Sports
Ovid-Elsie hopes to fly on autopilot against Standish-Sterling
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Friday, November 21, 2008 9:46 AM EST
OVID-ELSIE - Jerry Goosen isn't hiding concerns about his Ovid-Elsie football team playing in the Division 5 state semifinals - he's nervous, and there's no reason he shouldn't be.
After all, when the Marauders take the field at Midland Community Stadium Saturday for the 2 p.m. kickoff against Standish-Sterling, they'll be facing the unbeaten, second-ranked squad in the state.
But while there are plenty of matchups that the O-E head coach will worry about during 48 minutes of action, the top priority for Goosen has been how to manage his players' nerves in the first few moments before kickoff.
“I know what will happen when those kids hit the field,” he said. “They'll be so pumped they won't even remember their names.”
Thus, the goal this week has been to prepare to a point where the Ovid-Elsie players can put their minds on what Goosen called “autopilot.”
“You have to be so confident and comfortable with what you're doing that when all is said and done your brain is on autopilot,” he said. “Emotionally and psychologically, it's a lot, so your brain has to operate on autopilot or else you won't perform.”
The Marauders practiced at Michigan State University Tuesday and Wednesday this week.
“You hope and pray you get that shot at Ford Field (host of the state finals) and we wanted to get them indoors and used to punting, kicking and catching passes indoors to get used to that environment,” he said. “It's also just another memory. We watched (Michigan State) finish up, the possible Big Ten champs, and for kids that are in high school that live in a rural setting, that's' a real treat and a special memory. And that's what it's all about, it's building more memories and that's what the playoffs do.”
But if the Marauders hope to keep on building those memories and make their way to Ford Field, it's going to take another solid defensive performance. And even though the Marauder defense is fresh off a signature game in its the regional final win over Freeland, the challenge will be even greater Saturday against the Panthers.
The challenge begins with Standish-Sterling's Austin Collier, a Bowling Green State University-bound quarterback who Goosen called “the best (quarterback) I've seen on film of the teams we've played.”
Collier has been his team's leading passer and runner, tallying more than 1,000 yards in each category.
“The majority of the season he's been a running quarterback,” said Standish-Sterling coach Paul Walderzak. “Last week, he threw very well, but he's more of a runner. He's more of a tailback in our offense.”
Last week in the regional finals, the Panthers pulled out some tricks to get past Gladstone, primarily a fake field goal that went for a touchdown with 8 seconds left in regulation. Standish-Sterling played the majority of that game from behind, which has been a rarity for a team that outscored its opponents by 294 points this season.
“It certainly wasn't nice,” Walderzak said of being forced to stage a comeback. “I think it did a lot for our confidence being able to pull that game after being down that far.
“Last week's game was unique as far as this season has gone.”
The Panther offense has made the ground game a priority this year, but with a talented quarterback and a spread system, it provides significantly more challenges for a defense than would a basic, run-it-up-the-gut attack.
“They run well, throw well; they spread you out and attack you in a variety of ways,” Goosen said. “It makes it real challenging for us defensively. When you're spread all over field it poses a lot of challenges, especially for high school kids. So we have to pick and choose what we try to teach and how we try to defend it to make sure the kids are confident and not confused, because when you're confused you slow way down.”
One thing that could help boost the confidence of the defense is the Ovid-Elsie offense. Even after being bottled up by Freeland for a majority of last week's game, the Marauders still managed to put 34 points on the board, thanks largely to a few breakout touchdown runs by tailback Chris Robinson - who now has nearly 2,400 yards this season along with 35 touchdowns.
“I know if I go out there it makes me more confident defensively because I know if we get a stop, there's going to be a good chance that if we go back out there on offense Chris is going to do what he does and get a big play,” said Cameron Hurst.
With touchdown runs of 47, 48 and 80 yards against Freeland, Robinson proved that his breakout ability gives Ovid-Elsie a chance to win any game. And that potential to break a touchdown run at any given moment should also help open up the passing game, especially if Standish-Sterling opts to take the same route Freeland did, putting six guys at the line of scrimmage.
“I think it's a lot riskier, that's why I like six-man fronts because we either get tackled for no gain or break it big,” said quarterback Jason Goosen. “It makes my job a lot easier having Chris because everyone's in the box. We feel we can score any way they play defense: run the ball or pass the ball. If we can't do one thing we'll do the other.”
Robinson expects to see the Panthers crowd the line of scrimmage, and it's not anything he isn't used to by now.
“They'll probably do what most teams do and stack a lot of guys in the box, but the Marauders always have a way to break it,” he said.
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marauder at heart wrote on Nov 22, 2008 8:51 PM: