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Episode 6- The Great Season Start Continues! · Friday Night's At The Creek

0:15
Speaker 1: Hello, everyone, and welcome back to another edition of Friday
0:18
Speaker 1: Night at the Creeps with Coach Gooden. Coach, congratulations. Starting
0:24
Speaker 1: 4-0 has to feel real good this time of year.
0:27
Speaker 1: It does.
0:29
Speaker 2: Obviously, we're getting into the teeth of our schedule now,
0:31
Speaker 2: but can't ask for anything more than 4-0. So the
0:36
Speaker 2: best part about being 4-0 is the opportunity to go 5-0.
0:39
Speaker 2: So we're back at it, and on to the next one.
0:43
Speaker 1: Absolutely. You know, you picked up a great win, 35-0
0:46
Speaker 1: against Monrovia on the road this past Friday night. Give
0:50
Speaker 1: us your rundown, your thoughts on the Monrovia game.
0:54
Speaker 2: Yeah, weird game. It was closer than the score indicated,
1:00
Speaker 2: but hats off to our defense for pitching the shutout.
1:04
Speaker 2: Very difficult to do. Some of that, you know, there
1:10
Speaker 2: was a few drives where Monrovia just kind of got
1:13
Speaker 2: in their way down in the goal line, but our
1:15
Speaker 2: kids took advantage of it. Um, Obviously, it's on us
1:19
Speaker 2: to prevent them from scoring, but sometimes it helps, and
1:22
Speaker 2: that allows you to get to a shutout. Offensively, I
1:25
Speaker 2: felt like we were efficient with our opportunities. You only
1:28
Speaker 2: get the ball about eight times if you're going to
1:29
Speaker 2: play a Monrovia, eight if you're lucky. But the weird
1:33
Speaker 2: part of the game was that Monrovia controlled the ball
1:36
Speaker 2: for 33 out of the 48 minutes was their time
1:39
Speaker 2: of possession, and they came away with zero points. Obviously,
1:43
Speaker 2: we spent a lot of time on the field as
1:44
Speaker 2: a defense, and to give up zero points that's hard
1:47
Speaker 2: to do. So hats off to our defense and hats
1:51
Speaker 2: off to our offense for taking advantage of those opportunities when,
1:54
Speaker 2: for the, the few minutes that they had the ball and,
1:59
Speaker 2: and just being able to, you know, play ball no
2:02
Speaker 2: matter what the circumstances are.
2:04
Speaker 1: Yeah. Like you said, the offense only had the ball
2:07
Speaker 1: a few times, but it sounds like they were able
2:10
Speaker 1: to capitalize every time they had the ball. And then,
2:13
Speaker 1: as you know, anytime you have to have your defense
2:15
Speaker 1: out there, uh, too long, that just wears them out.
2:19
Speaker 1: No matter what the weather's like, it's still tough playing
2:22
Speaker 1: defense for, what, 34 minutes out of the game?
2:26
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was a lot. I think that's a testament
2:31
Speaker 2: to our kids and their ability to I think we
2:36
Speaker 2: talked about it last week. The interview will stress you
2:38
Speaker 2: mentally and physically, and the mental part is, hey, we're
2:41
Speaker 2: on play 17, and I've got to continue to play hard.
2:46
Speaker 2: It's a tough offense to face. Our D-line got cut
2:49
Speaker 2: all night, and they're allowed to do that, but that
2:51
Speaker 2: doesn't make it any more comfortable for us. It's just
2:55
Speaker 2: a game that kind of challenges your intestinal fortitude, if
2:59
Speaker 2: you will, and I think the biggest thing that we
3:03
Speaker 2: can come away from is that our kids are tough
3:05
Speaker 2: and they won't back down no matter the circumstances. And
3:09
Speaker 2: that's something that we really challenged them on this week is, Hey,
3:11
Speaker 2: you know, whether it's a grass field or, or, Hey, the,
3:17
Speaker 2: this isn't comfortable or your job isn't maybe the most
3:20
Speaker 2: glamorous this week. You still got to do it at
3:22
Speaker 2: the highest level. And I felt like our kids did that.
3:24
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely. You know, it's kind of like the saying
3:27
Speaker 1: you want to bend, but not break. And it sounds
3:29
Speaker 1: like that's exactly what the defense did at times. and
3:32
Speaker 1: hats off for them being out on the field as
3:35
Speaker 1: long as they were and, like you said, pitching that shutout.
