Week 5 Indian Lake

Hi guys, sorry its taken me so long to write this.  If I'm being honest with myself and you, I think I put off writing it because believe it or not its now the 1/2 point of our regular season. The senior boys only have 5 regular season high school games left to play, and hopefully a few more after that of course.....  I knew when we started this season it go by fast, but it seems like yesterday, they were freshman, and last week they were playing junior league.  All you parents of juniors and underclassman, please don't take one game for granted, I'm serious not one......  It was an exciting week for us.  Nolan was invited on a couple recruiting visits. One to Walsh University in Canton.  A nice D2 school who is lucky enough to use the Hall of Fame stadium as their home field. We're going up for a night game in a couple weeks, so it will be fun to experience that with him.

This past Friday we traveled to Indian Lake high School near Bellefontaine. The game was a strange see-saw battle, where both teams seemed unstoppable at times, and just flat out incapable at others. (Strange right?) The first quarter Indian Lake turned the ball over 3 times, yet somehow after Alder failed to capitalize, it ended knotted up at 6's.  After they failed on a 2 pt conversion, and we missed an after point. Three trips into the red zone, but it only resulted in 6 first quarter points.  In the 2nd quarter the defense was strong, and the offense found pay dirt again pushing Alder ahead 13-6 at the break. The teams reversed rolls following 1/2 time, and Indian Lake pulled within 1 point heading into the 4th quarter.  I'm pretty sure both the defenses wanted to get a head start home, because neither one showed up in the final quarter and the teams ended regulation tied up 28-28.  The overtime period started out with Alder putting 7 on the boad, but quickly answered by the lakers with a TD.  In a final attempt to win the Lakers tried their 5th 2 point conversion of the game unsuccessfully, resulting in another overtime win for Alder 35-34 Interesting enough is that both teams scored 5 Touchdowns in this contest, the difference in outcome was 3 failed 2 point conversion attempts by the lakers.

Nolan was very disappointed with his performance in this game. That may have also contributed to my procrastination of writing this week. My message to him was this.... Failure is part of life, so get over it fast. Work harder next week, study your opponent, and execute your job every snap.  Also, part of life is having other people around you to pick you up when you need it, and reciprocating that when roles reverse. Truly its one of most important life lessons that can come from playing this game. Everyone made and missed plays in this game, but the sum of our successes were just a little greater than the failures. (Just a little - 1 overtime point) 

I'll say this... This team doesn't panic, they pick each other up, and they don't quite.  They may lack in size, but they don't lack in heart.  If you were in the Alder stands, you know they get it honestly.  I'm really hoping for a victory with a little more margin of error next week.  Otherwise, the EMT's may be needed in our stands. LOL

Next Up - CBC conference opponent Kenton Ridge (also 4-1) This should be another good one.

Photo Credit to Bill Morgan

Throwback Pic - Lot of familiar faces - D2 Allstar football

The D-line

In Pursuit

The O-line

Week 4 Alder Vs Ben Logan

Hi Folks,


Well I ended last weeks blog with this; "Most of high school footballs greatest lessons are not just football lessons, they are life lessons." The same held true this past Friday night, and Nolan, I hope you never forget it.... 

What was that Lesson? Never underestimate your opponent....

In talking with Nolan, I'm pretty certain that everyone (players, coaches, and fans alike) underestimated a scrappy (pretty good passing) Ben Logan team that nearly knocked us off last Friday night, in a friendly "welcome to the CBC" match-up.

Ben Logan came ready to play, well prepared, and jumped out to an early 16-0 first quarter lead. Alder answered the call winning the 2nd quarter 14 - 8 for a half time score of 24-14.  After shaking off the shell shock from the first half, The defense showed up stronger in the 2nd only allowing 12 more points. The offensive line took control of the game and paved the way for Jamie Dye and Drew Meyers who combined for nearly 300 yards to dominate the clock in the 2nd half. The boys dug deep, and fought back from the early deficit to save the game.  I saw a lot of guys "refuse to lose" in this game, when it could have been easy to hang their heads.

Nolan had a pretty solid game tonight, coming away with 2 sacks, numerous tackles, and a bone crushing hit on a punt return that made a crack that echoed across both sets of stands. Followed by the proud yell of his mother screaming "That's My Kid!" (You probably head that to!) It was pretty awesome... After the game In speaking with a Ben Logan friend of the family who is on their staff, I learned that #77's sole assignment this week was Nolan. Everywhere he went 77 was supposed to go as well. Well Nolan and his new found shadow, battled the entire night. You can see the size difference in the pictures below, but I think this is a good example of the old adage "It ain't the size of the dog in the fight, its the size of the fight in the dog".

