FROM KEITH GROLLER
Ok, I admit it. I may have physically been at Parkland on Friday night for a high school football game, but my mind was in St. Louis wondering what was going on with my Cardinals in Game 6 of the NLCS.
First of all, I guess I should thank Parkland for making quick work of Bethlehem Catholic, 49-6, and getting the game over as early as any game I've covered all season.
Intentionally staying away from my normal sources for Cardinals scores, I did my story from the press box and was back home shortly after 11 and had plenty of time to rewind my DVR and watch the whole game from the beginning.
People who live on Groller's Corner may have thought it strange to hear a lot of yelling and screaming from my house around midnight, but yes, I enjoyed every minute of the 9-0 victory over the Dodgers.
Four World Series in 10 years. I waited from second grade until I was a married man -- 1968 to 1982 -- for the Cardinals to be in any World Series and now they've been in four in 10 years. Hard to believe, Harry.
All I can say is, Albert who? Had the Cardinals resigned Albert Pujols, they never would have been able to get Michael Wacha and as great as Albert was for about for a decade, I think I'd rather have Wacha wearing the famous birds-on-the-bat uniform right now.
Ok, enough St. Louis love, at least for a few days.
My five things to take from a night in Orefield:
1. Great, great atmosphere at the game. You know there's a good crowd shaping up when the north-bound traffic backs up on Route 309 almost all the way back to Route 22. I'm all about the atmosphere and primarily because it was Homecoming, there was a lot of spirit and enthusiasm on display at Parkland. This is one school that attracts fans who just care about the school and don't necessarily need to have a son, grandson or nephew on the football team or a daughter, granddaughter or niece in the band for them to go out to games.
2. Parkland is very good football team. This was my second look at the Trojans in person and physically, they've been the most impressive squad to me. I realize I may have just caught them on good nights and against teams they matched up well with, but no team has the plethora of playmakers that Parkland has -- particularly a talent like Eli Redmond (No. 1, seen in previous game below) -- and no one has been more physical on defense. The coaching staff has done a good job of figuring some things and getting people in the right places. I still think they need to pass the ball more effectively to beat some quality teams in late November and December, but they have a legit shot to play into the 15th and 16th weeks of the season.
3. Bethlehem Catholic and Dieruff have a lot in common. The Golden Hawks and Huskies both won one game last year and have four wins so far this season. Both entered these final three weeks thinking and talking playoffs. But on Friday night, both got a reminder that these turnarounds aren't so easily accomplished, While Becahi was getting routed by a very strong Parkland team, Dieruff evidently didn't play well at all in a very disappointing home loss to Pocono Mountain West. After the game was over, Golden Hawks coach Joe Henrich talked about the growing pains and about consistency and staying in the right frame of mind. He didn't like the fact that his team was never really competitive in the abbreviated second half tonight and yet he's hardly down on them.
4. Jim Morgans (pictured at left) 
sets the right tone for his team. Jim has been involved in high school coaching longer than anybody I know. Jim and Ed Christian of East Stroudsburg South, who will likely be the No. 1 seed in the 4A subregional, go way back into the late 1960s as coaches. Morgans has surrounded himself with great people like former Liberty coach Tim Moncman and lets them coach. All the while, he does the motivating. He knows this is a long season and you don't panic when you lose to Easton in early September. You tinker and you fix things. The idea in high school football, like any sport on any level, is to be playing your best at the end of the season. With this Friday night being the first Friday when a fairly heavy jacket was a must-have, Parkland is playing very good football. Morgans and his veteran staff have a knack of getting teams to peak at just the right time.
5. As regular Groller's Corner readers and @KeithGroller twitter followers know, I am a big fan of the Liberty High School band. The Grenadier Band is the one band I'd go to see whether or not there was a football game attached to their performance. Easton has always been No. 2 in my band rankings. Freedom is always in the top-five as well. But tonight I was impressed by the Parkland band. One of my favorite music groups is 70's band Chicago and they delivered several Chicago songs flawlessly at halftime. They also do that USC -- that's Southern California, not South Carolina -- classic "Tribute to Troy" with style. Journey's "Don't Stop Believin" was also covered. It isn't quite the Grenadier Band's goosebump-producing "Rule Brittania," but it's good stuff. Kudos the Trojans musicians.
sets the right tone for his team. Jim has been involved in high school coaching longer than anybody I know. Jim and Ed Christian of East Stroudsburg South, who will likely be the No. 1 seed in the 4A subregional, go way back into the late 1960s as coaches. Morgans has surrounded himself with great people like former Liberty coach Tim Moncman and lets them coach. All the while, he does the motivating. He knows this is a long season and you don't panic when you lose to Easton in early September. You tinker and you fix things. The idea in high school football, like any sport on any level, is to be playing your best at the end of the season. With this Friday night being the first Friday when a fairly heavy jacket was a must-have, Parkland is playing very good football. Morgans and his veteran staff have a knack of getting teams to peak at just the right time.
No comments:
Post a Comment