I get so tired of hearing about "the group" that Coach Burnett left for Coach Faircloth in 2009. Or, "take away the first group that Coach Burnett left, and what is Coach Faircloth's record?" Well, in 2008, Coach Burnett went 3-6 with that group "he left" for Coach Faircloth. He did so well during district play in 2008, "that group" went 1-6 with the only win over LC-M. In 2009, Coach Faircloth came in and went 11-1, had the first undefeated regular season since 1977, and he changed the culture of the program from run, run, pass, and punt, to joining the the 21st Century and throwing the football. You can look up Coach Faircloth's record on the webpage
www.pngindians.com under the History tab. Take away the Dustin Long era in 1997, 1998 and 1999 and calculate Coach Burnett's record while you are at it.
For anyone that was actually at the WO-S game, the reasons for the loss were obvious. Dropped passes, a fumble going into the end zone where WO-S stripped the ball from the Indian RB, and allowing the WO-S QB to get the ball to #27. But, it wasn't like #27 beat us deep. The WO-S QB tossed the ball out in the flat and #27 made people miss. The PN-G defense does have a few kids that will hit you. I can name about 3 or 4 that go head hunting. Could we tighten up the secondary pass coverage? Sure. But, if we play press man-to-man and get beat deep, that will be problem, too. On defense, over the past 6 years, PN-G has tried to keep everything in front of its defensive players instead of getting beat deep. I agree with the masses, if the philosophy is to keep everything in front of you, then the Indians need to tackle better. I agree with PNGFAN66, the OL needs to come together. Taking 5 kids and having them work as one cohesive unit takes some time. WO-S brought the heat and got to Morse often. Even when he moved around in the pocket, his throws were hurried or he made an overthrow. It happens. Better for the Indians to see that type of pressure BEFORE district starts. PN-G can learn from it and adjust. If the Indians catch the ball vs. WO-S and don't give the TD away with a fumble, that game is a lot different. I'm not saying PN-G would have won, but the score and momentum would have been different. In the second half, WO-S controlled the game. Oh well, it is over. Time to learn from the mistakes and move onward and upward.
P.S. Where I sat for the WO-S game, the crowd was into the game...emotions ran high in the first half and we kept waiting for an Indian surge in the second half.
P.S. Part II, give WO-S some credit. The QB for WO-S is small, paper thin, and not the fastest guy in the world, but that kid is savvy. He moved around just enough to extend plays and make very good throws all over the field. #27 hurt us when he had the ball. The WO-S defense was small and fast.
I have 3 more regular season games in 2015. In Lufkin for Tyler Chapel Hill, at Goose Creek to see PN-G play Baytown Lee, and at Port Neches for the Nederland game. I hope to see 3 solid Ws and a run in the playoffs.
Go Indians. Peace.