Authors: Jason B. Osoff
For the next five weeks, I was
stuck in the same rut. As a starter, I was constantly held up. I wasn’t
getting the statistics I knew I needed to even be considered by a major college
recruiter. Recruiters were constantly coming to our games, but they were
always there for Mike. The table was pretty much set for me; I was a starter,
I was a captain, recruits were coming to our games, but I couldn’t even produce
1 tackle in a five game span. Knowing that nothing would change no matter what
I did, I tried something new.
It was week nine and we were
getting ready to face our rivals at West Whitaker. Because we hosted the game
the previous season, it was their turn to host that year. After the coach made
his usual starting announcements, I pulled him to the side and explained my
plan to him. Like I said, I had nothing to lose.
In five weeks of practice, Trevor
had been constantly working on his defensive skills. He was still struggling,
but he had come a long way. His skills were increasing, and his speed and
strength continued to increase as well. The coach and I both agreed that I was
creating a gap in our opponent’s offensive line by getting double-teamed. The
problem was, whoever found the gap seemed to lack the athletic ability needed
to get to the ball carrier in time. It made sense to put Trevor somewhere in
the defensive line. With his speed, he would be able to find, and get through,
the gap. Once in the backfield, he would be able to use his strength to take
down whoever had the ball. With any luck, West Whitaker would realize that
they couldn’t leave him open as well, and would possibly call off their double
team on me. The coach pondered my plan, then a few minutes later, we had a
change in the starting defensive line.
During practice the next day, I
discussed my plan with the new defensive starter. I explained that his job was
to find the gap, get in there as quickly as possible, and tackle the ball carrier
as often as possible. Trevor really liked the idea because he would be able to
put his hard work during practice to good use. It would be up to him to change
our defensive scheme. Selfishly, I also knew it would be up to him to
eliminate my double team problem and put my recruiting chances in a better
spot.
On Friday, we were introduced at
another pep rally in the gym. Students were decked out in their aqua and dark
purple colors. The crowd was intense. We were in a position to give the
school their first back-to-back undefeated season and were on our way to the
playoffs. Quickly, my excitement was replaced by panic. I discovered that it
was my job as a captain to talk to the student body on behalf of the team.
The last home game of the regular
season had a mix of emotions. For us seniors, that game would be our last
regular season game. We were also the visiting team in a matchup against our
rival school and we were clearly not welcomed. We were one game away from an
undefeated season. We were also one game away from an intense playoff run.
Personally, I was even more emotionally invested because I knew that game would
be my last chance to impress the scouts during the regular season, and I would
have to rely heavily on my newly formed plan.
Mike and I got the team together
one last time before the game started. I reminded them how important the game
was, and how hard we worked to get to where we were. Although the Wolves
weren’t undefeated, they would surely love being responsible for our only
loss. Our team heard the message and continued to build excitement and energy
until we all shouted in unison “Go East Whit”
Even though West Whitaker was a 30
minute drive, we still had a big section of fans with us. Even cowbell guy and
the adult cheerleader made the trek. With the crowd behind us, and our rival
across from us, we were ready for war. During the coin flip, we decided to
kick off so that we would have the ball to start the second half. That meant
our defense would be on the field first and my new plan would take place right
away.
Play began. I was on the left side
of the defensive line, while my secret weapon was on the right side. West
Whitaker always started their games with a run play, so we were expecting one that
time. As the ball was snapped, the tackle and the guard both came at me. I
tried hard to fight them off, but realized that they were their strongest
linemen. That worked out to our advantage because that meant the tackle
guarding Trevor was one of their weakest linemen. That explained why he fell
down hard once pushed. With nothing but the ball carrier in front of him,
Trevor not only caught the running back, but he hit him so hard that the ball
popped out and onto the ground. West Whitaker was not expecting this and thus,
not prepared. They were expecting one of our defenders to be in the area, but
they weren’t expecting our future all-state offensive tackle to be nose-to-nose
with their running back.
They were able to recover the
fumble, but they were not able to recover their offensive scheme. With the new
twist in the defensive line, they had to either make a quick adjustment, or
face that stud defender every time. As was expected, their quick change led to
a release of the double team. It was like fixing a hole on a boat with a
patch, only to discover another hole and fixing the secondary hole by ripping
the initial patch in half. And, just like with a smaller patch on a bigger
hole, it wasn’t long before I was able to burst through the offensive line.
