Coach’s Corner: Ryle Preview
Posted On: October 18, 2013 Posted By: Stuart Chowning
Are you ready for some FOOTBALL?
The Camels (4-3) visit the Ryle Raiders (2-6) this week in an important district match up.
The Raiders enter the game with a record that doesn’t tell the whole story of their season. These guys have played one of the toughest schedules in NKY.
The Camels won a close game versus Dixie last week on solid defense and special teams. The team played well to earn the victory.
We spoke to Coach Lickert about the game and what he is looking forward to this week. Specifically, we noted that the team looked focused against a tough Dixie team…especially the defense. The Camels held Dixie to a season low 13 points. Where did you see the biggest improvement this week? Coach Lickert observed, “Our preparation was top notch. Our kids knew what was at stake with a home playoff game and prepared well. Our defense played exceptionally well against a very good offense. Special teams ended up being the difference though.”
As the regular season enters the home stretch…what is the biggest challenge going into these last three games? He noted, “Staying focused on improving our skills and winning the games. This time of year, people tend to look at records of the other team and judge them accordingly. We as coaches don’t so much look at records as much as the schedule the team has played. Ryle, for example doesn’t have a great record, but has played an extremely tough schedule with Sycamore, Simon Kenton, Covington Catholic and Scott County all being very good teams. We have our hands full this week.”
The post season is right around the corner. Home field advantage is a real possibility. But, we can’t look past Ryle, Boone, and Holy Cross. How do you keep the guys focused on this week? Coach Lickert said, “We explain to our kids that in order to stay in control of our home field destiny, we must beat Ryle. We also focus on playing well and building momentum. The bottom line is we are in the playoffs and in order to make a run, we have to improve our fundamental skills. We have to block, catch, run and tackle better.”
You can sense and feel momentum shifts in games. You can also feel momentum swinging back the Camels way as we enter the home stretch. Fans are excited…we asked if the team feel it also and if that helps or hurts? Coack Lickert wisely responded, “Momentum is a funny thing. We can say we have momentum now, but on Friday we could lose the momentum. For us, it is about slowly building momentum and confidence, one game at a time, and climbing the ladder until we reach our peak.”
The team is definitely getting better as the year goes. How good can this team be and what are they capable of in the playoffs? Coach Lickert said, “Some teams gel early and some gel late. We feel we are gelling as a team at the right time. The fact that we have not played a full game to the best of our ability is something that is very exciting moving forward. This team has a very high level of potential. The sky is the limit in the playoffs if we can improve at the same level over the next 3 weeks. We must continue to eliminate mistakes and improve our execution on offense, defense and special teams.”
The Camels take on Ryle tonight @ Ryle @ 7:30pm. Come out, dress warm, and cheer the Camels to victory!
Go Camels!!!
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Connect with Stuart at stuart.chowning@gmail.com
