EQUALIZER UPDATE
RANGERS ARE 6 - 1
Readers of this site know that we took a job in Estacada, Oregon. We were interviewed initially on July 3, were offered the job around July 10, and we had our first team meeting July 15. With practice beginning the third weed of August, we had to scramble in organizing a staff, getting equipment ready, and handling all those 100's of things you do prior to the season.
Estacada is a 3A school in the state with an enrollment of @ 825 students. in 4 grades; a total of 66 athletes have turned out this season with 50 remaining. The last "successful" season of football was in 1992 when the Rangers last made the playoffs. since '92 there have been more losses than wins each year with just a half a dozen wins in the past 3 years.
As of this writing (2/3 of the way through the regular season) our record is 5 - 1. We began the season traveling over 3 hours to play the 6th ranked team in the state whom we beat with :20 seconds remaining in the game with a Quick Pass 3. Two more victories followed and we had a "battle of the unbeatens" which we lost. Two more victories have followed to put us into the position of making a run at the playoffs in the final 3 games of the regular season. Estacada has been to the playoffs in football just 2 times in the past 50 years, and everyone is excited about our chances.
We have been able to not only beat teams and programs that have year-in-year-out regarded Estacada as another win on their way to a "meaningful" game, we have dominated these teams on occasion. In a recent game the Equalizer Offense and Handles Everything Defense combined to completely dictate the flow of the game. Defensively we came one play away (a 19 yard fake punt) from achieving a perfect game. The other team had only 1 first down and just 11 yards net rushing during the first 3 quarters of play. A major reason for such a low production is the fact they did not have the ball. At the opening of the 3rd quarter we went on an 18 play drive that took over 10:30 to complete. This gave them just 3 plays in the whole quarter after which they punted on the first play of the 4th. We overcame 4 penalties in that drive running the basic plays of the offense.
In another game we reminded the line of what their blocking rules were, came out in the 3rd quarter of play and ran off an 8 play 70 yard drive which consisted of running Dive 34 on each play. We decided that we were going to run the dive until they adjusted defensively which they never did. That drive reconfirmed the philosophy of never tiring of running the base play. In fact, it developed a sense of pride and accomplishment for the team as they just stuck it to their defense time after time. You could actually see the enthusiasm build on each successive play as they moved down the field.
In our only loss of the season we had a complete fundamental breakdown at every position, especially on defense. We were not aggressive on the LOS, we did not read our keys, we got out of position, lost leverage and most importantly we were playing the best team in the league who had really good athletes especially at the skill positions. Their QB completed every pass - 3 for TDs - and their running backs were the best 1 - 2 combination we have faced. Offensively we would just get a drive started and then proceed to fumble, throw an interception or sustain a drive killing penalty (did I mention that we played at their house?).
We have achieved these results without the benefit of any superior athletes. In fact, we are a group of average high school athletes with average abilities:
Fullback 5'8" 160
Tailback 5'7" 165
Tandem Guard 6'1" 215
IOT 6'2" 200
OOT 6'1" 210
WG 5'6" 155
C 5'10" 180
TE 6' 160 on a good day
We have had to overcome injuries: Senior guard out with a broken wrist-inserted a Soph; TE had knee scoped; the flu struck and we even started a Freshman at offensive tackle (there is no separate Frosh program here . . . . Yet). Never in 30 years of high school coaching have we started a Frosh in the O-Line . . . . much less win (26 - 7).
I know there are hundreds of high schools across the nation who are in the same situation as Estacada. Schools and programs that for whatever reason, are not successful and been the doormat of the league for years. that just does not have to continue.
I am not saying that the Equalizer is the answer to everyone's problem. The major factors in our success are:
1. The desire, the will to win, that the kids have. You must remember that all kids want to win and be successful. Show them the way.
2. The kids have worked hard. There is no substitute for hard work. A. L. Williams in his book, All you can do is all you can do, but all you can do is enough, that you can beat 50% of the people you compete against by working hard - - - harder than they do. In this day, when there are an ever increasing number of distractions which lure us away from our task, I believe that you can probably beat up to 75% or more by working hard.
3. Our hard work is focused on the fundamentals of football: blocking and tackling. I am fortunate in having inherited two assistant coaches who are traditional in their thinking as I am. They are excellent teachers and know the importance of being fundamentally sound. To the old timers we have 2 very young coaches just starting their coaching careers. Their enthusiasm, vigor and relationship with the athletes is refreshing.
4. We have an ever increasing number of players in the weight room before school. Not everyone attends. We have 15-20 a day in there and probably 8-10 are starters. If we would have more players committed to improving their strength at 6:06 AM every school day, we would experience more success and delve deeper into the playoffs.
5. Goals - you gotta have goals - from the very first meeting with players and parents, to the first practice game, on up to this day - my goals for this team are the same as for any other team I have coached:
1. Qualify for the playoffs
2. Win the league championship (for better playoff positioning)
3. Win the State Championship.
When I laid that on them, at first, there were not many, if any, who believed. Long time member of the the staff said to me, "if (not when) you win a couple games, they'll make you mayor of the town." I replied, "we'll see." Those same staffers who doubted we could "win a couple games" much less have a winning season are now "wanting us to win the League Championship to cut down on the travel time and costs for the playoffs." Ah the blessings of rising expectations.
One truly great benefit of the team's success has been the community coming together and getting behind the program. In the first 6 weeks of the season we have raised over $5000 for new uniforms and equipment. This has been done by community people - not coaches - who are appreciative of the work being done and are willing to help.
We could go on and on, but you get the idea. The Equalizer works for us. It is our baby. It continues to grow and develop - even mutate - each season. For example, we had never run the Veer (triple option) from the base formation much before this year. We had always run it from the "I." We determined, however, while preparing a game plan based on what we expected defensively, that running the Veer from the base formation would give us a particular blocking combination which would be advantageous. After plugging this twist into the program, it resulted in each back gaining @ 60 yards on the play during the game.
In addition, our tailback has been a bonus for us this year. He has the ability to make people miss and we have gained a bunch of yards on the sweep. People have been determined to stop the sweep so much that they have broken their fundamental defensive philosophy to come up to stop the sweep and left the SE open to score on the tailback option pass. As the old saying goes: If you are going to run sweep a lot, successfully, you must also be able to run Sweep 48 Pass (tailback pass/run option pass) as well. Our tailback has thrown 3 TD passes to SE's who are totally uncovered as the defenders come up to stop the sweep.
Last Friday night we won 38 - 13. This sets up a drive for the Conference Championship with two games remaining. The Rangers have worked themselves into a position to tie for the Tri Valley conference Championship and a leap into the playoffs with two games remaining. The Equalizer is working overtime. The number one play we ran during this game was Dive 34. We ran it 25+ times with the Fullback gaining a career high 165 yards. The Tailback added another 125 yards and 2 TDs on our way to a 38 - 0 lead in the 4th quarter.
We will update this site again in the future. Keep tuning in to follow the fortunes of RANGERMANIA.
Freeb
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