3:40
Speaker 2: Absolutely. I think we're grateful to kind of be done
3:45
Speaker 2: with that phase of the schedule because it ended up
3:49
Speaker 2: being three of our first four games were just smash
3:52
Speaker 2: mouth football and that's okay. We'll do it. If we
3:55
Speaker 2: had to do it another five weeks, we would We
3:58
Speaker 2: would do that. But, you know, to do that three
4:01
Speaker 2: out of four weeks like that's that's that's tough. And
4:04
Speaker 2: to be four and oh coming out of it, you know,
4:06
Speaker 2: it's I'll say we've come a long ways, you know,
4:10
Speaker 2: in the last couple of years, because when I first
4:12
Speaker 2: got here, that was kind of like the boogeyman was
4:13
Speaker 2: going against offenses like that. And to be able to
4:17
Speaker 2: go toe to toe with those teams now and come
4:19
Speaker 2: out on top is a big deal.
4:21
Speaker 1: Well, you know what, uh, last week on the podcast,
4:25
Speaker 1: we talked about Monrovia going to be tough and Andy's,
4:28
Speaker 1: you know, does a wonderful job over there. And it
4:30
Speaker 1: sounds like, um, he didn't disappoint you.
4:34
Speaker 2: No. And, and they played incredibly tough. Like that it's Monrovia, man.
4:39
Speaker 2: That's just what you come to expect. And I told
4:42
Speaker 2: you they were going to have multiple two way guys
4:43
Speaker 2: and they, they did man. And, uh, it was a
4:47
Speaker 2: very tough brand of football and we didn't back down
4:50
Speaker 2: from it. Um, and it's good to be on the
4:52
Speaker 2: other side of that where teams like that are noticing or, uh, saying, Hey,
4:57
Speaker 2: any increase of physical football team and we need to
4:59
Speaker 2: be prepared for them. Um, and that was his message
5:02
Speaker 2: this week. And, you know, that's what I want to
5:04
Speaker 2: be known for culturally is our program is, Hey, we're
5:07
Speaker 2: going to be physical. We're going to, um, you know,
5:10
Speaker 2: set the tone from the get go. And that's who
5:13
Speaker 2: we are is we're going to hit you in the
5:14
Speaker 2: mouth over and over again until the whistle's blown or
5:17
Speaker 2: the clock stops.
5:18
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah. You know, it's great to be able to
5:22
Speaker 1: pull out a win like that, especially on the road
5:25
Speaker 1: and going 4-0. Coach, you know, I honestly thought this
5:31
Speaker 1: heat was over, but I understand as the time of
5:35
Speaker 1: this recording tomorrow that heat index is going to go
5:38
Speaker 1: right back up there Um, any special thoughts going into this,
5:42
Speaker 1: this week because of the heat?
5:44
Speaker 2: No, we'll, we'll keep the routine this week. Um, and
5:48
Speaker 2: I think you and I kind of talked about this
5:49
Speaker 2: a couple of weeks ago earlier in the season. It's like, Hey,
5:53
Speaker 2: let's get these reps. Let's do these things. Well, now
5:55
Speaker 2: we're in week five. Um, we've played a month of
5:58
Speaker 2: football and it's like, you know, if, if we got
6:02
Speaker 2: to miss a day with pads, um, we're going to
6:04
Speaker 2: be okay. And especially like I told you, like I
6:07
Speaker 2: don't question this team's physicality or willingness to hit or
6:12
Speaker 2: anything like that. So tomorrow, if we end up saying, Hey,
6:15
Speaker 2: we can't wear the pads and we're going to take
6:17
Speaker 2: the pads off and we're going to practice as hard
6:18
Speaker 2: as we can without pads. And we'll get plenty of
6:21
Speaker 2: really good reps, get a lot of looks. So for us,
6:24
Speaker 2: it's going to be status quo this week. If the
6:26
Speaker 2: athletic trainer decides that we need to take off the
6:29
Speaker 2: pads in order to keep our kids safe, that's exactly
6:31
Speaker 2: what we'll do. But we're going to keep our routine
6:34
Speaker 2: and try to attack this thing the best that we can.
