“Emotion, absolutely no emotion.”
That’s how Parklane head coach Charlie Newlon described last Friday night’s opening game for his Pioneers.
“We played very poorly and came out flat, and there was no emotion. We made entirely too many mistakes.”
In football you have to develop amnesia because there is always a bigger task at hand, and this week is no different.
Parklane will play its home opener against a familiar opponent in the Tigers of Centreville Academy.
The two teams faced off in Parklane’s jamboree two weeks ago. Centreville will bring an experienced and well-coached team to McComb, and the Pioneers need all the emotion and sharpness they can muster.
Unlike Oak Forest, which primarily runs the veer offense, Newlon expects multiple formations and looks from an experienced Centreville team.
“Centreville will run a spread type offense and also runs a wing-slot type offense,” Newlon said. “But the one thing you can expect is for them to run right at you — power football.”
This is definitely a concern for Parklane’s coaching staff as Week 2 is already upon them.
Another area of concern for Parklane is the offense, which produced just 14 points in the opener.
The offense begins and ends with sophomore quarterback Chance Schmidt, who must get off to a better start this week for a chance to put points on the board early and take pressure off the Pioneer defense.
One area of praise from coach Newlon is special teams.
“We felt very good about what we were able to accomplish in the special teams department,” Newlon said.
If Schmidt can put last week out of his mind and the Pioneers bring emotion then Newlon’s most praised unit, special teams, can make the difference in a game the Pioneers need to win.
