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Blue Lions at Clinton-Massie Friday

Thursday, 09 October 2008

No one has to tell anyone affiliated with the Washington Blue Lion football team that their season is not going as they would have hoped.

It was a tough Homecoming loss last week to a talented Western Brown team, 55-7. It was a game that just seemed to get away from the Blue Lions before they knew it.

Washington faces another undefeated team this week in SCOL-leading Clinton-Massie. The Falcons pounded the McClain Tigers last week, 54-16 to improve to 7-0 overall, 4-0 in the SCOL.

Speaking with Blue Lion head coach John Enochs this week prior to practice, the veteran coach knows that better days are ahead for his team and the program.

Washington is possibly the youngest team in the SCOL and graduated a core group of seniors that led the 2007 team to a tri-championship in the league and a berth in the post-season playoffs.

The Blue Lions (1-6 overall, 1-2 SCOL) is experiencing a season full of growing pains. Underclassmen are growing into leadership roles, playing the so-called skill positions of quarterback, running back, receivers, etc.

“We played probably our worst game of the year last week,” Enochs said. “No matter what kind of team you have, you always have that one week during the year where you play really bad. And last week was ours. We’ve been competitive every week except for last week’s game.

“We just didn’t play well last week,” Enochs said. “And Western Brown is a good team. To compete against a team like that, you’ve got to play at your best and we didn’t do that last week.

“We made too many mistakes,” Enochs said. “Fumbles and interceptions, missed tackles; things like that are holding us back. We’re working to correct those things in practice. The kids have to correct those things on Friday night.”

Clinton-Massie is ranked No. 8 this week in Division IV by the state’s prep sportswriters in the Associated Press poll. Even more important, the Falcons are No. 2 this week in Division IV, Region 16 of the Ohio High School Athletic Association’s third weekly computer ratings. The top eight teams in each region make the playoffs with the top four hosting home games on the first weekend of the playoffs.

Clinton-Massie’s likely most valuable player is a senior, Logan McCormick. He is the Falcons’ quarterback and on defense he seems to come up with at least one interception every game. He picked off three aerials last week against McClain.

“We’re going up against another good football team, no doubt about it,” Enochs said. “They are a running team; they’re going to take it to you. They have good running backs, a good quarterback and a good offensive line. They’re just a solid football team.

“We’re going to have to play good, solid football,” Enochs said. “We’re going to have to play good defense. We have to be able to tackle well. We have to keep the ball away from their offense, so we’re going to have to run the ball a little bit. I’m excited to see how our kids respond after last week’s game. I don’t think last week’s effort was indicitive of what our kids are capable of.”

Washington should get sophomore Ben Parks back this week, although the amount of playing time he gets will likely be limited as he returns from an injury, Enochs noted.