WLIL Saturday Morning High School Football Report

Interview with Coach Jeff Harig about the Scott County game

Mayes:  And joining us now from Loudon High School is head coach Jeff Harig.  Coach Harig, good morning.

Harig:  Good morning.

Mayes:  Coach Harig, I know it had to feel good for the Redskins after playing tough last week against the Fulton Falcons and then not coming away with the win. . .last night at Scott County I know you had to feel good about getting a 26-15 win.

Harig:  Yes.  A wins a win no matter how it looks like.  And we were just excited about being ahead last night on the scoreboard at the end.

Mayes:  Scott is a team that is much improved over last year.  The Redskins basically had their way with Scott last year.  You know going on the road up there, its going to be an extremely tough ball game.  The field was very wet; the conditions were kind of rough; and its a tough place to play up there.

Harig:  Its very tough.  We've always been in a dog fight every time we've been up there.  You've got to give their coaches credit.  They had their kids ready to play; and Scott County's a tough team.  They've always got kids who'll play hard.  And they sure did last night.

Mayes:  And especially [since] they were coming off a high after knocking off Gibbs 36-35 in overtime.  Tell us a little bit about what you saw during the week from the Highlanders that had to concern you coming into last night's game.

Harig:  Well, their quarterback really concerned me.  He was a play maker. He wasn't a very big kid, but he was able to do some things; and he made their offense click.  I thought if we could contain him, we could be pretty successful for not giving up big plays.  I didn't think their tailback or any of their receivers could beat us deep, but their quarterback concerned me [with his ability to make] big plays.

Mayes:  And basically, for the most part, all night long the Redskins were able to do that; but he had the big run for the touchdown on the fake punt and just another run around the end; and that was basically Scott's two touchdowns in the game.

Harig:  Yeah, we've not seen a fake punt this year, and you try to warn the players "see the ball kick" and we had some guys executing their responsilities before the ball got kicked, half of them didn't even know the kid was running down the field.  And we had a chance to stop that play for a gain of twenty or thirty yards, and two of our guys missed a tackle, and it turned into a seventy yard touchdown run on the fake punt.   So, we've got to do a better job of executing our fundamentals, and those kind of things won't happen.

Mayes:  And that quarterback, Jeffers, is just a tough player.  He basically dominated that game against Gibbs, there late in the ball game with a couple of touchdowns.  Tough to contain, and I guess you have to feel good that that was basically all that he got, that he didn't hurt you any more than that.

Harig:  Yeah, we had planned all week along those lines.  They caught us in a formation, then they motioned to a different formation and caught us when we were vulnerable there.  We didn't do a very good job of keeping them contained. And he broke a long run and, luckily, that was all. . . (incomprehensible section of tape here).

Mayes:  Baically, except for a couple of big plays right there, it was a very good night for the Redskin defense.

Harig:  It was.  We just got done grading the film.  We played well in some spots; we didn't play so well in others.  Out tackling was great all night, except for the fake punt. Two guys had a chance to make the tackle and missed.  But, for the most part, we played well defensively.

Mayes:  And once again, the secondary, it looks like three interceptions in the ball game for the Redskins.  And they were all very well executed plays for the Redskins defense on the interceptions.

Harig:  After watching the Fulton film and getting beat deep a few times, Scott County was going to test us; and Chase Randolph, specifically, got tested and he stepped up, got two interceptons, and played a great game.

Mayes:  Tell about some of the other folks on defense, Coach Harig, that you saw that had a good night for the Redskins.

Harig:  Chad Oody continues to be all over the field for us.  He made seven tackles.  Our linebackers played well.  Patric Johnson, C.J. Sharpe, Matthew Packett -- Matthew and Patric played well despite their injuries, gave us what they had.  Daylon Sellers played a great game for us.  He had six tackles and was a really dominate force at nose man for us.

Mayes:  And Daylon had some big plays there in the second half there in a row.  It seemed like he was able to bust through the line and be right there to make the play a couple of times.

