9/3/10
| Noun | 1. | measuring stick - measuring instrument having a sequence of marks at regular intervals; used as a reference in making measurements |
Week two of the high school football season was a measuring stick for the Galesburg Silver Streaks and Morton Potters football programs. Galesburg handled an infant varsity program from Chicago Academy, 57-0, in week one. Morton handled Normal U-High with a four-headed monster of sorts in the Potters backfield. Here was the gauge for each team, in what seemed to be a pair of teams evenly matched.
I arrived extra early, and it was my first time broadcasting an event from Morton High School. My first two hours at MHS are in the previous blog entry. My pregame show began right around 7:00 and I spoke with sophomore coach Jake Miller to confirm availability on the pregame show. Then, I fired off the pregame interviews with coach Wes Olson (recorded after Thursday's practice) and Morton's Jason Thiry.
As the interviews were rolling, I spotted Western Illinois University head football coach Mark Hendrickson on the track in front of the Galesburg bleachers. I ran down and spoke with him for a couple minutes. I got to know Mark real well in my days of broadcasting Macomb Bombers athletics when his sons, Myers and Davis, played. Myers now plays for the Leathernecks after transferring from Ivy League school, Cornell. Davis plays baseball at the University of Illinois. WIU won their season opener on Thursday night at Hanson Field, defeating Valparaiso, 45-0. It was the first head coaching win as the official Leathernecks head coach, after stints as an acting head coach and late last season as the interim head coach. WIU is courting the services of Silver Streak lineman Ryan "Pudge" Ricketts.
My guest announcer, Arnie Gonzalez was arriving, and he was ribbing Streaks assistant football coaches Jake Miller and Brad Swanson about their fantasy football league. Miller joined us on the pregame show, and talked about the sophomores still waiting to play their season opener, while the freshman just finished their second game of the season. Galesburg sophomores host Morton on Saturday. The Streaks didn't get a game in against Chicago Academy, because that school didn't feel they had a team that could compete just yet.
The first quarter was pretty ugly, with a total of three fumbles lost. Morton coughed up the football twice, and Galesburg once. The Silver Streaks were controlling the line of scrimmage, and did so all game, except the final drive by Morton late in the fourth quarter.
Galesburg rushed for 280 yards on 52 carries (5.4 yards/carry) through the duration. Quarterback Andrew Steck had 105 yards on 14 carries and a touchdown, while Robert Jackson had 104 yards on 23 carries and a touchdown. Travon Diggins rushed for 62 yards on 12 rushes.
Morton's Tristan Papadzuik was a monster on the Potters' final drive of the game, in which they just marched down field on a tired Galesburg defense. The senior fullback rushed for 57 yards on 9 carries in that last drive that iced the game for Morton, 13-12. Papadzuik finished with 92 yards of rushing.
I felt the Galesburg defense controlled the game, except for that last drive. The only scores by the Potters came from long runs. Speedsters D.J. Zahn (69 yard run) and Fernandez Bjork (59 yard run) rushed for the only scores by the Potters.
One thing I don't like to do is question an official's call, but I would like to know why there was no measurement in the second half of a Galesburg drive in Morton territory that stalled inside the Potters 25-yard line. On 3rd and 1 at the Morton 25-yard line, the Streaks were apparently stopped short. There was a measurement, no first down and it became 4th and 1. The next running play by the Streaks was stopped for a minimal gain, but less than a yard was needed for the first down. From my vantage point, it looked like the ball was placed closer, between the 24 and 25-yard line this time. There was a measurement on 3rd and 1....but not on 4th and 1 from even closer.
The game closed out to be exactly what was expected....a pure ground assault and two teams about as even as they come. Morton improves to 2-0, while Galesburg falls to 1-1.
In the postgame show, I posed a question to defensive coordinator Shawn Hickey. These kinds of interviews are always tough! One question I wanted to pose was how Hickey managed his defense on that final drive, and what some of the strategies were. During the broadcast, I posed a question to Arnie Gonzalez if the Streaks should give up a quick touchdown in a one-point game with almost 90 seconds still remaining. The Morton offense had been running at will through the Galesburg defense on this particular drive. If Morton scores, it's a seven point game. It backfires if the two-point conversion would be good (9-point game), but if not it's either a seven point game, or an eight-point game if a P.A.T. kick goes through the uprights.
Sticking with the allow the touchdown theory, Morton can do one of two things if their lead stays at seven or eight points. They kick deep, though they are kicking against a 15 mph wind, or most likely, they squib kick. For Galesburg, they have big play threats on special teams in Travon Diggins (returned an 88-yard kick for a TD last week) and Robert Jackson. On a squib, the Streaks (if they recover) work with a short field, and minimal time runs off the clock.
Or....does the defense regain that early game fire and hold the Potters to a four-and-out, or a field goal attempt (against that strong wind). The offense would have to run a long, long field with no timeouts....but would have that strong wind at their back.
I knew this would be a tough question to ask Hickey in the postgame show, and knew what his answer would be as a defense guy. I asked him the question, if it was even considered that his defense allow a quick touchdown to get the offense back on the field. He said it was mentioned on the sideline, but he put a nix on it as soon as the words came out. Hickey commented, "what does it teach a group of 16 & 17 year old kids to give up a touchdown like that?" I found that to be a great answer, and a great lesson to this group of Galesburg Silver Streaks.
It's only the second/third week of the football season, but I would campaign for Shawn Hickey to become the next Galesburg Silver Streaks head football coach (Wes Olson is taking an administrative position at District 205, and announced he will resign at the conclusion of the 2010 football season). Hickey is a great leader and motivator for these Streaks. I don't even know if he is even considering throwing his name into the ring at the end of the season, but hopefully he does.
After the game, I had an interesting incident occur while packing up the equipment. In the visiting press box, I was gathering all of my equipment, as were the WGIL broadcasters (Brad Bennewitz and Jim Lee), when a groundskeeper entered and shut one of the windows, and then stood over us. Obviously, he was waiting for us, so he could lock up. Understandably, I know he wants to get out of there just as fast as we do. It was a comment that he made that stirred me up a bit. "You know guys, I'm waiting on you, so I can get home." Without hesitation I responded, "You could give us a hand, and we can all get home quicker." He replied, "I've got enough work to do already, but thanks for the offer." If we were just standing around talking, that would be one thing, but we were not. We were the ones that had a one-hour drive to make before we got home, and standing around in a press box was not on the top of my priority list.
It just wasn't my night in Morton, LOL. After gassing up and missing my exit (I thought I was on a different street), I noticed a police car in my rear view mirror, inching closer and closer. Sure enough, blue berries and cherries light up the night sky in Morton. Frustration certainly set in by this time, but the last thing I wanted, was for the Morton police officer to know this.
I was driving the radio station's new car that was just purchased this week. It had a temporary registration sticker in the back window, that wasn't taped well enough. The Morton police officer was very friendly and just asked for the vehicle registration and my license. After a few minutes, he came back and said the VIN numbers weren't matching up. Uh, Oh! He checked out the VIN number on the car, and fortunately, they matched! He just mentioned to get that sticker taped a little better, and I asked him how I could get back to the interstate.
What an ending to a Friday night of football! As I sat waiting for the officer, thinking back on how this night ended up....a close one-point loss in the game, the groundskeeper comment, and getting pulled over in the company vehicle, I had to laugh....it was one of those night's where at the time you are super annoyed, but it's over the smallest things. One of those times where you wake up on Saturday morning and do nothing but laugh and chalk it up as another story to tell.
Ahhh, the trials and tribulations on the road! It's the small things that annoy us the most, and they end up being the instances where we just look back and smile!
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