6:37
Speaker 1: Coach, I know you're 4-0. You're starting to pick up
6:40
Speaker 1: some attentions in the rankings and moving on. Does that
6:45
Speaker 1: bother the team? Obviously, a bunch of 17-, 18-year-olds wanting
6:49
Speaker 1: to be ranked. I'm a 53-year-old guy, and if I
6:53
Speaker 1: was coaching a team, I would want to be ranked too.
6:55
Speaker 1: So it's not a young man's game only. It's for
7:01
Speaker 1: us older fans as well. But does that bother you?
7:04
Speaker 1: Does that put any– not really bother you, but does
7:07
Speaker 1: that put any constraints on you or added pressure or–
7:13
Speaker 1: stuff that you have to deal with, with the kids.
7:17
Speaker 2: So it's a mixed bag there. So any, anyone that
7:22
Speaker 2: plays or coaches wants to be the best and you
7:24
Speaker 2: want to be number one. Okay. So what, what I
7:29
Speaker 2: try to express to the kids is look, We want
7:32
Speaker 2: to be number one at the end of the year.
7:34
Speaker 2: You know, it doesn't matter, you know, because because especially
7:37
Speaker 2: especially so when I was in high school and I'm
7:41
Speaker 2: sure when you were growing up, you had the coaches
7:43
Speaker 2: poll and you had the USA Today poll. OK, now
7:47
Speaker 2: anybody with a social media account can rank anyone and
7:49
Speaker 2: everyone takes it seriously and says, oh, my God. Josh,
7:52
Speaker 2: did you see this Instagram post that has us as
7:54
Speaker 2: we're 22nd, but this one says we're third, you know,
7:59
Speaker 2: can you guys like, we don't care. It doesn't matter.
8:02
Speaker 2: Like we spot the ball. We're going to play anybody.
8:05
Speaker 2: So to a certain degree, like I try to tell
8:08
Speaker 2: our kids like, Hey, like, you know, What is the
8:11
Speaker 2: coach's poll? What is the USA Today poll? Because sometimes
8:14
Speaker 2: you get those questions as a coach where it's like,
8:17
Speaker 2: who ranks this? What is this? And the biggest thing
8:20
Speaker 2: that I tell the kids is like, and our motto
8:22
Speaker 2: is daily improvement. You know, we've only got one opponent. Like, hey,
8:25
Speaker 2: I don't care if we're ranked first. I don't care
8:27
Speaker 2: if we're ranked eighth. um we've gone up in the
8:30
Speaker 2: polls last two weeks we've been predicted to lose last
8:33
Speaker 2: two weeks so you know what i mean like right
8:37
Speaker 2: for for us and for the kids like they enjoy
8:40
Speaker 2: it but they also know like the expectation of hey
8:43
Speaker 2: we're gonna get better we've got the opponent that we
8:45
Speaker 2: have this week and if we take care of our
8:46
Speaker 2: process like we will go up in those polls but
8:49
Speaker 2: we know that the polls don't matter because we've just
8:51
Speaker 2: got to win and if you win like you're gonna
8:53
Speaker 2: get the outcome and hopefully you win 15 straight times
8:56
Speaker 2: and then you can be number one for real. But
8:59
Speaker 2: the story that I will tell them is like when
9:01
Speaker 2: we were at Lafayette Central Catholic going into the playoffs,
9:06
Speaker 2: we were ranked eighth and 1A because we had lost
9:09
Speaker 2: to two or three, three A teams. And we were
9:14
Speaker 2: the only team in the top 10 that had three losses. Well,
9:16
Speaker 2: we still knew we were going to be one of
9:17
Speaker 2: the better teams and we went on to win a
9:19
Speaker 2: state championship. Um, similar story to when we were at
9:22
Speaker 2: Decatur central in 2023 and we lost a Whiteland and Martinsville, um,
9:27
Speaker 2: and the regular season. And those two teams were not
9:30
Speaker 2: the highest ranked teams in their respective classes. Um, And
9:35
Speaker 2: we didn't sniff the top five, but we still ended
9:37
Speaker 2: up in the state championship. So it doesn't mean anything. Right.
9:42
Speaker 2: But does it give some awesome flavor to the regular
9:44
Speaker 2: season games? Absolutely. You know, we get a look at
9:47
Speaker 2: a game like this this week where USA Today polls
9:51
Speaker 2: were the fourth ranked team in the state, maybe fifth.
