GRC Football
football coach Steven Collins wasn’t sure he liked having an open date the second week of the season. Since then, Collins has changed his mind and welcomes the early vacancy on the schedule.
“It is good, because we need to shore up some things and correct some mistakes,” the Clark coach said. “We’re going to learn so much from the film than any of them and I think (the open week) comes at a good time for us.”
The Cardinals are taking the time to regroup following a 14-13 loss to Corbin in the season opener for both teams last weekend. Collins said his team was naturally “disappointed” following the narrow setback to the Redhounds, but his squad remains focused on the task at hand.
“There was a lot of disappointment, but there also was a lot of ‘Hey, lets refocus and come back this off week and correct some of the mistakes we made and get the ship going in the right direction,’” Collins said. “You lose by a point and you can look at the film and pick out anything (that went wrong). It was kind of hard to swallow, but I love those kids to death. They left everything they had (on the field). They played hard, played with great intensity and supported each other. We can build on that. There was a lot of good teamwork going on out there and good physical play. I was proud of how we stood toe to toe with them.”
Collins was disappointed in his team’s penalties, which resulted in a loss of 155 yards last week.
“Penalties was the big one,” Collins said of his biggest disappointment in the opener. “We pride ourselves and we want to be a disciplined football team and it starts with that and the little things. I’m not going to sit there and say it’s questionable calls. A¿lot of it is judgement and what they see (on the field). If we’re even putting that thought into (the players’) minds, we need to shore that up — no jumping off sides, no illegal procedures. We’ve got to shore those up and 15 penalties? That’s way too many.”
He also wasn’t happy with his team’s inability to score inside the red zone. The Cards made four trips inside the 20-yard line, but failed to cross the goal line and was stopped short on fourth-and-one with 1:30 remaining in the contest.
“We had about 200 more yards in offense than they did, but they win the game,” Collins said. “We’ve got to make sure that we’re not only going from 20 to 20, but then cashing it in when we get down there (in the red zone). We had too many trips in the red zone where we came up with no points. Once we get inside our opponents’ 20-yard line, we’ve got to come away with points. Our kicking game will come along and it’s a trust thing that you have to do. It’s a process.”
Clark’s two touchdowns were of the open field variety, with Darian Skinner connecting on a 87-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. Cadarrel Spight added a 70-yard score in the second frame to round out Clark’s scoring in the contest. Skinner and Spight combined for 329 yards rushing in the opener, giving Collins and his staff more room for optimism for the remainder of the season. In addition, the offensive unit didn’t commit a turnover, given the complexity of the team’s triple-option scheme.
“I’m very pleased with the way we’re moving the ball,” the Clark coach said.
Clark’s defense limited the Redhounds to 213 total yards.
“I was pleased with the defense and (the fact) that they did what we asked them to do,” Collins said. “We’ve got all of the people in the right place. Now, we’ve just got to fine-tune some things.”
In addition to the numerous bright spots, the Cards survived the opener injury free and the off week gives Skinner more time to get healthy. Collins said Skinner, the team’s starting quarterback, tweaked his ankle and played at “85 percent” speed against the Redhounds.
“He kind of tweaked it again Friday, but he’ll have a whole week to get it back to 100 percent before we play Montgomery County,” Collins said.
