August 30: The Walker Valley Game

Russell Mayes: Welcome back to the WLIL Saturday Morning High School Football Report, and at this time, we are joined by the head coach of of the Loudon Redskins from Loudon High School, Coach Jeff Harig; and Coach Harig, thank you so much for joining us.

Jeff Harig: Well, I appreciate it. Thank you for having me on.

Mayes: Well, I know its been a long off season for the Redskins, and to get a victory in week one has to be very sweet.

Harig: It was. Its been a long time coming. We ended last season with a lot of negative things going on, and our players have really worked hard to prepare to take advantage of the opportunity [that has] been given for their senior season; and I was very proud of them last night.

Mayes: And we talked a little on the pregame show about just how Walker Valley was a new opponent, and you didn't quite know what to expect from this team.

Harig: There was a lot of unknown, and we saw them in the jamobree, and we kind of got some reports on them and found out a little bit about them. So we had some things to practice on. You know, what we heard was what they did. We were ready for them.

Mayes: And obviously in the football game the Redskins get off to a very quick start. Walker Valley elects to receive the opening kickoff. Basically, they're three and out. Loudon gets the football, gets a five-play, seventy-four yard drive; and Patric Johnson get his first touchdown of the game on an eighteen-yard run. You get off to a very quick start in this football game.

Harig: Yeah, our guys are ready to play. Its easy to get up for the first game because you have so much time between games, and scrimmages don't mean a whole lot just to get better. But our kids are ready to play, and they started the game off right.

Mayes: And then, immediately following that is something that probably couldn't make you very happy. Walker Valley, on the ensuing kickoff, takes it eighty yards for a touchdown on the kickoff return.

Harig: Well, we watched it on film. It only takes one guy to get knocked out of his lane on a kickoff and you have a hole. They found that hole. We had a player get knocked down and get knocked out of his lane. The kick wasn't the best. We'd like to put that ball in the corner one way or another, and we kicked it right down the middle. And nobody touched him. He just headed up the middle and [there was] nothing we could do.

Mayes: And it looked to me like Walker Valley caught a good break right there on the kickoff. I think he let it bounce, and he caught the football on the bounce before he started running with.

Harig: He sure did. As soon as it hit it bounced right up into his arms. We thought we had a decent kick there when it hit the ground. It just bounced right up into his arms and he caught it running.

Mayes: Well, those are some of the breaks that tend to happen in football, and that one worked out for Walker Valley. So, the game is 7-7 there in the first quarter. Was that a deflating play for the Redskins - to come out and get that quick touchdown and then for Walker Valley to come back and tie it up?

Harig: It definitely turned the momentum back in their favor. We felt pretty good about things; and, just like that, it can turn on you.

Mayes: Well, and basically the story of the ball game was that the Redskins could move the football, and Walker Valley couldn't. So that had for you defensively, you knew that you were probably going to be able to stop Walker Valley, it was just a matter of getting the football in the endzone.

Harig: Yeah, we felt like our challenge was that as the game went along, as long as we kept them from getting a big play. They weren't going to drive it on us, and they weren't going to grind it out gaining first down after first down. So as long as we could contain the big play - we gave up one early in the second half - as long as we could keep them from getting an easy touchdown, then we would have control of the ball game.

Mayes: And Walker Valley...Simpson their running back had a big night for Walker Valley. [He] had 133 yards rushing, and of course, had the big kickoff return. But he was really the one you had to focus on.

Harig: He was. He is a good athlete. He has good speed. He had two big plays: that long run and that kickoff return. So, he was definitely their best player.

Mayes: And the Redskins put two more touchdowns on the board in the second quarter on a thirteen yard run by Jake Brantley, and then Patric Johnson's second touchdown - a twenty-two yard pass from Cody Fritts. And you go into the locker room at halftime ahead 21 to 7, and you certainly had to feel good about that plus knowing that you had the second-half kickoff.

Harig: We felt real good about things. As the game went along and toward the end of the half, a lot of their players, as coach Stewart would say, were sucking a lot of bad air. We thought we had control of the game and really had a chance to put them away if we came out in the second half and took care of business. We wanted to get a lot of young kids in there, but it didn't work out that way.