9:54
Speaker 2: I don't know. And TriWest is seventh. And then you
9:57
Speaker 2: look at the other one and we're seventh and eighth
9:58
Speaker 2: or whatever it is. Yeah. So I think it's just
10:01
Speaker 2: a way for... indiana high school football to say hey
10:05
Speaker 2: we got a great matchup this week um i think
10:08
Speaker 2: it's something for to get fans excited and something to
10:11
Speaker 2: debate and talk about which is awesome um but for
10:14
Speaker 2: you as that football coach it's just hey we're we're
10:17
Speaker 2: trying to win the moment we're trying to win our
10:19
Speaker 2: daily process uh and stay focused on the task at
10:22
Speaker 2: hand which was today was having a great monday and
10:24
Speaker 2: tomorrow is having an even better tuesday.
10:26
Speaker 1: Absolutely coach you're four and oh Maybe stop and reflect
10:31
Speaker 1: back on the season. Are you where you want to be?
10:35
Speaker 1: Would you rank yourself with an A, B, since we're
10:38
Speaker 1: talking about education? Where do you see the program for? Obviously,
10:43
Speaker 1: you must be feeling great about it, but I also
10:45
Speaker 1: assume that there are some areas you need to improve.
10:50
Speaker 2: Yeah, I would say... one thing that I would be
10:55
Speaker 2: proud of is the margin of victory. Um, I would
10:59
Speaker 2: say the fact that we have hit the running clock
11:02
Speaker 2: and three out of our four games, that's, that's hard
11:04
Speaker 2: to do. Um, and, and all three of those games
11:08
Speaker 2: are ball control offenses and that's difficult to do because,
11:11
Speaker 2: and I don't think people necessarily understand that in the,
11:15
Speaker 2: in the sense of like, Hey, if you go against a,
11:17
Speaker 2: a Western, a heritage Christian or a Monrovia where, um, hey,
11:21
Speaker 2: they hand the ball off and then they use the
11:23
Speaker 2: entire 40 seconds. Like that's essentially a minute that's gone.
11:27
Speaker 2: And if you go against those teams, you're going to
11:30
Speaker 2: have very limited possessions. And in general, no matter who
11:33
Speaker 2: you play, it's very difficult to get a running clock
11:35
Speaker 2: before the half. Two of those three games, we got
11:38
Speaker 2: them in the first half. And in the last one,
11:40
Speaker 2: we got it in the fourth quarter. So I think
11:43
Speaker 2: those things are, you know, and you're looking for those
11:48
Speaker 2: details to improve upon. Sure. But I think being able
11:51
Speaker 2: to achieve goals like that is really good. Um, I
11:54
Speaker 2: also look at the Greenwood game and say, Hey, you know,
11:56
Speaker 2: that was the largest margin of victory we've ever had
11:58
Speaker 2: against Greenwood. Um, and then they turned around and beat
12:01
Speaker 2: a good Speedway team 50 to 21 the next week.
12:04
Speaker 2: Like those are things that, you know, comparatively speaking, look good. Right. Um,
12:09
Speaker 2: as far as improving, um, I, and I talked about
12:14
Speaker 2: it last week and I challenged the kids on it
12:15
Speaker 2: this week. I felt like we did a better job of, um,
12:19
Speaker 2: when we had Monrovia kind of just when we kind
12:22
Speaker 2: of circled the wagons on them, um, we pounced on
12:25
Speaker 2: them and didn't let them off the mat. I thought
12:26
Speaker 2: we did a better job of that this week. Uh,
12:29
Speaker 2: things that I want to see us continue to improve
12:31
Speaker 2: upon is putting that full game together, um, trying to,
12:35
Speaker 2: you know, we talk about complimentary football where, Hey, offense
12:41
Speaker 2: is clicking and the defense is clicking and the special teams, like,
12:45
Speaker 2: is it feeding off of each other? You know, Hey,
12:47
Speaker 2: let's create a turnover and go score. Let's, let's punt
12:52
Speaker 2: the ball down to the one and recreate great field position.
12:56
Speaker 2: Those are all things that we're looking to constantly get
12:58
Speaker 2: better at. Do I think we've done a bad job
13:00
Speaker 2: of that? No, absolutely not. But I think you're constantly
13:04
Speaker 2: trying to get that complimentary football of a All three
13:09
Speaker 2: phases are just feeding off of each other. And then
13:12
Speaker 2: you get a feeding frenzy and then it's on, you know.