Harig:  Yeah, their center had a rough night against our noseman, and Daylon did a great job.

Mayes:  Speaking of Chad Oody, Chad probably had the big hit of the night.  I don't know if you remember that over there on the Scott sidelines or if you saw that on film.  That was just a big-time hit that he made.

Harig:  Yeah, he put that fella on the back of his neck. That was a real nice hit.

Mayes:  Of course, with the mud on the sideline, that guy slid a quite a long way over there.

Harig:  He sure did.

Mayes:  It just has to be [that there are] a lot of positives to come away with the win.  What do you feel like a win means for your team right now?

Harig:  Well, it was big because we let them back in the game late there.  We continued to play and fought through it.   I thought we let up a little and shot ourselves in the foot offensively when we had some chances to put them away.  Our kids picked it back up and we were fighting for our lives with two-and-a-half minutes to go, and we just kept playing; and I just thought that it showed that we got to keep playing. Keep your intensity, and that'll help us next week.

Mayes:  And the Redskins never looked like they hit the panic button, especially when Scott cut the game to three points.

Harig:  We didn't.  They defended us pretty well there, and the fake punt kind of turned the tide there.  They stuck in there.  I've got to give their coaches credit.  They kept playing.

Mayes:  We've got to talk about what's the biggest call of the year for the Redskins, and that is on a fourth down late in the ball game, you go for the fake punt on fourth down.  That was a big play, and it really deflated Scott.

Harig:  It did.  With two-and-a-half minutes to go, I guess if its two-and-a-half minutes in the first quarter; and you have a fake punt, and you call it, even though it was in the fourth quarter, it was still there; and the kids did a great job of executing it.

Mayes:  Tell us a little bit about your decision in making that call.  It was really the right call at the right time it seemed.

Harig:  The punt earlier, we had it to the left side.  We had some miscommunication there and didn't get it called.  So, when we lined up there, they had shifted everybody over there to the right; and to their left side, they only had three kids standing there, so everybody blocks down, we kick out,. . .and it really paid off this week.

Mayes:  And the best part about that [was] you get the ball down there on the ten yard line; and then McNew scores there on the very next play from ten yards out. That meant that Scott County never had a chance to take the lead in the game.

Harig:  That's correct.  That was big.  They had the momentum, and I was worried [about] having to defend them after the momentum that they had created.  So it was good to kind of deflate them a little.

Mayes:  Now the Redksins [are] one down and three to go as far as this final run goes to the playoffs, the Redskins [are] still very much in the playoff hunt.  But next week comes probably the game of the year because its this week's game, but moreso because its the Kingston Yellowjackets.

Harig:  Yeah. &This is a big rivalry game for us, and our kids aren't stupid.  They know that if we slip up in the next three, we're playing out the schedule, and that's it.  I don't want us to worry so much about playing - winning and losing - I want us to got out and play hard. As long as we do that, I think the win/loss part of it will be taken care of.  Kingston is a little bit better than last year, especially up front.  They are executing well.  They had a big win last night, and this is going to be a big game for both schools.

Mayes:  And the best news about it is that it is at Dukes field.

Harig:  It is.   Its the last game for the seniors. We hope to be in our field house, and I hope its a special atmosphere.

Mayes:  That's something we haven't touched on during the fall is the fact that there is a new field house at Loudon High School.  You were hoping to get into it before the season started, and then midway into the season, it looks like you're just about ready to move in.  That's going to be a big addition, especially when you've been dressing in the basketball dressing room.

Harig:  I don't know who's going to be more happy to be in there, me or Coach Mitchell.  He's ready to get rid of us.  The kids have been positive about our current conditions, and we've just stressed to make the best of what you've got.  Its been frustrating, especially for the seniors.  They've been looking forward to being in their new locker room. . .

Mayes:  Well, I know its going to be an electric atmosphere, this game with Kingston, and I just wish you the best of luck.

Harig:  Thank you.