LHS Football falls to 0-3
September 6, 2008Not only did mother nature drown the spirits of fans who were eager to see their football team play their first home game, so did the North Olmsted Eagles. The Rangers lost to North Olmsted 22-0 on Friday evening.
Honestly, I doubt anyone that looked at Lakewood’s scheduled opponents three weeks ago thought the season would start off on a 0-3 note. But that’s football…and the team that executes better and out-hustles their opponent is the stronger team, regardless of the talent.
There was a big improvement this week in tackling and pass coverage. Lakewood ran the ball pretty good too..with some first downs and big gains on the ground. It’s hard to do anything when it’s pouring and the ball is slippery.
On a even more positive note, the freshmen and JV teams are playing great football. I’ve been impressed with what I’ve seen. To expect a coach to come in and carry the success he had at his previous school onto a new program and school is quite unfair and far-fetched. This year’s seniors have been in a completely different offensive and defensive scheme for the past four years…they didn’t even know what a pass was since all they did last year was run the ball. For a coach that runs an offense with many options and packages to get through to everyone so that it runs smoothly is like making all the drivers in the US drive in reverse all day and expecting them to pick it up right away.
It’s an unrealistic goal. To Coach Lewis’ credit, the younger guys seem to be picking things up a lot better..which means look out for Lakewood in ‘09 and ‘10. The community is hungry for a winner, but patience is a virtue when it comes to young athletes.
I’m not saying that this year is already a bust, I’m just hoping that fans and parents have more realistic expectations. I’ve seen Coach Lewis coach, and I’ve heard him speak and motivate players, and regardless of the score at the end of the game on Friday night, the players will come out week after week with greater knowledge about things more important than football, like life. There’s a lot of lessons to be learned on the gridiron that have to do with different types of blocks, downs, penalties, blitzes and pressure, etc. and they don’t involve a odd-shaped ball.
Plus, we have 7 more games to go. That’s a ton of opportunities to turn things around.