With two strong defensive ends, we were able to return to the original
defensive threat that we had displayed in the first two games of the season.
Selfishly, I wanted to credit our
victory to my game plan. Once they had to change their offensive plan of
attack, they were never able to recover. I was able to get 4 tackles, while
Trevor got 3 of his own. The truth was, however, that with as many points as
our offense put on the scoreboard, West Whitaker didn’t stand a chance - no
matter what their offensive plan was. That game gave our school its first
back-to-back
undefeated season in school history, and it put our team in a nice place for
the playoffs. For me, that game gave me the confidence that I needed as a
player, and gave my recruiting hopes another shot at life.
I took the momentum from the
previous week and used it during our playoff run. The first week of practices
during the playoffs felt like a whole new season. Due to my slump, I had not
been looking forward to playing our Friday night games during the regular
season. Who would, after working so hard all week long to end up with no
tackles? But once I saw how effective our new defensive plan was, I had life
again. Our new defensive end was relieving the pressure I was facing, which
allowed me to feel like I could make a difference. During the practices, I
knew I was capable of a great game at the end of the week so I pushed even
harder to see it through.
It didn’t take long to see of the
effectiveness of the defensive change. For the second week in a row, I was
able to play like myself again. Just like last year, we knew we would be
facing a soft opponent in the upcoming playoff because the state athletic
association typically paired the best records against the worst for the first
game. Since we didn’t lose a game all season, we were playing against a team
who barely made it to the playoffs. We still played like it was do or die for
us, though. I ended up with a personal best 7 tackles for loss in that blowout;
4 of those came from tackling the quarterback. Mike didn’t have quite the game
I had, though. The coach wanted to try different plays, and wanted to see how
different players handled the pressure of the playoffs, so he used that first
game to observe both. Mike managed to break 100 yards, but his only touchdown
came from a kickoff return.
During practice in the second round
of playoffs, the coach wanted to try something new. We were going to continue
working on new plays that we hadn’t used during the regular season. For some
of those to work, Mike had to go from running back to receiver. Needless to
say, his catching ability was nowhere near his running ability. To make up for
that, rather than running all week in practice, the coach had him practice
catching. Mike didn’t just play catch with one of the quarterbacks; he had to
practice catching the ball while running plays, while running backwards, and
even while running with his back to the quarterback. It was ugly to watch at
first, but it gradually got better.
Although Mike practiced all week,
he wasn’t used to catch the ball at all during the game. I’m pretty sure this
had something to do with his lack of talent at catching. His talent at
running, however, continued to improve as he scored 3 touchdowns. I didn’t
have as many tackles as I did the previous week, but my tackle streak did
continue. Trevor was able to add a couple of tackles as our defense kept their
entire offense under 100 total yards. That was probably one of the best victories
for our defense. Not only did we stop them from scoring, but we also stopped
them from gaining much yardage. Whatever we were doing was working and needed
to continue.
We weren’t as lucky during the
third round of playoffs, as the team we were matched against was able to score
4 touchdowns. We tried our hardest to prepare for that team because we knew
they had one of the best quarterbacks in the state, but clearly we weren’t as
prepared as we should’ve been. Luckily, their defense wasn’t as good as their
offense. That game turned into a shootout, giving a victory to the team that
scored last. Because of a great coach with great time management, we were the
team that had the ball last.
That win put us into the
semi-finals for the second year in a row. The nerves went away, but the
excitement did not. We knew what to expect from that game, but we also knew
that that game was the only thing between us and the finals. We kept our cool
though, and kept our heads in the game. Even when we struggled in the first
half, we stuck to our game plan of letting Mike run all over the other team,
and using our talented receivers to relieve some of the pressure. We also
stuck with our strong defensive line that moved like a college football line.
Although we went into the locker room losing at halftime, we continued to play
like we had played all year. We knew what we were capable of, and we knew that
no team could stop us from scoring the 2 touchdowns we would need to win the
game. Surprisingly, both of those touchdowns came from our receivers. Our
defense stopped our opponents from scoring during the second half, and Mike’s
punt return towards the end of the game sealed the victory for us.
