you know, to play, um,
• 7:37
  Speaker 2: and they've got something to give you every single week. Um,
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: now are there some areas, you know, where they want
• 7:44
  Speaker 2: to improve and do some things better? Yeah. But, you know,
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: coach Kegley has been there a long time as the
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: defensive coordinator. Um, it is his first year as the
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: head football coach there. And, uh, I think that they
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: are continuing to get better and grow as a team
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: each and every week. Um, and I think that they're
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: going to be ready to, you know, go up against
• 8:02
  Speaker 2: us and, you know, try to defend their conference crown
• 8:06
  Speaker 2: because there's nothing that would help swing the momentum of
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: their season than beating us week nine, um, and sharing,
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: you know, making TriWest share the conference championship with us. So, uh,
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: we understand that, um, they're a team that we did
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: not play very well against last year. It was a
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: three point game and they beat us. Uh, they were
• 8:25
  Speaker 2: missing their quarterback in the game. We were missing a
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: few other key pieces. Uh, but we talked earlier in
• 8:29
  Speaker 2: the season that we needed to close the margins. That
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: was one of the games that, uh, we didn't play
• 8:34
  Speaker 2: the margins very well. We made way too many mistakes, uh,
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: last year when we played them and it cost us
• 8:39
  Speaker 2: in the final outcome of the game. So we're trying
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: to be better. Um, we're trying to learn from that
• 8:44
  Speaker 2: and apply those lessons from last year and this year. Um,
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: but we know TriWest or Triton Central is going to
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: be ready to play us and, uh, man, uh, it'll
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: be another great game on Friday.
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely. And as you mentioned, uh, Triton Central is, uh,
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: probably going to be trying to play the role of
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: the spoiler out there to give them, like you said,
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: some momentum going into their sectional game the following week,
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: but also just to kind of shake things up in
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: the conference as well.
• 9:12
  Speaker 2: Absolutely. And, you know, everyone's looking for that little bit
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: of momentum going in. When you're an 8-0 team, the
• 9:17
  Speaker 2: target is absolutely massive on your back, and everyone wants
• 9:20
  Speaker 2: to be the first team to knock you off. So
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: we've got to be mentally prepared for that. I think
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: we are. But, you know, this is a team that
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: we didn't beat last year and our seniors have not
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: beaten Triton Central. So I feel that we'll be ready
• 9:33
  Speaker 2: to play this game. But to sit here and act
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: like Triton Central is not going to either would be
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: malpractice on my part. So we know that it's a
• 9:42
  Speaker 2: big game. We know that, you know, we got to
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: be at our best and we fully expect them to
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: be at their best, too.
• 9:49
  Speaker 1: Yeah. We know, Coach, we were talking a little off
• 9:53
  Speaker 1: the air. This week is fall break for you guys,
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: if I understood you correctly. Has that played a factor
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: in just getting things out of rhythm? You know, we
• 10:06
  Speaker 1: kind of joked a little bit earlier that I know
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: in our household, we're on fall break, and I was
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: joking how it kind of threw off our whole schedule
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: this week. It's been nice to have our kids home,
• 10:19
  Speaker 1: but– Like I said, it throws everything off. How does
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: a fall break affect a football team like yours? It's
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: 8-0 going into a big game on Friday night.
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: Well, my message is to dominate fall break. If you
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: want to dominate a football game, you've got to dominate
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: fall break. We're going to do a couple morning practices.
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: We're going to do a couple evening practices. We're going
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: to try to steal some extra time because they don't
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: have to be in school. I think that you know,
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: you've got to find ways to make it beneficial. But
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: we try to do things like, hey, we're going to
• 10:52
  Speaker 2: start in the afternoon on Monday and then we'll go
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: in the morning on Tuesday, Wednesday. And then we'll try
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: to stick to a normal routine on Thursday and Friday. But,
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: you know, the biggest thing for me in those situations
• 11:06
  Speaker 2: is how do we, you know, how do we get
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: them to understand the importance of, hey, we're not allowed
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: to oversleep. We're not allowed to do those things. They've
• 11:15
  Speaker 2: got to have the ownership. And we talked about that
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: in various phases of the season. I think we talked
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: about it with the morning practice against Greenwood, where they've
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: got to have that extreme ownership that we're going to
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: be here when we need to be here. And we're
• 11:29
  Speaker 2: going to wake up and we're going to do this
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: at a high level. But I found out that I
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: think kids prefer to practice in the morning. You know,
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: they haven't had their whole day. They have the whole
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: day ahead of them. So it's been a really good
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: week from that regard. I feel like our leadership's been
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: really good in emphasizing those things and, you know, proud
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: of how we handled it. But as a coach, you've
• 11:50
  Speaker 2: got to emphasize the importance of that. You've got to
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: get the schedule and the calendar out early so they
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: can be mentally prepared for it. And we just tell them,
• 11:57
  Speaker 2: let's go dominate fall break.
