Week 4 vs Vinton-Shellsburg

Sorry for not giving a pre-game update, but technical difficulties temporarily seized my service.  But we are back in action, and that is exactly what I wanted to talk to you about.  Friday's match-up with VS was a crucial game for us.  After two tough losses, it was important for us to rebuild our confidence and right the ship a little bit.  We had a fantastic week of practice that was built by great senior leadership.  With positive peer coaching from our team captains-Mason Simon-Ressler, Dylan James, and Blake Kass-the team responded to the call to action to get better every day.  It was great to watch the guys work hard, follow each other, and have success.

We knew that VS would be a big physical team.  We knew that they would need this win to position themselves for a solid play-off seed as well.  The battle lines were drawn early in the 1st quarter when they drove 80 yards down the field for a Vinton-Shellsburg touchdown.  It was a grind to respond with a touchdown of our own.  The 65 yard drive was capped off by a Dylan Kramer QB sneak from the 1 yard line.  With the extra point kick by Nick Kruse good, we set out to battle again with a 7-7 score.  After another long drive by the Vikings, leading to another touchdown, we got the ball back at our forty yard line with 30 seconds to go in the half.  After a couple of small gains with the clock running down, we decided to call a time-out with 3 seconds left in the half.  Dylan Kramer connected with Dylan James on a 52 yard bomb to finish the half with a 14-14 tie.  That momentum swing was just what we needed to electrify the crowd, the players, and the coaches.

After a couple of half-time adjustments, we came out and played good old WD football.  Our defense shut them out in the second half, and our offense poured on three more TD's, coming via Dylan James on a 20 yard pass from Kramer, Cody Reimer on an 11 yard scamper, and Blake Kass on a 36 yard cut back run.  Cody Reimer returned to the field for the first time, after breaking his arm in practice before week one.  Cody was just as happy to be back as we were to have him.  He showed why he was a starter to begin with, and performed well (even sporting a cast).  We also welcomed back offensive tackle Luke Schroeder.  Luke tore his ACL in the play-off game against Grinnell last season.  He has worked harder than you could possibly imagine to be game ready the week that he was cleared to play.  His determination has been an example for all the athletes in our program.  If you want it bad enough, you can make it happen.  Great job Luke! 

We had the chance to clear the side lines on Friday.  Getting every athlete the opportunity to feel the heat of the Friday Night Lights is incredibly rewarding as a coach.  In the pre-game speech we talked about winning this game for the person next to you, and that is exactly what we did.  The kids truly won this game together and for each other.  We are starting to see a very tight bond begin to form amongst the men.  We can't wait to make it stronger practice by practice, game by game.