On the way home from that game,
there was a lot for the team to be excited about. We had just spent four weeks
sticking to our game plan and beating some of the best teams in the state. We
were only one of two teams left in the playoffs. A lot of us felt that we
played better as a team that year than we had the previous season. Even though
we squeaked by on two of those games, we never gave up and played as a solid
team. But there was also a lot to be nervous about. The previous year, we
made it to the same point. However, that was as far as we got. We faced a team
that was bigger, faster, and stronger than us, and they knew our game plan.
Unfortunately, we would have to play against that same team again. They were
even bigger, even faster, and even stronger than the previous year, and our
game plan hadn’t changed much since the last time they saw us. Our players
were more talented than the previous year, but would that be enough to beat
those guys? The one thing I was really curious about was why Mike was working
on catching the ball for an entire month during practice, but never lined up as
a receiver during the playoff games. My answer came a few hours later.
As we got off the bus, the coach
again pulled the two of us into his office; this time to talk about the
upcoming championship game. The coach felt the same way I did. Although our
guys grew, theirs did too. He even watched some of their highlights from
previous games that season on the way back from the semi-final game and noticed
that they were running the same plays as the previous year; the same plays that
sent us home as losers. But we did have one advantage that no one was
expecting, not even our own players.
During the playoffs, the coach was
trying to come up with a way to secretly change our game plan without telling
anyone. He knew that if we tried anything out of the ordinary during the
playoff games, the defending state champions would pick up on it and would
expect it during the finals. He also didn’t want to spend practice time
preparing for the championship game because he wanted our team to concentrate
on the playoffs, one game at a time. That meant he only had a few weeks to
come up with a new plan and only one week to try it out. He wanted my help as
the defensive captain to help with the defense plan, and Mike’s help as an
offensive captain to work with the offensive plan. The plans weren’t a major
change, but were enough to throw off a team - even a defending state
championship team.
Offensively, the other team would
be used to Mike as a running back. They knew our offense revolved around him,
and shutting him down would shut down our scoring. What they wouldn’t expect
was a different running back. While Mike was practicing catching, another
running back was taking his place. Rather than being a speedy runner, the new
guy was a big bruiser that was hard to take down. The new offense would
consist of a running back that the opponent wouldn’t be expecting and a new
receiver with quick speed. After having improved on his catching, we knew Mike
would be hard to beat; once he caught the ball, no one would catch him.
Defensively, the other team was
used to the strength, size, and speed of our defensive ends. They would
probably put their big, strong guys opposite from us to defend against us.
That would put their weaker guys in the middle of the offensive line. They
would also probably plan on running up the middle, through our soft defensive
tackles, because that was the weak point of our defensive line. The new plan
called for switching our defensive ends with our defensive tackles, putting us
across from the quarterback. By the time the offense realized what we were
doing, they would have to completely change their play calls, and their
assignments, during the game. The state finals was not a game where a coach would
want to do that.
We spent the entire week working on
the new plan. Not only did everyone master it, they loved it. The new running
back felt comfortable because he had practiced for so long as a starter. Mike loved
the receiver position because it gave him a new, creative way to score
touchdowns. We loved it on the defensive line because we kept the initial plan
of tackling the guy with the ball, but it put Trevor and I next to each other
and turned us into an immovable force. I personally loved the fact that, for
most of the season, I was double teamed and couldn’t get past the line of
scrimmage. That week in practice, I was the one doing the double teaming, and
was able to get past the line of scrimmage every time. I was starting to feel
bad for our quarterback getting hit so often.
Just like with the previous year,
the entire town of East Whitaker was proud of us. They hung school flags on
most of their businesses, and most of the streets were decorated with our
school colors. Even though we had already been there once, we were still
representing the county on the state’s biggest stage. The town was ready to
support us, win or lose, and was proud at the fact that we were in the finals
for the second year in a row; a feat that had never been accomplished at East
Whitaker. We had higher expectations than the citizens of East Whitaker,
though. They didn’t know about our team’s secret. We felt that with our new
game plan, we would be coming home winners, and we would be bringing back with
us the State of Michigan Football Championship Trophy; a trophy that has never
crossed the Becker County line before.