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Post by Defcord on Oct 16, 2014 13:50:19 GMT -6
The school I am at has to have a huge upset this week in order to make the playoffs. I think it is possible and can't wait until tomorrow night.
So I thought it would be fun to ask everyone what the best upset they have been part of is and if their team did anything special in preparing for that game?
My best upset actually came when I was a head baseball coach of an average team. We were right at .500 and had to play the #5 team in the state at their place. We didn't do anything out of the ordinary in preparation but we executed all of the things in our style of play very well. We were supposed to be intimidated because the other team was made up of big slugging type kids but our kids thought they could knock out Tyson. I knew it was going to be a fun one when we had bases loaded with two outs and our hitter got hit by a pitch, which would have scored the first run of the game but the umpire held him in the box. I went out to complain and the umpire said "coach I asked him if he leaned into it on purpose and he said yes." I was livid with our player and asked him what the heck he was thinking because we were huge on finding a way on and the runs will come (we gave "Man Award" for kids that got on by getting hit by pitch). "He said coach I didn't want to settle for one run because I am going get a lot more runs as soon as they throw me a fastball." I had my doubts because he was our seven hole and only hit mid .200s. Next pitch was a fastball and he singled to score 3 runs. It was awesome! We ended up winning 6-4.
I am hoping to get a good football story like this soon.
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Post by wolverine55 on Oct 16, 2014 13:56:50 GMT -6
I didn't really have a varsity role as I was a freshmen coach, but back in 2004 I coached at a 5A program in Illinois. We played the number 1 team in our class in the playoffs and they were a conference opponent who beat us 41-14 in the regular season. And...it wasn't that close! But our kids played a great game, they made some mistakes they normally didn't make, and we upset them 21-14 in the rematch, which came in the second round of the playoffs.
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mhs99
Junior Member
Posts: 250
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Post by mhs99 on Oct 16, 2014 19:07:55 GMT -6
My first year as a head I inherited a clunker of a program that there was talk of shutting down completely, it had not won a league game in three years. I had been a JV coach in the program for some time and when I took it over the kids were great, bought in, hit weights etc. We went into our last game of the year at 5-4 had won a couple of league games but hosted our league champion who was 9-0, killing teams and would later go on to win a state title. It was Senior Night and our kids were jacked we jumped out to a 26-0 lead, they woke up and blitzed us in quarters 3 and 4 and went up 31-26 on us with 1:57 to go and we got hit with a clip on the kick return and started at out 9 yard line.We went no huddle for the first time all year and marched down to the 11. We threw a comeback on 4th and 10 and scored with :18 left, missed the 2 and went up 32-31. They got it back the kid heaved one 60 yards and it bounced around twice in our end zone and they dropped it. Our students, players and parents rushed the field; awesome stuff. I truly believe that win propelled our kids and staff to another level as we have had great success since including a couple of league titles and a state championship. A great upset is often like a pebble in a pond as there are many ripples that get larger over time.
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Post by fantom on Oct 17, 2014 10:26:41 GMT -6
I played HS football in northeastern Pennsylvania back in the late 60's/early '70's. At that time PA hadn't gone to a state playoff system yet but in our part of PA we had an Eastern Conference championship game between schools from the Scranton Area and those near Pottsville. Our regular season ended in early November but, because some teams had traditional Thanksgiving games, the championship game was played several weeks later, in early December.
My junior year, 1969, we played Mount Carmel in the championship game and got greased 47-6. Because they were loaded with underclassmen and we were very senior-heavy they were huge favorites to return to the game the next year but we were not.
What fans didn't know was that we had a VERY good soph class coming up so that we were young the next year but very talented. The offseason was dedicated to getting back to the game and beating Mt. Carmel. The coaches plastered the field house walls with clippings from the game and Mt. Carmel memorabilia. You could say that were were heavily motivated.
We were fortunate enough to make it back to the championship game again in 1970 (The largest margin of victory was 15 points) and we played Mt. Carmel again. With the three week layoff there was a huge buildup in the local papers and radio. When we played at home with a standing-room crowd the atmoshere was more electric that any that I've experienced since.
We won 14-8. The coaches had a smart game plan, taking the air out of the ball to shorten the game (We went 0-3 passing) and won the same way that we had all year- with defense and the kicking game. After the game there was an impromptu parade, with the players riding fire trucks through the three town that made up our district.
I went on and played small college football and Have coached for 35 years, winning some state championships, but I've never experienced anything like that again.
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Post by blb on Oct 17, 2014 10:54:33 GMT -6
2010, my first year at current school.