13:15
Speaker 2: But but those things improve throughout the season. You know,
13:19
Speaker 2: you can't can't microwave ribs, man. You know, you got
13:22
Speaker 2: to have that.
13:23
Speaker 1: That's right.
13:24
Speaker 2: You got to have that process, you know, of because
13:27
Speaker 2: you can't simulate high school football games. You know, there's
13:30
Speaker 2: only so many things that you can. you know, go
13:33
Speaker 2: through in a practice. And then all of a sudden
13:34
Speaker 2: it's like, boom, you're playing games and then you have
13:36
Speaker 2: all these things to fix and games. And, you know,
13:38
Speaker 2: how do you get to those different things in the
13:41
Speaker 2: game to what you want to improve upon? But when
13:43
Speaker 2: you got a veteran group, you know, like we do,
13:45
Speaker 2: it's helpful that they have the experience and, you know,
13:49
Speaker 2: some of those things take care of themselves because they've
13:51
Speaker 2: already made those mistakes in the past or they've learned
13:54
Speaker 2: or seen other people do it. So.
13:56
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Coach, before we shift gears and talk
13:59
Speaker 1: about Tri-West Hendricks, thoughts on the JV?
14:04
Speaker 2: Give them a, and they had a great day. So
14:06
Speaker 2: JV had a great game on a Saturday morning. I
14:10
Speaker 2: believe they won somewhere around like 49 to 20. Um,
14:14
Speaker 2: it was a crazy game, but, um, they, they had
14:18
Speaker 2: a great Saturday and we're great energy. I thought they
14:20
Speaker 2: did a fantastic job. Um, and then the freshmen went
14:23
Speaker 2: and competed against five, a Bloomington South, um, and highest
14:27
Speaker 2: scoring game, um, Bloomington South did pull away, but our
14:30
Speaker 2: kids competed their butts off, um, I believe the final
14:33
Speaker 2: score was around, uh, 56 to 28. Uh, but just
14:38
Speaker 2: to go over to Bloomington South as a first year
14:40
Speaker 2: program with the freshman team and go against their freshman program,
14:43
Speaker 2: like really proud of our kids for competing. Um, you know,
14:47
Speaker 2: they've done a great job. Our coaching staff specifically, uh,
14:51
Speaker 2: coach Butler and coach Heiner have done such a great job. Um,
14:55
Speaker 2: just working with those freshmen. My job has kind of
14:58
Speaker 2: been more to schedule the games, but the way that
15:00
Speaker 2: those guys are just coaching those kids and allowing them
15:04
Speaker 2: to get reps and not just stand on the sideline
15:06
Speaker 2: has just been so critical. And it's funny because last
15:10
Speaker 2: year we had so many kids on the sideline at JV.
15:12
Speaker 2: And now it's like, Hey, we got like 25 at
15:14
Speaker 2: JV and 25 at freshmen. And you just get kids
15:18
Speaker 2: that are, they all have to play. And I mean,
15:20
Speaker 2: to get those reps and to get better, it's just
15:22
Speaker 2: a great thing for everyone in my opinion.
15:24
Speaker 1: Oh, I totally agree with you. I'm a big believer
15:27
Speaker 1: that JV and freshmen is about making varsity better and
15:31
Speaker 1: getting the reps. Yes, you would love to go 10-0,
15:35
Speaker 1: whatever that schedule is. But to me, it's less about
15:38
Speaker 1: that and more about getting, like you said, the reps
15:41
Speaker 1: and prepping for Friday nights.
15:44
Speaker 2: And to send a group of kids over to Bloomington South,
15:48
Speaker 2: that's the number one team in 5A right now. And
15:50
Speaker 2: they always have a freshman team and they've got a
15:52
Speaker 2: full staff. And then to go over there and just compete, man.
15:58
Speaker 2: We knew that was a tall task, but to go
16:00
Speaker 2: over there and, hey, we're going to present ourselves well
16:03
Speaker 2: and go get after them and win. play at the
16:06
Speaker 2: highest level we can. Just proud of that group and
16:10
Speaker 2: then proud of the JV for rolling. You know, I
16:13
Speaker 2: had a really good day. Had some guys playing out
16:15
Speaker 2: of position because it's JV and there's always people playing
16:18
Speaker 2: out of position. But just a really good Saturday, Saturday
16:23
Speaker 2: morning for us.
