Squadron tramples the Eagles
Published 9:24 am Thursday, September 8, 2016
“You always talk about those games you were supposed to win, and that was one of those we were supposed to win,” said Highland Home School Head Coach Gregg Baker.
“They went in there, played hard and didn’t go in with a lackadaisical attitude about who they were playing. I think a win does a lot of good for a program any time, so I think we can build off it, for sure.”
In the comeback game of the season, the Squadron reigned victorious over Ellwood Christian last week at 57-12.
With the team taking this chance to swap around positions, Baker said many of the younger team members were given the opportunity to play, which yielded positive results for the Squadron.
Baker stated that the biggest challenge of the game was for the guys to go in and compete, stay focused and do what they had to do with the added position switches that were done this game.
This switch in player positions, however, did bring about its own set of challenges, but also gave the Squadron a good boost of confidence.
“They did a really good job of picking up what they were supposed to do and where they were supposed to go,” Baker said.
Defensively, Baker noted that the team did a good job by only giving up 12 points. In the past, Baker said, the team would give up, on average, about 40 points per game.
Offensively, Baker noted that the game’s high point was the team being able to complete passes and touchdown passes. One of the biggest changes came with switching senior quarterback Chase Mansmann to running back and bringing in sophomore defensive back Daniel Phillips to quarterback.
“I think Daniel threw two or three touchdown passes and ran for one, so it was a good night for him,” Baker said.
“Daniel’s just a sophomore, but he started for us last year on defense. He played some at quarterback last year, but he did a good job and I’m really proud of him. I think he’ll do just fine the rest of the season there. I think it was a good move for us all around.”
Phillips completed seven out of eight passing attempts and had 42 rushing yards.
Mansmann had a total of 32 rushing yards for this game.
“We had a lot of guys move around on offense and defense this week. All in all, the changes were good,” Mansmann said.
“We had a good game on both sides of the ball. We are working hard every day to improve. We face a big challenge in Maplesville this week. Our coaches are working to prepare us for it.”
Baker thinks this win will serve as an added confidence boost to help build the morale of the team as they gear up to face down Maplesville this week.
“We’ve got to get ready for a good football team. We’ve got to find a way to contain their running back, number 28, and slow him down. Then we’ve got to not put the ball in their offensive hand. If we can sustain some drives and get some points out of it, I think we have a chance,” Baker said.