Week 8 we are playing geographical rival whom we have not beaten since 1989. School is half again as big as ours enrollment-wise.
They have clinched playoffs, are ranked in Top Ten, a win will give them share of conference title. We are 4-3, have to win out to make post-season.
It's their Senior Night.
On Monday I give our kids copy of poem "It Couldn't Be Done" without comment.
Long story short we stop them four times on 4th Down including last play of game, force two turnovers in Red Zone, have no turnovers ourselves and only one penalty (on a PAT), kick a FG with under a minute left to win 16-14.
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Post by mattharris75 on Oct 17, 2014 10:58:28 GMT -6
Entering the 2010 season our football program had never had a winning season, never having won more than four games in its short five year history. We had been 3-7 the previous season, the first under a new coach.
In the off-season we switched to the Split Back Veer, and the kids worked their tails off in the S&C program.
Game one of 2010 we played the top team in the state in our classification and lost 21-0. First time I'd ever been proud of a loss, as our guys fought their tails off and were really only a few mistakes away from being in a dogfight with them.
Week two, we're playing an up & coming program, and they think pretty highly of themselves. The first thing their head coach asked us while chatting before the game was whether we thought they stacked up pretty well with the top team in the state we had played the previous week.
Here is a highlight video from the game:
We proceeded to come from 21-7 down at halftime to win 42-41 in double overtime. Our freshman starting QB (now a preferred walk on H-back at alabama) scored the go ahead TD in the second overtime and was hit hard in the head (4 minutes into the video). The game had to be stopped and the EMT's had to come out and put him on a back board and take him to the hospital. The other team then scored a TD on their possession. Instead of kicking and going to a third OT, they decide to go for two. We stoned them on the 2 point conversion attempt (4:30 into the video) to win the game.
We then proceeded to win 10 games in a row and go to the second round of the playoffs, marking a ton of firsts for our program. Before that season we'd never had a winning season, and since that season we haven't had a losing season. Still gives me chills thinking about that night, and the long term impact it's had on our program.
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Post by dytmook on Oct 17, 2014 13:39:02 GMT -6
The best coaching I had was playing a team who beat us 69-10 the year before. This team was two divisions larger than us and had a stud wing back/corner who was going to Michigan State. The game didn't start great and we were down 21-3 pretty quickly. Then we scored again and again before half to keep it close. We got the ball to start the second half and the shoot out was on. We ended up winning 58-56 on a touchdown where we put a sprint out protection in. They still had a shot at the end, but we held strong. It was awesome.
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Post by dubber on Oct 18, 2014 10:50:53 GMT -6
The year after I graduated.
We had a good team, but week 9 every year was against the best small school team in our area. They were actually on a 56-game regular season win streak.
My senior year we had them knotted up 20-20 at halftime and then they rolled us second half.
I was back from college and on the sidelines that game. We rode our tailback to over 200 yards, got two special team turnovers, and ended up winning 20-14.
My little brother sacked them on the last play to clinch it.
What was neat about it was our entire area (schools from our conference and their's) were a buzz about it.
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pistola
Sophomore Member
Posts: 193
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Post by pistola on Oct 19, 2014 19:32:54 GMT -6
indiancoach.. howd it go?
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Post by Defcord on Oct 20, 2014 6:15:09 GMT -6
indiancoach.. howd it go? It did not go well. We aren't ready to win the big game I guess. Hopefully we can learn from it and use it as motivation moving on.
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Post by coachcotner on Oct 20, 2014 9:03:50 GMT -6
Entering the 2010 season our football program had never had a winning season, never having won more than four games in its short five year history. We had been 3-7 the previous season, the first under a new coach. In the off-season we switched to the Split Back Veer, and the kids worked their tails off in the S&C program. Game one of 2010 we played the top team in the state in our classification and lost 21-0. First time I'd ever been proud of a loss, as our guys fought their tails off and were really only a few mistakes away from being in a dogfight with them. Week two, we're playing an up & coming program, and they think pretty highly of themselves. The first thing their head coach asked us while chatting before the game was whether we thought they stacked up pretty well with the top team in the state we had played the previous week. Here is a highlight video from the game: We proceeded to come from 21-7 down at halftime to win 42-41 in double overtime. Our freshman starting QB (now a preferred walk on H-back at alabama) scored the go ahead TD in the second overtime and was hit hard in the head (4 minutes into the video). The game had to be stopped and the EMT's had to come out and put him on a back board and take him to the hospital. The other team then scored a TD on their possession. Instead of kicking and going to a third OT, they decide to go for two. We stoned them on the 2 point conversion attempt (4:30 into the video) to win the game. We then proceeded to win 10 games in a row and go to the second round of the playoffs, marking a ton of firsts for our program. Before that season we'd never had a winning season, and since that season we haven't had a losing season. Still gives me chills thinking about that night, and the long term impact it's had on our program. This goes to show that sometimes all it takes is one big win for a program to take off
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Post by joelee on Oct 20, 2014 9:08:53 GMT -6
In 1995 we went 5-5, lost our last game of the season, and backed in to the playoffs by the slimmest margin. We went on the road in round 1 and beat the #1 team in the state by 2 points. In round 2 on the road we beat a team in OT that handled us by 3 td's a month before. In round 3 we went on the road and beat the #3 team in the state 6 to 0 in OT who had beat us 48-3 earlier in the year. In round 4 we went on the road and beat #4 team in the state 35-6. Finally it all came to an end in the championship game as #2 in the state ended our season at 9-6.
