Monday, December 19, 2011

That's a Wrap, the High School Football Season Ends In PA.

Southern Coaching Staff
                                                     
                                                                                    
The long Pennsylvania High School Football season came to an end with one local team making it all the way to Hershey.  Although Southern was an underdog, I thought they had the stuff it takes to win a game like this.  I knew Clairton was going to have a big play or two.  I think the limit was going to be three but 5 plays accounted for 300 yards. 

Lost in a 35-19 score was how tough Southern actually played.  17-10 in first down, nearly 31 out of 48 minutes possessing the ball and 70-39 in plays run.  The only one that does matter is the one on the scoreboard.  Clairton had enough speed to put points on the board.  They also had enough to keep points off the board and dug down deep when they were tired in the 4th quarter.  Tip your hat to the Bears.

All are local teams did well in respect to the season itself.  First of all, the weather was something we haven't seen for almost 40 years.  Due to flooding in the early season, practice and game schedules were turned upside down.  Then add the Halloween snowstorm.  Strange enough the bad weather held out most of November and December.

Southern, Mount Carmel, and Shamokin all have something in common.  They overcame adversity to win their respective district and almost win a state championship. Southern lost 2000 yards from the line of scrimmage in the first 10 minutes of double sessions.  Mount Carmel had to overcome negative press and player suspensions that could have torn a team apart.  Finally, Shamokin pulled itself up and made a strong playoff run which electrified a community. 

Even though these were the headlines that followed the teams most of the season, all three teams saw tremendous player and team improvement from week one until the season was over.  We often see wins, losses and championships as a measure of success.  You may want to add overcoming adversity to mix.

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