• 11:59
  Speaker 1: Yeah, no, I like that attitude. And I can remember
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: as a player myself, when you have too much free time,
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: especially maybe it's a Saturday and you have a game
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: late in the evening or an afternoon and you don't
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: get up and you don't start moving and getting that
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: body accustomed to the day. I think that's where sluggishness
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: creeps in and mental weakness as far as I'm concerned.
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: Well, you try to give them like two days where
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: they can sleep in longer. But I think it's good
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: to get them up and moving the vast majority and
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: then you get that, you keep that internal clock somewhat, uh,
• 12:42
  Speaker 2: in a routine, you know, we're not getting them up
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: at 8 AM, but Hey, you're going to be here
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: at 9 AM. Uh, and that's when we're going to
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: get started. So, you know, a little bit of rest,
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: extra rest each day, but we still want to keep
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: that internal clock and somewhat, somewhat of a routine.
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: No, I totally agree with you in terms of that.
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: I also think it's nice that you're balancing, letting them
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: be kids and, uh, letting them have a little bit
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: of free time, a little bit of downtime because you
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: don't want kids getting hurt or getting burnout. But I
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: also agree with you that you've got to keep that
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: internal clock as close to normal as possible, but giving
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: them some freedom in there as well.
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: Absolutely. It's a balancing act, but, you know, it's in
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: every team's different. So you just kind of got to
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: lean into those different factors and just go from there.
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah. And, you know, as a head coach, you
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: know your team better than anybody in terms of that.
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: So you know what you can do to push them,
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: how much time you can give them off, or when
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: they need to be on a tighter schedule. I'm a
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: big believer in that. Absolutely. Yeah, and in the right hands. Well, again,
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: this coming Friday night, it's an away game, if I'm
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: not mistaken, 7 o'clock kickoff, Triton Central. Is that correct, Coach?
• 13:59
  Speaker 2: That is accurate.
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: All right. And then we come back in here and
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: we want to talk a little bit about the sectional draw.
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: Your thoughts on the draw in general for your sectional.
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, I think anyone would take the bye
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: week just because you get that extra time to heal
• 14:22
  Speaker 2: up and rest a little bit. Like we talk about
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: the physical side of resting, but I think there's a
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: mental side where the kids get a Friday and it's
• 14:32
  Speaker 2: not straight into the tournament, but you know, on top
• 14:36
  Speaker 2: of that, you advance to the next round, the goal,
• 14:40
  Speaker 2: you know what I mean? So you have that automatic advancement.
• 14:43
  Speaker 2: Now the downside is you're at the very top of
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: the bracket. That means that you are most likely to
• 14:48
  Speaker 2: be on the road for your, for your games, like
• 14:51
  Speaker 2: throughout the sectional, we're guaranteed to be on the road,
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: no matter who wins, Vincent, Lincoln or Edgewood. And if we,
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: you know, are able to advance beyond that, there's a very,
• 15:02
  Speaker 2: very high chance that we would still be on the road.
• 15:05
  Speaker 2: So there's some pros and cons there. It's not, you know,
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: just rainbows and butterflies just because you get to buy. But,
• 15:12
  Speaker 2: you know, I think from that standpoint, it's awesome because
• 15:16
  Speaker 2: you get a week to rest up and you get
• 15:19
  Speaker 2: a week where, hey, we're automatically moving on. So in
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: that regard, it's a good thing. So we'll definitely take it.
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely. Anytime you can get a bye week in there,
• 15:31
  Speaker 1: I think it's good to, like you said, get a
• 15:33
  Speaker 1: mental and a physical rest. You know, I have no
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: doubt Friday night's probably going to be a very physical game.
• 15:40
  Speaker 1: And getting an extra day or two or an extra week, actually,
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: to kind of rest and prep probably doesn't hurt. But
• 15:49
  Speaker 1: on the flip side of that, if I'm hearing you correctly,
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: you also probably give up home field advantage throughout the playoffs.