16:24
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely. In plus going, you know, playing Bloomington school
16:28
Speaker 1: kind of gives you a feel for where you are
16:30
Speaker 1: as a program. Yeah.
16:32
Speaker 2: And, and I think, you know, it's one thing to
16:35
Speaker 2: only play small schools and do different things, but then
16:38
Speaker 2: to get exposed to what that could look like and
16:41
Speaker 2: go into classes higher and still saying, Hey, like we don't,
16:44
Speaker 2: we don't care how big your school is. We're going
16:47
Speaker 2: to show up and compete. I think that sets a
16:49
Speaker 2: cultural standard for us and allows us to continue to
16:52
Speaker 2: build on, build up for what we're trying to build
16:55
Speaker 2: in the future as well. Absolutely.
16:57
Speaker 1: Well, congratulations to the JV for the win and congratulations
17:01
Speaker 1: to the freshman team for being competitive and, and really
17:05
Speaker 1: starting to make their mark in the next four years. Absolutely. Yeah. So, Coach,
17:12
Speaker 1: now let's kind of turn our attention to Friday night.
17:15
Speaker 1: It's a home game against Tri-West. I believe they're 3-1.
17:22
Speaker 1: And I believe they also played Monrovia a couple weeks
17:25
Speaker 1: ago and won that game as well. Kind of your
17:29
Speaker 1: thoughts going into Friday night.
17:31
Speaker 2: Yeah, so... big matchup in the HLC, um, or the
17:37
Speaker 2: last two undefeated teams in the conference. They have lost
17:40
Speaker 2: to Evansville rights. They made the long trip down there, um,
17:43
Speaker 2: on a Saturday morning. Um, the biggest name that you'll
17:47
Speaker 2: know or see from tri West is, uh, Jack Sorge. Uh,
17:50
Speaker 2: dad was a long time quarterback with the Colts. Um,
17:54
Speaker 2: and he's going to Wisconsin just like dad, uh, talented quarterback, uh,
18:00
Speaker 2: he can distribute the ball. Um, he's got guys that
18:03
Speaker 2: are playmakers on the perimeter. Uh, so offensively, you know,
18:07
Speaker 2: you're going to see an offense that's very willing to
18:10
Speaker 2: spread it out, get it to their playmakers. Um, obviously,
18:14
Speaker 2: you know, we've gone against a lot of run heavy teams,
18:16
Speaker 2: Greenwood spread it out a little bit. Um, more than
18:20
Speaker 2: most teams. Um, but what I will tell you is like,
18:23
Speaker 2: this team is very, very willing to pass the football. Um, and, uh,
18:28
Speaker 2: we saw them last year and they beat us in
18:30
Speaker 2: a phenomenal game, um, came down to the last play. Um,
18:34
Speaker 2: and then defensively, you know, they, uh, They fly around
18:39
Speaker 2: out there. They get to their looks. They do a
18:41
Speaker 2: good job. The one thing that I'll tell you that
18:44
Speaker 2: is going to be different about this game compared to
18:46
Speaker 2: the other ones is depth-wise, you know, it's going to
18:50
Speaker 2: be very, very similar in the fact that, hey, there's
18:53
Speaker 2: not going to be as many two-way players as maybe
18:55
Speaker 2: there has been in other matchups for us. So it's
18:59
Speaker 2: going to be pretty evenly matched, similar size schools, two
19:03
Speaker 2: programs that are having really good years. And, you know,
19:07
Speaker 2: think really highly of the talent that they have over there.
19:11
Speaker 2: Should be a really competitive game.
19:14
Speaker 1: Yeah, we kind of talked a little bit earlier. Depending
19:16
Speaker 1: on which pool you're looking at, both of you are ranked.
19:20
Speaker 1: That brings a little bit more atmosphere to the game.
19:23
Speaker 1: And I'm sure your players are going to be ready
19:26
Speaker 1: to go in that environment. There's nothing like a big
19:29
Speaker 1: game in terms of that. And obviously... With two undefeated teams,
19:35
Speaker 1: that's also going to be the conference matchup of the week. Absolutely.
