The first half of the 2022 football campaign could not have gone much worse for the Springfield Blue Devils. Injuries and poor performance in the most critical times plagued the team throughout the first five games, making tough losses sting even more knowing what could have been.
In two of their prior three contests, the Blue Devils saw halftime leads evaporate, leaving players and coaches exacerbated and struggling to find answers.
A familiar script was setting up to start the second half of the year at Northview. Going into the locker room, the Blue Devils held a 10-6 advantage on the scoreboard and, while not perfect, things appeared more positive than negative going into the third quarter.
But unlike in weeks past, the team rose up in key moments, found momentum, controlled the line of scrimmage and won with authority by a 27-6 tally.
What changed? “I think it’s confidence,” said Head Coach Jerry Bell. “I could see it on their faces. One thing we talked about before the game is just believing in yourself and believing in each other.”
Despite having senior tailback Taylen Miller still not 100 percent with a foot ailment, the offensive line came together in the final 24 minutes to open up seams for him and junior quarterback Will Scott to hit for consistent gains. The end result was good for 268 yards rushing.
It’s a number that, while impressive, Bell believed was available based on film they studied throughout the week.
“Defensively, they had some tendencies,” he said, “and like I said our kids were dialed in and we got some great play out of several guys.”
The Blue Devils took more advantage of that in the second half. Despite leading at the break, Bell noted that the offensive line play was inconsistent, due in part to yet another injury. It was something he, his staff and the players recognized and corrected coming out of the locker room.
“We weren’t staying on our blocks and communicating well in the first half when it came to the offensive line,” the coach explained. “[Junior] Joey Keller went down and we had to put somebody in there to fill in. So, we had some communication breakdowns when it came to the blocking scheme or the assignment. We were able to get our kids settled down and get that rectified at halftime.
“But at halftime, everything that we liked was there, we just had to make sure we were doing a better job. I thought [senior] Collin Leasure did a great job of just talking to guys about what their assignment was. We struggled early with their defensive tackles because they were kind of bear crawling. Two of our offensive linemen were getting eaten up by their style of play. We made an adjustment at halftime with our guys and just made sure they understood that we couldn’t allow two guys to get tied up with that.”
With those corrections in place, the rest of the running game fell seamlessly into place with the strategy the coaching staff had in place.
“One of our philosophies is to take what they give you and I thought Will did a great job of being able to make the correct reads,” said Bell. “I thought he threw the ball well when he needed to and I thought he made great reads in our run game. He carried the ball really well. He had two scores and he made great reads on both of them.”
Seeing the adjustments work and the line play with cohesion was a welcome sight. It also proved inconsequential thanks to a defense that put together by far their best game of the year.
Prior to week six, the Blue Devils were surrendering nearly 39 points per game. While the number was better in Northern Lakes League pla –29 points per game–it was not a count that could put the team in position to win.
Surrendering a paltry six to the host Wildcats who, while far from being an offensive juggernaut, averaged better than three touchdowns more than that, was perhaps the biggest win of the night.
How they did it may have been even more impressive given the way things started.
“They were physical,” Bell said. “On their touchdown drive, I think it was like a 16or 18-play drive and I was really concerned that, after that, we weren’t going to be able to stop them. But our kids just started doing what they were coached to do and coming down hill. We were forcing turnovers, tackles for loss, coming down at the point of attack on the line of scrimmage and all of that is what we’ve been trying to get them to do all year.
“It finally clicked for them.” They stepped up big in the second half with turnovers, taking the ball away four times by game’s end. Their third down defense also was at its best, allowing the Wildcats to convert at only a 33 percent clip with most of those coming on the first half scoring drive.
“[Senior] Jack [Semler] had one [interception] and [junior] Will Smith had one and those were key turnovers there in the second half for us,” said Bell. “And then our offense was able to capitalize on that. In the previous games, we may get a turnover and then sputter offensively. We’re still not happy that we had nine penalties for like 90 yards, but we were able to overcome those penalties. At crucial moments, we were able to overcome them and come away with points on the scoreboard.”
Seeing success rather than demise was a welcome sight for Bell and his staff at long last.
“I’m not sure that relief is the word,” he said. “I’d say that we were excited for our kids because they’ve earned this. Me personally, I felt bad for our kids because we were so close and we talk about this all the time. In key moments in the game, we got to make sure we’re finishing and executing at a high level, and for them to be able to put a complete game together, it was exciting to see their reaction and their smiles.
“We’re on the bus on the way home, and our kids are singing and enjoying themselves. It was really cool to see that our kids were enjoying football again.”
In a perfect world, the long-awaited victory would springboard the Blue Devils for the remainder of the season’s second half. They will need to bring that physicality in week seven as they return home to face the NLL’s other Wildcats, Napoleon.
But with perhaps the biggest obstacles–those residing above the shoulders –overcome, Bell believes a strong finish is well within their grasp.
“I think they proved to themselves that they can win football games and fight through all the adversity,” said the coach. “We’ve had so many injuries and guys in and out. We’re thin as it is when it comes to the amount of guys that we have. I think our kids finally figured it out to have that confidence and have that swagger about themselves.
“They can take that momentum that they’ve created into this week versus Napoleon.”
The Blue Devils face the Wildcats at home tonight, September 30. Game time is 7 p.m.
