Many a gridiron coach will preach the utmost importance of playing four-quarter football, a cliché but nonetheless true adage of never letting up in order to win the game.
While Springfield found themselves on the winning end a week ago, and again over Start to the tune of a 3328 triumph, they went through a really rough patch of football that made the win a more difficult accomplishment than it needed to be.
In week three, they were largely their own worst enemy thanks to a bevy of undisciplined penalties. For the game, the Blue Devils were whistled 12 times resulting in 133 penalty yards. Of those, six came in the final 13 minutes of the first half and accounted for 73 yards, including four dead-ball, unsportsmanlike conduct infractions. One of those led to the ejection of senior lineman Joey Keller.
“I put the blame on me,” said Head Coach LaCharles Smith. “I’ve got to do a better job during practice Monday through Thursday. We’re trying to get rid of all the personal fouls and [infractions] that are putting ourselves in a hole. Obviously, we come out here and have a guy get kicked out, it’s [bad]. I’ve just got to keep challenging these guys about playing clean. That’s all they have to do.”
When the dust settled at halftime, the Blue Devils found themselves trailing 2212. The visiting Spartans scored only once in that ugly second quarter, with those eight points coming just two plays after a Springfield interception was overturned due to pass interference and the unsportsmanlike call that resulted in Keller’s ejection, moving the ball inside their own five-yard line.
Needless to say, there was work to be done in the locker room.
“I took a page out of [Head] Coach [Mel] Pearson’s book from back in our St. John’s days, and we just had a quiet locker room,” Smith said. “I just wanted the kids to think about how mentally tough we were. I didn’t think we played mentally tough in the first half with all the penalties and everything. I just wanted them to focus on their jobs. We have to put together four quarters.”
“When we went back to the locker room, we didn’t really say too much,” added sophomore tailback Eli Beal. “It was just mental mistakes we kept messing up. We got into the locker room and Coach Smith, he said just think about the little errors we did and then he said ‘clean it up.’
“So, our team just got back together as a group and then we came back out here ready to go.”
After intermission, the undisciplined play largely vanished. What wasn’t said had a big impact on the Blue Devils turning things around. Like a week prior, the results were not immediate but–especially come the fourth quarter–the home team took control of the game.
“It was hard, but at halftime we all talked about getting our heads back in the game and getting the momentum back,” said senior defensive end Jacob Landin. “We were able to come back because all this game really is, is momentum. Whoever has the momentum is going to come out victorious, and we did that tonight.”
That flip in momentum came midway through the third quarter on the defensive side of the ball. After being burned by big plays and penalties in the first half, senior defensive lineman Isaac Evans came up with a big stop behind the line of scrimmage on what otherwise looked to be a promising screen pass that disrupted the Spartans’ opening drive.
On fourth down, they avoided a near disaster when the Spartans faked a punt, passing to an uncovered gunner on the far side of the field, but the throw landed well short of its target.
The Blue Devils needed just two plays–a 24-yard completion from senior quarterback Will Scott to sophomore tight end Logan Goodrick and a threeyard touchdown run from Beal– to pull to within one score at 2218.
It was the rejuvenated defense’s turn again to come up big, this time picking off the Spartans on a third down pass to get the ball back with five minutes to play in the third quarter.
Smith then went back to the run game, his offense’s bread and butter, to retake the lead. Beal continued to shoulder the load, capping the drive with an 11-yard score on the first play of the second quarter and converting the two-point try to put Springfield ahead for good 2622.
The sophomore continued to show off his exceptional skill and growth just since the prior week. He carried the ball 35 times for 209 yards and four touchdowns on the evening and was dominant late when it mattered most. The fourth quarter alone accounted for 109 of those yards on just 12 carries as Beal and the Blue Devils offensive line wore down the Spartans.
“I’m willing to put my body on the line for this team and this coaching staff,” said Beal. “I feel like they really care about this community and what we’ve got going on. I’m just willing to do anything it takes to get the win.”
“He’s growing up before our eyes,” the coach added. “It’s going to get better with Eli, the sky’s the limit. He’s one of those kids that’s hard-working in the weight room, he’s hard-working on sprints and he’s just a hardworking kid. We know there’s going to be some hiccups here and there, but he’s doing a good job cleaning up his mistakes.”
The defense continued to do their part with big plays, too. Landin came up with the biggest of those, the only Blue Devil sack of Spartans senior quarterback Billy Wertz, for a loss of eight on the third down following Beal’s touchdown to force a punt from deep in Spartan territory.
It was a continuation of what’s been a dominating start for the senior on the defensive front.
“I do a lot of speed drills, a lot of lifting, a lot of dip and rip drills trying to stay low and keep my hands active,” Landin said of what makes him successful. “They had some big guys out there so I just used my speed and strength to my advantage, and I was just able to make some big plays for my team.”
Scott accounted for the final Springfield touchdown on the ensuing drive, a six-yard keeper to extend the lead to 33-22 with 7:40 remaining on the clock. It was a much better day for the senior as well. While not eyepopping, he managed to finish 10-17 for 91 yards through the air.
Smith opened up the passing playbook to allow his quarterback to throw on the run more often and generate some short but effective completions through jet sweep and shovel passes, too.
“We just moved the pocket a little so he could use his legs a little bit,” he said. “He’s a very athletic kid. We’re going to get that passing game going sooner or later.
“Will didn’t throw for a lot of yards today, but he still is the engine for the car there. He makes everything happen. He did a good job of keeping everyone poised in the huddle and leading those drives.”
The Spartans, to their credit, did not go quietly in the fourth quarter, but the big plays remained absent. They needed 10 plays–and Springfield 15-yard facemask penalty that negated a sack–to find the end zone for the first time since the second quarter. In the process, nearly five minutes evaporated from the clock.
When the Blue Devils got the ball back with 2:44 remaining, the Spartans still had all three timeouts in hand. But Beal and company made that a moot point, biting off big chunks in the run game play after play before eventually converting a fourth-and-one run to move the chains and run out the clock.
“Just on film, we knew that we could run the ball on these guys,” said Smith. “I’ve been challenging the kids on playing clean and we need to play clean football for four quarters. Obviously, we didn’t do that and got ourselves in a hole. I challenged the kids at halftime about playing clean in the second half.
“We started playing clean, put up a lot of points running the ball right at them. That’s what we saw on film.”
As seen in both of their wins, it’s certainly better to be a second- half team as opposed to peaking in the opening 24 minutes. But Smith and his Blue Devils hope to establish all 48 minutes of football in each remaining contest with the daunting Northern Lakes League Buckeye Division schedule fast approaching.
“We have to keep momentum on the field because like I said earlier, all this is about momentum,” said Landin. “We got the momentum back tonight, and we got it back last weekend [in the second half] and were able to come out victorious.”
The Blue Devils are on the road tonight, traveling to Bowling Green to take on the Bobcats. Kick off is at 7 p.m.
