Saturday morning thoughts...8/28/10

DEFENSE!

When is the last time the Little Giant defense won a game? Well they won last nights game at Spartan Stadium. Ross chugged to a 17-0 victory over the Spartans before a quiet crowd dominated by folks in purple and white. The Ross defense allowed the Spartans just three first downs and a total of 115 yards of offense. Twice the Spartans were in the Little Giant red zone, knocking on the door and twice the Ross defense stiffened and held, posting their first shutout since a 47-0 win over hapless Lorain Southview in the fifth week of the 2007 season.

The Little Giant offense finished with 217 total yards in a less than stellar evening. It seemed as though the first game jitters had set in, but coach Kidwell said that he didn't need to open up the playbook to beat the Spartans. We hope that's the case because a very powerful Whitmer Panther squad visits the Don next Friday night, coming in fresh off a 35-6 win over Tiffin Columbian. We're going to need a similar defensive effort and a much more open playbook to beat what may be the best DI team in Northwest Ohio, maybe in region two.

The running of Brown, Stout and especially Trautwein kept the offense moving. Trautwein is one tough kid. #25 was dragging several Spartan defenders along with him as he gained additional yardage on a number of occasions. Stouts helmet came off as he scored his TD and I was impressed as he just got up, very workman-like as if to say, "it's just another play, time to move on". Also very workman-like last night was Greg Brown. The future Wolverine was hammered by Spartan defenders every time he got near the ball. Greg kept his wits about him, got up, walked back to the huddle and played ball. It might be noted here that Ross was penalized just three times last night. None of those were personal fouls. Start was flagged just one time.

Sophomore QB Tyler Wolfs first varsity game was a decent effort. I believe the young man will only get better. One thing about having a former Mr. Football and former QB as your head coach is that you can be sure you're going to have good QB's . I believe Wolf will compare well with the likes of Opelt, Ottney, and Foos by the time his days at Ross are done.

Other notes...
The Marching Little Giants halftime performance was a good one. They never fail to deliver on the field. We get that Ms. Lewis doesn't care that the band is at a football game otherwise, and it shows as the band generally just sits on their hands during the game when their involvement would be appreciated.

There were significantly more Fremonters at Spartan Stadium last night than the home fans. Despite that fact the Ross fans were real quiet. That will have to change next Friday night when Whitmer comes to the Don for a playoff-atmosphere type game.

44 million dollars in the hole, no sports, closing buildings. That's the situation in the Toledo City School District. We are all aware of the plight of public education in the Glass City. You couldn't tell it from the beautiful new building at Start. I realize that building was built mostly by tobacco settlement money but wow, what a facility...the school, not the stadium.

So now it's on to the home opener at Don Paul Stadium next Friday night against Whitmer. We all..the team, the band, the fans... are going to have to turn up the intensity to beat a very good Panther team. Are you ready? Can we do it?