The Springfield Blue Devils failed to build on the momentum of their first win of the football season a week prior at Northview, dropping a 27-6 decision on Homecoming against the Northern Lakes League’s other Wildcats of Napoleon.
Facing a familiar runheavy attack, the Blue Devils struggled mightily to get off the field, particularly on third and fourth downs. It was something they did much better a week prior, and the results were evident in both games.
By night’s end, the Wildcats were 6-14 on third downs, though two of those included the final play of the first half and a kneel down at game’s end. But they were 34 on fourth down conversions, including the game’s first touchdown. Their other two fourth down conversions also came on touchdownscoring drives.
“That’s just reminiscent of what we had against Northview–trying to get off the field on third down,” said Head Coach Jerry Bell. “We practice those scenarios. I just don’t know because in the secondary, our eyes are looking in the wrong spot. We’re not keying the right people. But then the same thing is, we’re right there to make plays and we run right by it or we miss a tackle and that’s what happened several times on those third downs or we jump offsides and give them a first down.”
The resulting time of possession edge was staggering, an area of the game that the team could not afford to lose against a squad like Napoleon. Springfield possessed the ball for less than seven of the game’s opening 24 minutes, running a total of 13 plays on offense for just 15 yards.
That improved but only marginally after halftime, as they controlled the ball for just over 10 minutes. Napoleon won the time of possession battle 31:05 to 16:55, nearly doubling up the Blue Devils in that regard.
“We knew that they were tight end heavy,” Bell explained of the Wildcats rushing attack. “We were bumping our front to the tight end and they were 98 percent run to the tight end all night. But there were times where we didn’t bump our front to the tight end for some reason and we got gashed because we were outmanned to that side.”
Despite the heavy reliance on the run game, two of the Wildcats’ four touchdowns came through the air. They took a 13-0 lead just over two minutes before halftime on a wheel route to the halfback 31 yards to paydirt and opened the fourth quarter with a deep strike down the middle for a 37-yard touchdown.
The second of those scores bothered Bell the most.
“We’re in a cover three look so there’s not supposed to be anybody getting behind you,” he said. “That’s not supposed to happen. But our eyes are not disciplined enough and we’re not reading our keys.”
Given the frequency with which Napoleon ran the ball–and ran it successfully– one could understand why the secondary might have their eyes too frequently locked in on what’s happening behind the line of scrimmage, something Bell acknowledges may have played a factor in the big pass plays. “Probably I would say that,” the coach noted. “But again, we practice it, we go through all those scenarios and we just get to the game and we get these kinds of breakdowns. And when we break down, it’s catastrophic.”
The Blue Devils also had a rare breakdown on special teams in this contest, an area of the field they’ve normally had quite a bit of success thus far. Senior Jack Semler muffed a punt after a big third down stop on Napoleon’s opening drive, setting the Wildcats up at the Springfield 16.
Though the defense held stout again, stopping a fourth down run a yard short of the sticks, it set the team back considerably in the early going.
“The muffed punt was huge,” said Bell. “I think that was a big turning point for us with Napoleon able to get the ball right there. We had success and got them off the field, and then we muff it. That’s not like Jack. He doesn’t ever muff a punt. He’s got sure hands and we practice all that stuff.”
The offense followed with a quick three-and-out, giving the ball back to the Wildcats in plus territory where they took advantage from there.
“We were flat the entire game and I don’t know why,” Bell said. “I thought we had great energy all week, we talked about energy in the pregame and then we came out flat.”
The injury bug also bit the Blue Devils in the second half, this time at a very key position. Junior quarterback Will Scott had his hand gashed when trying to convert a fourth down run late in the third quarter. The wound forced him out of the rest of the game and will keep him sidelined through week eight against Maumee, and possibly longer than that.
Ironically, the Blue Devils’ only scoring drive came after Scott was felled. Sophomore Kaiden Taylor took the reigns trailing 19-0 and promptly led the team on a six-play, 68-yard touchdown drive that took just over two minutes. It was a drive that featured three runs of 16 or more yards and looked very fluid throughout.
Bell couldn’t explain why, even with the change at quarterback, things worked so much better for those halfdozen plays. “To be honest with you, I don’t know,” he said. “That is what we looked at all game. It was the same look that they gave us all game. We ran those same plays all game. That just shows you what our potential is. I just don’t know.”
Moving forward, the coach doesn’t expect much to change offensively with Taylor at the helm. He is similar in build to Scott, listed at an inch taller but thinner, and like Scott has only known this system in his high school career.
“I don’t think anything will [change],” Bell said. “He throws really well. He’s going to have to make his reads, but I know he can run the ball, too. He’s got tons of reps so he’s ready. He knows the offense. We’ll get him ready to go and you shouldn’t see much of a change out of that [position].
“We’re going to rerack, get ready for Maumee, give them our best shot.”
The Blue Devils travel to Maumee for tonight’s game. Kickoff is 7 p.m.