19:44
Speaker 2: And I think that what I tell the kids is like,
19:48
Speaker 2: you've worked for this. like you've you put in the
19:51
Speaker 2: time and effort for people to be excited to watch
19:54
Speaker 2: you play football right it's it's awesome like take it
19:57
Speaker 2: all on enjoy it um but ultimately it's another high
20:01
Speaker 2: school football game absolutely and we don't have to you
20:06
Speaker 2: know get outside of our minds or feel like hey
20:08
Speaker 2: we need to turn into the hulk in order to
20:10
Speaker 2: you know go win this thing Um, we've got to
20:13
Speaker 2: do the same four things that we pride ourselves on
20:16
Speaker 2: for our keys to victory. And that's be a team,
20:18
Speaker 2: do our job, be the most physical team and be
20:20
Speaker 2: the most exciting team to play. Um, if we accomplish
20:22
Speaker 2: those four things, the outcome will take care of itself. Um,
20:26
Speaker 2: but we've got to accomplish those goals, um, and just
20:30
Speaker 2: go through our process, man. Like it, we've shown that
20:34
Speaker 2: our process works. Um, and we're going to go take
20:37
Speaker 2: this thing day by day, um, segment by segment. And, uh,
20:41
Speaker 2: we're going to give it every single thing that we have.
20:44
Speaker 1: It's also got to feel good to be, uh, taking
20:47
Speaker 1: this type of game at home. Oh yeah.
20:51
Speaker 2: I mean, like I told you earlier on, you know, it's,
20:54
Speaker 2: it's called home for a reason. Um, and, And it but,
20:58
Speaker 2: you know, we went to their place last year and
21:01
Speaker 2: they've got an awesome environment. And so do we. But
21:06
Speaker 2: to me, like and I know I've talked about this
21:09
Speaker 2: a lot in the last couple of years. The Hoosier
21:11
Speaker 2: Legends Conference just opened you up to big game reps, man,
21:15
Speaker 2: big game environments. And that's kind of the thing that
21:17
Speaker 2: I preach to our kids is like, yeah, we want
21:19
Speaker 2: to win this game. And, you know. all the feelings
21:23
Speaker 2: that everyone feels that big time, regular season football game,
21:26
Speaker 2: but you join a conference like this to get big
21:27
Speaker 2: game reps for when you go to the post season
21:30
Speaker 2: and you want to try to win something meaningful, not
21:33
Speaker 2: that a conference championship isn't meaningful, but if you're not
21:37
Speaker 2: getting big game reps and big game environments, how are
21:39
Speaker 2: you going to handle a regional?
21:41
Speaker 1: Right.
21:41
Speaker 2: How are you going to handle, how are you going
21:43
Speaker 2: to handle whatever, you know, and I go back to
21:48
Speaker 2: when I was at Decatur central and you'd play a
21:49
Speaker 2: new pal, or you'd play Whiteland, or you'd play Plainfield, whoever.
21:59
Speaker 2: But you go to those places, and it needs to
22:01
Speaker 2: be rowdy. At Lafayette Central Catholic, we'd go to Rensselaer
22:04
Speaker 2: Central for homecoming, and they were on top of you,
22:07
Speaker 2: and they wanted to let you have it, probably because
22:09
Speaker 2: it was a Catholic school, but still. I love it.
22:13
Speaker 2: But you need those reps, man, and you need to
22:16
Speaker 2: be able to experience those environments and that pressure to perform.
22:19
Speaker 2: So when you get out there, you're ready to go
22:21
Speaker 2: in October, November.
22:23
Speaker 1: That's right. No, you're exactly right, Coach. If you want
22:26
Speaker 1: to play in late November, you've got to be prepared.
22:28
Speaker 1: And every game is just going to be bigger and
22:34
Speaker 1: bigger along the way. And you've got to be, like
22:36
Speaker 1: you said, prepared and ready to handle that.
22:39
Speaker 2: Absolutely. It's not pressure. We don't view it as pressure.
22:46
Speaker 2: It's not pressure. It's just that you're going against another
22:48
Speaker 2: good team and your margins are going to be thinner
22:50
Speaker 2: and you've got to perform. That's not pressure. That's just
22:53
Speaker 2: doing your job. We've got to be able to do
22:56
Speaker 2: our job. They're going to do things well. That's okay.
