Opinion: Don't hit the panic button yet
Michael Ashford
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
The high school football season is only three games old, and the Emporia High Spartans are already in a position they neither wanted to be nor thought they’d be caught in.
The Spartans sit at just 1-2, with a season-opening 43-19 over Topeka High the lone victory for EHS.
No disrespect to Topeka High, but the Spartans expected to win that game.
The EHS players expected to win the other two games against Hayden and Junction City as well. Problem is, Hayden and Junction City are good teams. Very good teams. Perhaps great teams.
For a team that had preseason plans of being one of those good-to-great teams, the Emporia High players probably don’t feel like it right now.
But before anyone hoists up a panic flag — and I highly doubt the Spartans have at this point — take a moment to examine the situation.
Truth be told, the task EHS faced the past two weeks would have been a meat-grinder for any team in the state to go through unscathed.
I’ll say it: Hayden is the best team in Class 4A, and Junction City is the best (and biggest) team in Class 6A. Tell me what team wouldn’t struggle to win both — if either — of those games in back-to-back weeks?
The Spartans must realize that while the losses were tough and ended up being lopsided on the scoreboard, their problems appear to be fixable.
Costly mistakes (i.e. fumbles, penalties) hurt Emporia’s chances to gain any real traction against both Hayden and Junction City, which spelled doom for a team still trying to find its way after hit with graduation losses like Edd Noonan, Ryan Bass, Craig Turner and Brandon Childs (to name a few).
Look, the EHS football team is a quality team. Coach Bill Lowe and his troops are consistently praised as one of the hardest working teams around, a compliment that shouldn’t be taken for granted. And the next few weeks offer EHS the chance to really take some steps forward, starting with this Friday’s road game at Washburn Rural.
A win over the improved Junior Blues will turn the Spartans’ season back in the right direction, and few will remember the earlier losses. Besides, in Kansas, once District play begins, the losses to Hayden and Junction City mean absolutely nothing.
There is still plenty of season left for the Spartans to improve, gain confidence, and most importantly, win more games.
A couple of losses to two of the state’s finest squads shouldn’t change the Spartans’ hopes for this season.
HutchFootball (anonymous) says...
Wait until they get to play Hutch. All i've heard all summer is how the Spartans will beat Hutch. I'm tired of it. Junction wasn't even that good last year.
September 25, 2008 at 9:37 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
UsayULoveGod (anonymous) says...
2nd Playoff we got u and please u guys are not that good !
September 25, 2008 at 10:20 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )