Prep Football: Back At It
No one probably enjoyed waiting 3,598 days (or 514 weeks exactly) for a win more than Al Way.
The Harrisburg High School football coach, who stepped away from the program following the 2005 season, last won in a 28-6 first round playoff game against Massac County that season.
Fast forward to last Friday night and the feeling was similar, yet all that much more rewarding as the Bulldogs earned their first victory of the season, beating Du Quoin 21-14 in dramatic fashion.
"You hate to think about starting the season 0-2," Way said Monday following the team's morning Labor Day practice. "When we got that first win, it has to helps the kids' spirits, plus, it helps our chances of having a winning season."
Harrisburg (1-1) can take one more step to a winning season when they host Boonville, Indiana this Friday at Taylor Field.
Boonville, which is 30 minutes east of Evansville, is off to a 2-1 start the season, posting a pair of victories against Washington and Vincennes Lincoln, before losing to Jasper 23-8 last week.
Boonville replaces Marion on the schedule as the two schools renew a rivalry that dates back nearly 15 years.
Harrisburg knocked off the Pioneers 47-20 in the state championship season of 2000 and won 18-0 in 1999.
The biggest strides Way said his team made from Week 1 to Week 2 was on the defensive side of the ball.
"There's no doubt we played a lot better on defense," he said. "We really only had one series where we broke down. We had them fourth and long and let them out of the pocket for a crucial first down. I thought again, our secondary just played tremendous."
On offense however, Way felt a little different.
"Offensively, we were still sloppy and made too many mistakes. We have running backs running to the wrong holes, fumbles from center snaps, blocking the wrong guy, running the wrong routes. It's just sloppy and that's what we talked about (Monday)."
The name of the game for a Boonville team that Way describes as "physical."
"We have to quit making mistakes where we stop ourselves," he said. "Now, part of it that may be that it was so hot last week, that I know our attention wasn't as good as it should have been. Other than that, it's just concentration in practice. We have to get these kids to understand that one play changes everything. You drive 80 yards and fumble, you drive 80 yards and jump off sides. One play changes an entire series and changes an entire game."
Under first year head coach Darin Ward, Boonville is a team that Way knows will come in ready to challenge his Bulldogs.
As a point of emphasis, Way has continued to preach the defense, an area that he knows could be make or break against the Pioneers.
"Last week we worked real hard with our defensive lineman, trying to stay down and come off the ball. We have to work on getting our linebackers where they need to be. At times our linebackers did a great job and other times, they didn't read their keys and get to where they were supposed to go. We have to hope our secondary continues to play the way it has been playing. When we can get that kind of production from our secondary, it makes our job up front so much easier."
Michael Dann covers prep and college sports for the Harrisburg Daily Register. Follow him on Twitter: @spydieshooter