23:02
Speaker 2: They're allowed to do that. They watch film. They've got
23:04
Speaker 2: good players. We've got to be able to have answers
23:07
Speaker 2: for that and be ready to respond.
23:09
Speaker 1: Absolutely. Coach, I noticed that you've got a three-game home
23:13
Speaker 1: streak that's going to be Tri-West this Friday night, then Shelbyville,
23:19
Speaker 1: and then Speedway before going on the road to end
23:23
Speaker 1: up the season, Beachwood and Tritton Central. Thoughts on that?
23:29
Speaker 2: Yeah. Three consecutive at home is awesome until it's next year.
23:34
Speaker 2: So we'll enjoy it this year. We're doing this podcast
23:42
Speaker 2: this time next year. You're going to be asking the
23:44
Speaker 2: same question and be like, well, but you know, we'll
23:49
Speaker 2: take those three consecutive home games. It's kind of nice
23:53
Speaker 2: because the last year pretty much fall break. So we
23:56
Speaker 2: probably wouldn't have the biggest crowd anyway. So it's nice
23:58
Speaker 2: to be able to get those three games in before
24:01
Speaker 2: fall break. But, you know, those are three good games
24:05
Speaker 2: to have at home, but the last two road games,
24:07
Speaker 2: like those are going to be tough ones too. Like,
24:10
Speaker 2: Triton Central and Beach Grove have both won games at
24:14
Speaker 2: our conference against good opponents. So we're going to have
24:16
Speaker 2: to be prepared for that. Is it nice to have
24:19
Speaker 2: these three at home? Yeah, it is. But like I
24:22
Speaker 2: told you, we're getting into the teeth of the schedule,
24:24
Speaker 2: and we're going to earn every single thing from here
24:25
Speaker 2: on out, whether it's home or on the road.
24:27
Speaker 1: Well, and then, you know, the farther you go into
24:29
Speaker 1: the playoffs, you're going to be playing on the road
24:32
Speaker 1: each week. So some of those away games are going
24:35
Speaker 1: to be good preparations.
24:38
Speaker 2: Absolutely. So those will be good environments as well. And
24:43
Speaker 2: like you said, you know, the fact that we can
24:45
Speaker 2: go and play on the road and do those different
24:46
Speaker 2: things is a great thing.
24:49
Speaker 1: Absolutely. Coach, I know we're getting here close on time,
24:51
Speaker 1: but I'm going to give you the last words before
24:55
Speaker 1: we wrap this episode up.
24:57
Speaker 2: Yeah, looking towards another great week. Obviously, you know, looking
25:01
Speaker 2: forward to the matchup this week with TriWest Homecoming. That's
25:06
Speaker 2: always a big crowd for us. And it's always great
25:08
Speaker 2: to get some alums, fans back on campus. You know,
25:13
Speaker 2: we're excited. Obviously, you know, big time matchup this week
25:17
Speaker 2: between ranked teams. But we've got to follow our plan
25:20
Speaker 2: and get better every single day. And the process will
25:24
Speaker 2: take care of itself. So we're not chasing an outcome.
25:27
Speaker 2: We're just trying to get better every single day. And
25:29
Speaker 2: I feel like if we continue on that process, ultimately
25:32
Speaker 2: we'll end up where we want to be. So we've
25:34
Speaker 2: got to keep our mindset and mentality the same. try
25:37
Speaker 2: to win every moment this week, try to win every,
25:40
Speaker 2: you know, individual session or team session at practice, and
25:43
Speaker 2: try to stack that up. And I feel like if
25:46
Speaker 2: we are, you know, with that mindset and that mentality,
25:49
Speaker 2: we'll set ourselves up for an opportunity to have success
25:51
Speaker 2: on Friday.
25:52
Speaker 1: Absolutely. Well, Coach, we wish you nothing but the very best.
25:55
Speaker 1: This coming Friday night, September the 18th, 7 p.m. kickoff
26:00
Speaker 1: against Tri-West. Homecoming, and it's a home game, as you said. Coach,
26:07
Speaker 1: Congratulations for the 4-0, and hopefully you can add on
26:10
Speaker 1: to that to go 5-0 this week. But we wish
26:13
Speaker 1: you nothing but the best, and stay healthy out there.
26:16
Speaker 2: Thanks, Doug. Go Braves.