• 15:59
  Speaker 2: Yeah, pretty much, at least at least in the sectional.
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 16:04
  Speaker 2: But to that same point, it is a day to day,
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: week to week operation. So, you know, we've got to
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: handle our business. There's some there's some good teams in
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: our sectional and we've just got to stay the course
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: and do what we do.
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely. The Vincent Lincoln versus Edgewood. Any thoughts? I'm
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: not going to ask you the question of who you
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: want to play because I'm afraid you're going to dodge
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: it anyways. But maybe just give us your thoughts on
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: that particular game in general.
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: So Lincoln won by a few scores, a couple scores
• 16:39
  Speaker 2: earlier in the year. It was a pretty close game.
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: I think it was 6-0 at halftime, if I'm not mistaken,
• 16:47
  Speaker 2: if I read that correctly. And Vincent Lincoln pulled away
• 16:51
  Speaker 2: a little bit. I don't know a ton about Vincent Lincoln.
• 16:54
  Speaker 2: What I do know is that they're well coached. Coach
• 16:57
  Speaker 2: Salters has been there for a long time and they
• 16:59
  Speaker 2: were competing down in Evansville for a long period of time.
• 17:02
  Speaker 2: So I know their kids are going to compete their
• 17:03
  Speaker 2: butts off and play really, really hard. And with Edgewood,
• 17:07
  Speaker 2: we're very familiar with them. We play them in the
• 17:09
  Speaker 2: week zero scrimmage. They used to be in our conference
• 17:12
  Speaker 2: and they've improved a lot under Coach Fisher. So we
• 17:16
  Speaker 2: know that, you know, regardless of the outcome, we're going
• 17:19
  Speaker 2: to have a formidable opponent. And, uh, we got to
• 17:22
  Speaker 2: show up and play football.
• 17:24
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I know. Uh, Vincent's Lincoln. Uh, I, I know, uh,
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: early the first game of the season, they played, uh,
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: Turo South, uh, and beat them, uh, seven, six. That's the, uh,
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: one of the teams that's, uh, close here in the, uh,
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: Wabash Valley that, that I'm aware of. And I understand
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: that was a pretty good game, uh, kind of back
• 17:44
  Speaker 1: and forth, but, uh, a close game as well. And, uh,
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: I agree with you. They're probably going to be ready
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: to play. No matter who wins that game, Vincent's Lincoln
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: or Edgewood, they're probably going to be ready to play
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: you guys the following Friday.
• 17:58
  Speaker 2: Absolutely. So we, uh, we'll be prepared for it, but
• 18:01
  Speaker 2: we are laser focused on Triton central right now. Um,
• 18:05
  Speaker 2: you know, you know, it's fun. It's fun to, you know,
• 18:09
  Speaker 2: talk about these things with you and, and, and for
• 18:12
  Speaker 2: fans to talk about. Um, but we are, uh, We
• 18:16
  Speaker 2: know that the Tigers are ready for us, and, you know,
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: we're going to be laser-focused on them as well.
• 18:21
  Speaker 1: Yeah, no, and I appreciate that, Coach. I understand one
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: game at a time, and you don't want to get
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: your eye off of the ball and focus three weeks
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: from now when you've got a game that's coming up
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: here in a couple days that you've got to take
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: care of business first.
• 18:35
  Speaker 2: Absolutely, and that's the unique thing about it is the
• 18:39
  Speaker 2: playoff draw comes out, and there's still a game to play.
• 18:41
  Speaker 2: You know what I mean?
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely.
• 18:44
  Speaker 2: That, that part is, uh, is unique. And, uh, you know,
• 18:49
  Speaker 2: like I said, I think that, uh, it's good for
• 18:52
  Speaker 2: the fans. I think it's good for people in the
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: media and it's fun to talk about, but, uh, we
• 18:58
  Speaker 2: got to live in the present. So that's the only
• 19:00
  Speaker 2: thing we got.
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: No, I think you're exactly right. The way you started
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: it off saying this is like one of the best
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: times of the year right now, you still have regular season,
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: but we got their eye on the playoffs and, I
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: know it's got to be tough for some 16-, 17-,
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: 18-year-old kid to, you know, they've got to go out
• 19:17
  Speaker 1: and play on Friday night, but they're also probably very
• 19:20
  Speaker 1: excited to see what the sectional draw is going to
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: be like. But I agree with you. For us, for fans,
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: for the media, for podcasters, et cetera, that's one thing.
