by Jason Strunk
Lubbock High School Head Football Coach
Follow @WestTXCoach
After three solid weeks of practices and two scrimmages, it was time to tee it for real against the Seminole Indians Friday night.
The Westerners came out hot, forcing a three-and-out on Seminole’s initial series. Our offense hit the field running. We marched down inside the five yard line. A holding penalty (hmmmm) negated a Dae Dae Morgan TD run. We had to settle for a Manny Rodriguez field goal, his first ever varsity attempt. He nailed it!
Unfortunately for the Westerners, that would be the end of the hot start. Seminole took control and for the next ten minutes, we played some not so good football. The Indians capitalized. We found ourselves down 30-3 at halftime.
Our defense kept us around for most of the night. They had some big stops, but we just couldn’t get anything going offensively. We missed some things, we dropped some balls, we ran some wrong routes. We just didn’t help ourselves.
Seminole came out on top 44-9. LHS freshmen Isaiah Johnson scored his first varsity TD late in the game to cap the scoring for LHS.
Not all is lost; it’s just game one. We just didn’t execute. Seminole has a very improved ball team. Kent Jackson has those boys rolling right now. They were big and vastly improved their team speed. We will bounce back, because that is what you do in football and most importantly, that is what you do in life.
Tomorrow is a new day; next week is a new week. You won’t crush our souls. We are here and we will show up week-after-week!
Injury Bug
What has been an awful trend for us the last four years, continued in Week One once again this year.
We lost three starters midway through the second quarter. Not a simple cramp or strain. We had two linemen go down with MCL injuries (awaiting MRI’s). We also lost our best linebacker to a foot injury that he could not come back from.
Tough way to start. These guys worked their rear-ends off and deserved a better Week One fate than that. One day, we will figure out why we constantly get de-railed by injuries in Week One. Frustrating and painful to watch my guys go down like that.
“Family” Reunion
If you know me, you know I have a special relationship with Kent Jackson and his family. Kent and I rode a plane together back in 2011 to our introductory press conferences in Lubbock. We became instant friends. That is never going to change.
Seeing Kent on Friday night was awesome. He does things the right way. He had us all set up upon arrival. He doesn’t leave a stone unturned.
Prior to the game my wife and Kent’s wife, Elizabeth, tailgated together. Talk about a neat, special relationship we all have.
We are very thankful to have the Jackson’s in our life. They are part of our family. They are family to us in every sense of the word.
Good luck to Kent, his family and the Indians the rest of the way!
Randomness
–Blake Robbins and Mitchell Gallagher expended all they had on Friday night going both ways. Eric Puente, Pooh Bear Ambriz and Josh Hoeve, our big boys up front, also went a considerable
amount of time on O and D. Proud of their effort!
–Kwami Wilborn is elusive at QB; Happy Martinez weighs about 140 and gets YAC yards
like he weighs 210. Always moving the pile.
–Elijah Doss had an interception; Tyberius Doss ran the ball extremely well; Ryhaire played with effort all night long at corner; Chistian Jimenez continues to impress me at corner; CJ Cox got some time at DE and that made me smile.
Back to practice tomorrow. All we can do is get better. And we will!!
FIO.
