Noonan a big draw as East prepares to face West
C.J. Moore
Friday, July 25, 2008
The Noonan parents have been a popular pair around town this week.
Everyone wants a ticket to see Emporia High’s own Edd Noonan in Saturday’s Shrine Bowl at Welch Stadium.
Matt Garber, the East team’s coach, is aiming to please. Noonan will be the team’s starting running back and was also voted on Thursday by his teammates as a captain.
“He’s a great kid,” Garber said. “I coached with coach (Bill) Lowe in Topeka for several years and so when I heard he was on the team, I talked to coach and he spoke very highly of him and everything coach said was true.
“He’s a joy to coach. He’s really quiet. He doesn’t talk a whole lot, but you can definitely tell he’s a dedicated football player. He’s got a lot of explosive power — not just in his lower body, but in his upper body — and we hope to give him some holes to run through.”
Noonan will play a key role in the East’s ball-control game plan. The West won last season, 26-7, and have won the past two years.
“There’s a lot of pride in the East-West thing,” Garber said. “Whether you look at the Shrine Bowl or some of the state championships, the West has been winning those. You talk about trying to do our part to change it.”
Garber said he anticipated a low-scoring game with his veer attack, which features Noonan aplenty. Garber’s offense will resemble the offense he runs at Sabetha and, with the coach’s connection with Lowe, Noonan said it is similar to the Emporia offense. Noonan received a good portion of the carries at Thursday’s practice.
The coaches have been meeting since January in preparation for Saturday’s game. The East has been practicing in Emporia since last Friday and practiced for the final time today at 6:45 a.m.
“I gave them a choice,” Garber said. “They could go in the heat in the afternoon or in the morning. They were pretty adamant that they wanted to avoid the heat.”
The team has been staying in the campus dorms at Emporia State. Even Emporia native Noonan opted to stay in the dorms, where he’s formed a quick bond with his teammates. The team spent Thursday’s meeting coming up with nicknames for each other. Sand volleyball, poker and a lot of talking have filled their free time.
“It definitely does feel like a team,” Noonan said. “That’s one thing I was sort of surprised about is we came together real quick. Everybody knows everyone from running back to lineman. We’re all pretty close now.”
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