• 19:31
  Speaker 1: But keeping your team focused on Friday nights, your main
• 19:37
  Speaker 1: priority at this point, I get that.
• 19:39
  Speaker 2: Absolutely. That's my top job, top assignment and something that
• 19:43
  Speaker 2: we will always focus on.
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: Absolutely. And I'm sure it's a little tough at times
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: to keep them. focused on Friday night when so many
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: of these have developed into, you know, watch party or
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: selection parties that kind of can kind of override some
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: of the emotions that's going on right now and where
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: they should be. Understood.
• 20:07
  Speaker 2: And, you know, But it's fun. Like you said, go
• 20:11
  Speaker 2: have fun. Go watch it together. Go be a team.
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: I think it's a really unique thing. But the thing
• 20:17
  Speaker 2: that's fun and unique about it is when the playoffs start,
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: it doesn't matter if you're undefeated or what you've done.
• 20:24
  Speaker 2: You are zero and zero, and everyone's in, and it's
• 20:28
  Speaker 2: a fight for survival.
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: Absolutely. Absolutely. Well, Coach, I know we're getting closer on time,
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: but I'm going to ask you, like I ask you
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: almost every week, is we're going to go back and
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: focus on Friday night's game against Triton Central, 7 o'clock
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: kickoff on the road. You know, what are you looking for?
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: What's the keys to victory so you can bring home
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: that conference title Friday night?
• 20:50
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so four keys to victory is always be a team,
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: do your job, be the most physical team, be the
• 20:55
  Speaker 2: most excited team to play. You know, that will never change.
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: That will never waver. Going into that or, you know,
• 21:03
  Speaker 2: I think this is going to be the first taste
• 21:05
  Speaker 2: of football weather of the year. It's going to be
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: about 50 degrees on Friday. Feels like it's probably going
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: to be about 40 with the wind. So, you know,
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: we've got to control all those factors. We've got to
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: be able to move the chains and sustain drives. And
• 21:22
  Speaker 2: what we say is work to cut on offense and
• 21:24
  Speaker 2: work it and work it. And then those big plays
• 21:27
  Speaker 2: will happen and they'll come to us. Defensively, we want
• 21:30
  Speaker 2: to hold the fort with what we've been doing. They're
• 21:34
  Speaker 2: very multiple on offense, so we've got to be aware
• 21:37
  Speaker 2: of what they're trying to accomplish. We've got to continue
• 21:41
  Speaker 2: to dominate. It all starts up front at the line
• 21:47
  Speaker 2: of scrimmage. If we can dominate at the line of scrimmage,
• 21:50
  Speaker 2: we'll be in favorable condition. But we've also got to
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: continue to excel in special teams. You get into a
• 21:56
  Speaker 2: game where it's really windy, if you're able to pin
• 21:58
  Speaker 2: a team at the one, you know, that can be
• 22:01
  Speaker 2: a big deal. So we've got to be able to
• 22:04
  Speaker 2: take advantage of our opportunities on offense. You know, we've
• 22:06
  Speaker 2: got to be able to dominate up front defensively. And,
• 22:12
  Speaker 2: you know, special teams-wise, we've got to possess the ball,
• 22:15
  Speaker 2: create momentum, and win field position. So, you know, I
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: know they're going to try to do all those things
• 22:21
  Speaker 2: very similarly, but we've got to be able to do
• 22:24
  Speaker 2: that against good opponents.
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: Absolutely, Coach. We wish you nothing but the very best
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: come Friday night. We hope that you get the W
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: so you can bring home the conference title outright. But
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: like you said, you're going against a team that, even
• 22:42
  Speaker 1: though maybe three and five on the record books, a
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: team that you can't take for granted. And as we
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: mentioned earlier, they're probably going to look to be that spoiler.
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: Trenton Central, seven o'clock kickoff on the road. Again, we
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: wish you nothing but the very best, and most importantly,
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: we want you to stay healthy, getting ready to go
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: into sectional play in two weeks.
• 23:05
  Speaker 2: We appreciate the kind words, and we appreciate you for
• 23:08
  Speaker 2: hosting the podcast every week. So thank you for your
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: support and for following us throughout the season, and go Braves.