Q: Coming off the home opener in which your team defeated the Morrisville Mustangs 26-17, what was your biggest concern in your team’s performance?
A: When we looked over the autopsy report the biggest concern was penalties. We had 9 penalties for 110 yards and that doesn’t speak for the discipline that we would like to have this season. We need to minimize mistakes because penalties become an equalizer. We were fortunate in not having most of our penalties stop scoring drives because we were better on offense last week. Our punter Kyle Peterson helped us win the battle of field position with his outstanding 50-yard average, so some of those penalties didn’t hurt us as much.
Q: We talked about a younger inexperienced offensive line last week, but your front five didn’t give up a sack last week vs. Morrisville. The Red Dragons rushed for 186 yards on 37 carries, but 178 of those came on 8 carries from quarterback Dan Pitcher. Are you concerned at all by a lack of a true running back came coming into this week’s matchup vs. Rowan?
A: We think our running game is very strong this season. Dan Pitcher helps add to that dimension in being a mobile quarterback. I don’t really care if our tailback is our leading rusher or not as long as whoever runs the ball does it effectively. Our offensive line played extremely well last week and we put a bunch of them up as the players of the game for us. The only real adversities we face based off last week are penalties.
Q: Next week’s opponent Rowan was preseason ranked #1 over Cortland in the NJAC Conference. How do you prepare your team mentally this week for a game of such huge magnitude early on in the season?
A: This week game is definitely a huge one for us. The great thing about having this matchup so early is that we have the ability to reflect upon last week’s game. The old adage in coaching is that you improve the most between games one and two. Every game is important especially the one’s in the conference. I like our performance last week in regards to our play and if we minimize the penalties we should be fine.
Q: Last season you beat Rowan on the road in week two, 27-20. Rowan went 7-2 overall last season in the NJAC finishing second to the Red Dragons. What sticks out as the most important aspect in beating a Rowan team that seems to be hungry in getting revenge on your team from last season?
A: We try not to concern ourselves in regards to opponent. We look to prepare the same each week. I’m certain Rowan is gunning to be conference champ this year after last year. We have been fortunate to have beaten such a great football team in the last two years. We look to keep that streak going this year. It all comes down to our football team and how we play. If you look at Rowan’s statistics from last week’s win over Lycoming 29-7, they almost mirror ours. They had just as many penalty yards as well.
Q: The Red Dragons led 27-7 going into the 4th quarter last season before giving up 13 unanswered points to hold onto to a 27-20 victory. Is stopping the aerial attack behind Frank Wilczynski the biggest focus on defense?
A: Rowan has an offense very similar to ours in terms of dimension. I wouldn’t be surprised if their quarterback is their leading rusher just like our team. Rowan has a great quarterback in Wilcyznski along with their receiving core. A game like this week will come down to special teams. It’s going to be a fourth quarter war and we’re ready for the challenge. We can’t have any “friendly fire,” like we had last week with all the penalties or that will be difference in the game.
No comments:
Post a Comment