About this series: Huntley football coach John Hart has given the Northwest Herald and sportswriter Jeff Arnold full access to his schedule for the 2013 season. From coaching meetings to the pre-game locker room, Arnold will write weekly stories at inside the Red Raiders curriculum, offering a glimpse into the lives of high school football players.
HUNTLEY — Mike Andrews sat alone at the side of a long hallway at the end of another grueling Friday night, unwrapping the tape around his ankle.
From his vantage point, the senior defensive back watched his Huntley teammates walk quietly towards the locker room. Most walked with their heads down, trying to digest a loss to rival Jacobs in which the Red Raiders could not overcome a slow start, three turnovers and a 20-point half-time deficit.
It had been around three hours since Huntley coach John Hart reminded his players that if they wanted to keep getting closer to securing a playoff spot, they couldn’t afford to let the Senior evening distractions affect the way they play.
Before Andrews and teammates Jordan Kabb and Brandon Dranka led the team out of the aluminum-sided storage shed where the Red Raiders meet before kick-off, offensive coordinator Mike Slattery approached and punched each player.
“Full 48 minutes,” Slattery said in a soft voice just north of a whisper. “Indemnity. 48 full minutes.
Everyone nodded in agreement. But somewhere between the pre-game parade of players bringing their parents across the sideline and kick-off, Hart’s message evaporated.
In the first 24 minutes, Huntley’s offense generated 72 yards. On their final two drives of the first half, the Red Raiders stalled inside Jacobs’ 20-yard line, unable to cut a nearly three touchdown deficit.
In the second half, the Red Raiders outscored the Golden Eagles 20-7. But the slow start, along with two lost fumbles and an interception – all in the last two quarters – doomed any chance for Huntley to win their fifth game. As Jacobs players celebrated at least part of the Golden Eagles’ first league title since 1979, Red Raiders wide receiver Brandon Altergott struggled to put his thoughts together.
“I just don’t think we were there at the start of the game – we just weren’t there,” Altergott said quietly. “I don’t even know what (happened). I am speechless. »
Everything was clear: a loss on Friday in the regular season finale at Crystal Lake South would end the year in disappointing fashion. A win would make the Red Raiders playoff eligible, making them the second Huntley team in school history to finish with a winning record in consecutive seasons.
Yet, while still in a position to leave a legacy, Jacobs’ defeat – especially for the Huntley seniors who had played their last game at home – would take some time to sink in.
“We really didn’t take advantage of the quick start — at all,” Andrews said, occasionally looking up from his tape work. “Every time we have to deal with things like Elgin, when we started slow when there was a huge backlog, that game when it was our senior night and things weren’t the way they normally are. … »
His voice trailed off before resuming.
“Coach Hart always says change is not good for an athlete. »
• • •
Four days earlier, Hart had worried about senior night and breast cancer awareness festivities.
High school coaches hate having their routines interrupted. On Monday, Hart told his players to be courteous to their parents, understanding how much the occasion meant to them. He had asked players to wear only pink socks and wristbands, eliminating the risk of something as small as their uniform taking away business at hand.
On Friday night, in the moments before the players knelt on one knee as they said the Lord’s Prayer in unison while touching the shoulder of the teammate in front of them, Hart had been clear in ensuring that the concentration was not lost.
Although Hart believed he and his coaching staff prepared the Red Raiders to deal with Jacobs’ wealth of offensive weapons, Hart understood his team could not afford to make life easier for his opponent, who had won five games in a row.
“Getting started fast is extremely important,” Hart told his players. “As much as acknowledging cancer victims, as much as having a senior night out with your parents, as much as it is incredibly important – maybe bigger than football – when we step onto the pitch, football is all that matters.
“In those 48 minutes, that’s all that matters. »
• • •
Putting together 48 minutes of continuous football had been one of Huntley’s biggest problems for much of the year.
At the start of the season, the Red Raiders failed to complete training, often leaving points on the pitch. It hadn’t mattered in wins over Bartlett and Elgin, but once the Fox Valley Conference season started, Huntley found ways to fight back.
But in wins over Prairie Ridge and McHenry, Hart began to see long stretches of the kind of football he believed his team was capable of playing. Now, apparently with some momentum, he believed the Red Raiders were in a prime position to continue to progress against Jacobs.
The next step was to make his players believe.
“We have to find the focus that we almost had in the last two games,” Hart continued. “There is another level for you guys. We just have to line up and play the best football we have. I know I keep preaching this, but that’s how close we are to being a great team. We just have to play our best football every game.
Instead, flashes of Huntley’s struggles returned at a time in the season when the Red Raiders could least afford it. Despite the defense limiting Jacobs to just seven points in the second half, the offense – which had struggled to find rhythm during a three-game losing streak – couldn’t maintain what it had done the previous two weeks.
Andrews argued his teammates would find a way to turn things around against South, with the Red Raiders’ hopes on the line. Altergott agreed, saying a week of intensive training would get things back on track. Hart had dismissed quarterback Blake Jacobs and told him to rule out errors that marred what was otherwise a memorable individual performance in which he threw for over 300 yards and two touchdowns.
But if his team had any chance of playing beyond the regular season, they had to find a way to get off to a better start. But like they had been doing all season, Hart said, his kids just kept fighting. Not now. Not with so much to play.
“I don’t care about failures, I don’t care about mistakes – you don’t want to do the same ones over and over again – but I love the fight,” Hart said. “And there were a lot of (players) there fighting.