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osceola
Sophomore Member
Posts: 148
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Post by osceola on Oct 20, 2014 13:15:53 GMT -6
One as a player, one as a coach.
As a player, Was playing for Jacksonville Texas in 2003 as a junior. We had a brutal pre-district schedule, new coach, and we went 0-5 to start the year. Palestine Texas had a RB named Adrian Peterson, was rolling into district 5-0....and had scored about 55 a game so far that year. Played them at home to start the district, and although Adrian had 177 yards.....we bottled them up for the most part and won 24-20. We went on to finish District Champs at 5-5 and lost in the first round of the playoffs.
Coaching I was at Palestine (go figure right) and we had #4 Athens at home. Athens was 3-1 with a loss to a state ranked team in a classification hire. We were 2-2. With the game tied at 20.....went on a 8 minute drive in the 4th quarter to win 28-20, and did not throw the ball. Inside zone out of the gun was called about 12 times.
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Post by shocktroop34 on Oct 20, 2014 15:44:36 GMT -6
One as a plaayer; One as a coach.
Player: Playing for Northwood (Institute at that time, now University) D-II in MI, we played Westminster (PA). They were riding a 27 game winning streak under coaches Fusco and Nicholson. The streak was the longest on any level in the country at the time. We won the game 7-6. We returned to campus late that night to signs everywhere that read "We Beat the Streak."
Coach: Playing the biggest school in our conference. Their roster (white and red team) was 60-65 strong and loaded...ours 35. We were down 21-0 with just over eight minutes left in the game. We won 28-21.
At the 2min. mark there was something like 8:24 on the clock in the 4th, and it doesn't show on film (but you can hear the commentator say it later on). At the 2:40 mark, that is my son #8.
You gotta see the last play. Watch the kid with the ball raised in his hand 3:56. Damnedest thing I ever saw:
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Post by coach2013 on Oct 22, 2014 10:11:59 GMT -6
The school I am at has to have a huge upset this week in order to make the playoffs. I think it is possible and can't wait until tomorrow night.
So I thought it would be fun to ask everyone what the best upset they have been part of is and if their team did anything special in preparing for that game?
My best upset actually came when I was a head baseball coach of an average team. We were right at .500 and had to play the #5 team in the state at their place. We didn't do anything out of the ordinary in preparation but we executed all of the things in our style of play very well. We were supposed to be intimidated because the other team was made up of big slugging type kids but our kids thought they could knock out Tyson. I knew it was going to be a fun one when we had bases loaded with two outs and our hitter got hit by a pitch, which would have scored the first run of the game but the umpire held him in the box. I went out to complain and the umpire said "coach I asked him if he leaned into it on purpose and he said yes." I was livid with our player and asked him what the heck he was thinking because we were huge on finding a way on and the runs will come (we gave "Man Award" for kids that got on by getting hit by pitch). "He said coach I didn't want to settle for one run because I am going get a lot more runs as soon as they throw me a fastball." I had my doubts because he was our seven hole and only hit mid .200s. Next pitch was a fastball and he singled to score 3 runs. It was awesome! We ended up winning 6-4.
I am hoping to get a good football story like this soon. I think it was the second win of my HC career. We were 1-4 and not very cohesive. Wed lost our starting qb for the year, wed lost our " all league" dback/tailback (team cancer) and he was a big part of the issue, without him, we played like a team and we took the number 2 team in the state to overtime and beat them. Huge upset. We finished with a winning record. Taught me a valuable lesson on the power of team vs individual talent.
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