Mayes: Well, you came out and basically [it] looked like you had the game plan to try and knock Walker Valley out. You get a long pass from Fritts to Chase Randolph, and the Redskins get the ball down inside the five yard line, and then the fumbles all started happening.

Harig: That's right. Our execution was perfect all night. Our offensive line did a great job. Coach Brown has those guys ready to play. Our defensive was taking control of the line of scrimmage. Coach Lorenz had them ready to go. And we started self-destructing. And it seems, with this bunch, sometimes no matter what it is, we want to do things the hard way. And we definitley put ourselves in a situation where we had to take care of business late in the game.

Mayes: Well, once again it was defense the whole third quarter that saved the Redskins as Walker Valley had the ball deep in Redskin territory a couple of times, and every time the Redskin defense was ready.

Harig: We were. They weren't doing a whole lot of difficult things, it was just a matter of us executing our responsibilities and making tackles. If we're making tackles, we're going to be pretty good defensively. But when we start missing tackles, a lot of that has to do with the running back, and that running back started to tire there and didn't have elusiveness he was using in the first half and on that kickoff return. As long as we get people to the football and we're tackling, [we're going to be] allright defensively.

Mayes: And then there toward the end of the ball game was the play that really broke Walker Valley's back, and that was Patric Johnson on the sixty-eight yard run. Patric had, coach, an outstanding game last night.

Harig: He did. For the first time ever, he graded out 100% on defense. He ran the ball hard, and he started to cramp there late in the game, but he played a heck of a ball game. Its his senior year. He's one of our best players, and we expect that every week.

Mayes: So you come away with the 27 to 13 victory over Walker Valley. Coach, one of the things I noticed in the game [was that] the Redskins looked like they were in good physical condition for this game; and, really, cramping up was not as big a concern last night as a lot of people probably thought it might be.

Harig: Well, one thing we've made a commitment to, and we made this commitment at the start of two-a-days was that we are going to play our number-twos. And we played a lot of kids last night. We played nine defensive linemen, we played four linebackers, and we played nine offensive linemen. Our number-twos are going to get a chance to play. They don't come out here to practice and be scout team players. So that's kind of improved the tempo of our practice when everybody out there knows [that] at some point, they are going to get their chance. That's just the motto we've got to have. We learned our lesson last year that we can't play with twelve players and compete against the likes of some of the teams that we are going to face this year. So, good or bad, our kids are going to play. That's why they're out here. And as long as they continue executing, they are going to get playing time.

Mayes: Coach, you've had a chance to grade the film. Tell us about some of the players you saw on film that had a big night for the Redskins.

Harig: Josh Conner, an offensive tackle and defensive lineman played a heck of a ball game; C.J. Sharpe played a pretty good ball game as a guard and linebacker; of course Patric played a good game; Kevin Kirkland, one of our cornerbacks, played a good game defensively; Matt Brown plyaed a good game on offense; Tyler Foshee had a heck of a ball game defensively as an outside linebacker for us.

Mayes: So a lot of names on that list, and I know you're going to need a lot of names on that list for next week because its going to be a big task going on the road to face Anderson County. Tell us a little bit about the Mavericks.

Harig: We've probably watched twenty plays, and there's not a whole lot of mystery to them. They're going to come right at you; they're real physical on the offensive line and real big; they've got backs that run hard; they've got a fullback that runs real hard and is a real good blocker. It seems every year that they are going to be the same team. They're going to be big and physical, and they're going to have good-skilled peole; and they play a lot of kids too.

Mayes: Well, it should be an exciting ball game, and obviously this will be a good test to see where the Redskins are at against the team that a lot of people have picked to be regional champions this year.

Harig: And that's all we ask. We come out here and we ask for an opportunity. And its our job to do something with that opportunity. Our players have worked hard to put themselves in positions to hopefully succeed, and we'll just go up there and give it our best.

Mayes: Well, coach thank you so much for joining us. Enjoy the victory. And I know that you've got a lot of work to do, and we look forward to seeing you next week.

Harig: Well, thank you Russell.