Coaches Corner: Melissa
SQT
The Vikes made the hour-long
drive to Melissa HS for the first state qualifying tournament (SQT) of the 2023
season. As you know we try to participate in as many SQT’s as possible for the
development of the Viking football program. Our players love competing against
other schools, so we try to give them a full dose! We are entered in 7 SQT’s
followed hopefully with a trip to College Station in late June for the State 7
on 7 Championship.
We started off against the
Melissa JV team from the host school. Obviously, against a younger group we
should be the better team and we were, holding them scoreless and to one first
down in the game with a final score of 28-0. In game 2 we played the Melissa
varsity team and beat them 28-6. Our defense was outstanding in this game. The
Vikes “D” had 3 interceptions and returned two of those for TD’s (pick sixes).
Offensively we were “OK”, as the defense accounted for half of our 28 points.
The 3rd pool game was against Garland, a school with lots of
talented athletes. It was a close and highly competitive game with the Vikes
winning 20-18. We won the Pool going 3-0 so we qualified for the qualifying
round game, meaning the winner of this 4th game qualifies for the
State Tournament. Midlothian Heritage beat us in a close game 20-13 to advance
to the state tournament.
Offensively, we are still a
work in progress which is typical early in the season. A few years ago, by
rule, the games were shorted by 10 minutes, so each half is just 15 minutes
with no intermission. So, it is critical to score each time you are on
offense because the games are so short. We are turning the ball over too many
times right now, but we can correct that by further emphasis to the players
about managing down and distance better.
Coaches Corner: Arlington
High SQT
This past weekend the Vikes
ended up playing on the Lamar campus in the “MAC” due to forecasted poor
weather. As we move more to the heart of 7 on 7 season with baseball and track
over, teams now have their full complement of players. We were in a highly
competitive pool Saturday with all 3 opponents making deep football playoff
runs last season and each having a strong 7 on 7 pedigrees. In the first game
Byron Nelson TC edged us 26-19. In game two Rockwall edged us 28-26. Game 3 the
final score was Prosper 19-Lamar 12. While it certainly is a step back to go
from 3-0 in pool play in the previous SQT to 0-3 Saturday it is not as bad as
it may look on paper. The reasons are: 1. The competition was a step-up in all
games; 2. The losses were extremely close; no one “beat us” as the average
difference in score was 5.3 points/game. We failed to score twice from inside
the two-yard line; we knocked a sure interception right into the hands of an
opponent for a score; just a series of little things we have to clean up. This
could have been another 3-0 pool VERY easily. The EFFORT and DESIRE by our kids
is spot on. We just have to work on some items in practice and eliminate the
self-inflicted wounds and we should be fine.
Next Saturday we travel to
Allen HS for the 3rd SQT of the season.
VFND
Coach Jim Poynter
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