I got a little overwhelmed with appreciation this week noticing the support that our kids have from their family.  Being transplants from out of state could prove difficult for family to make it to their events.  Nevertheless, every Thursday evening our drive way starts filling up with vehicles of family from Indiana.  Most weekends 4 generations there hoping to catch a Thursday night Volleyball game of Hunters, Nolan's game Friday night, Baylee marching at halftime, maybe even a Saturday morning fall baseball game of Owens. Our family really does an amazing job of putting family first.

This weeks pictures were taken by a good friend of mine, and Nolan's. Matt, thanks again for being there this Friday and the pictures are awesome! Hope you can make another one before it's over.

Next Up Week 5 - The good guys head to Indian Lake

Face of Intensity

 "Size of the fight in the dog"

Taking on the Double team

These boys got it done

 Friday nights - a family affair

"JAHS"

Nolan & Coach Brink

First sack of the night

"Sully" (he's family too)

The Hit of the night!

Week 3 @ Clear Fork

All over Ohio mixed amongst our major cities there are little towns who barely seem alive, Until Friday night that is...  Then every Friday in the fall, something magical happens.  The towns spring to life with excitement of Football Friday Night.  I had never heard of Clear Fork High School, or Bellville, Ohio but I won't soon forget them, and neither will our Jonathan Alder Pioneers.  That place is indeed a football town with A team full of serious athletes.

As I walked into the football field, there was a buzz of excitement in the air. I saw the signs and banners of Green and White, and noticed the field faced east and west.  The Stands on home side of the field, were worth taking note of.  The bleachers themselves were only maybe 20 yards long, centered at mid field. A grassy incline that matched the slope of the stands made up the rest of the seating extending from the end of the bleachers to nearly each end zone.  As their fans poured in, we noticed that many of them were equipped with lawn chairs that had the back legs cut off just right for sitting on their unique slopped grass bleachers. A fairly heavy rain set in during warm ups, but just after the teams left the field for their final preparations, the skies dried up, and a rainbow formed on the field. 

Clear Fork jumped out to an early 14-0 lead in the first quarter.  We got back to within one score in the 2nd quarter, but they scored again just before 1/2 time for a 21-7 lead at the break.  Alders game plan was to keep their senior quarterback contained, but was Junior receiver Trevon Trammell who would do the most damage scoring 3 TD's.  Our Defense showed up big time in the 3rd quarter, holding them scoreless. Unfortunately, we stil couldn't find our stride on offensive side of the ball. In the 4th quarter each team found pay dirt one more time for a final score of 28-14 

The young teams that I coach, I always hope that we win enough to keep it fun, but lose enough to learn and get better. While we hope to be past that developmental theory by the time we get to high school football. This was definitely a learning night.  We were quite outmatched on the offensive and defensive lines in both size and athleticism.  I saw a lot of guys digging deep, and leaving it all on the field, and I certainly didn't see anyone quite fighting to the end.  But on this night size, speed, and strength would win out. We fell in this fairly "one-sided" battle 28-14 to a very good team.  We made some mistakes, and neglected to come away with points in the red zone a couple times, and were not able to run the ball against their defense with any success.

Following the game after shaking hands; their head coach Dave Carroll pulled Nolan aside, and said this "Your a hell of a football player, and I'd have loved to have had you on my team".  In my experience, coming from an opposing coach, I think this is one of the best compliments that you can get as a player.  

The boys were just a little somber at Saturday morning breakfast, but thats good because they should have been.  Losing sucks and is part of life, but you don't ever have to like it or accept that you are destined to it. Learn from your mistakes, work to improve your shortcomings, and get better. Most of high school footballs greatests lessons are not just football lessons, they are life lessons this holds true this week.

League play starts next week, so lick your wounds, learn from your failures, and go win this league.

Cade Keaton congratulated after a beautiful form tackle.

Varsity Breakfast the next morning after films

Dove Season 2017

September 1st ushers in the first of the fall hunting seasons, and is always a much anticipated day in the Larison household. (At least for me and the boys haha). This season was extra special because we had a couple additional amigos with us.  My life long best friend, Luke Payton, his oldest son Will, and Owens good friend Jaxson Stried, as well as the usual suspects, myself, Owen, and Pop. Nolan couldn't go because as most of you know he is deep into football season at the moment, and missing a Friday morning is a little frowned upon.

The Payton twosome arrived late to the homestead in Central Ohio on Thursday night. So of course Pop, Owen, Jaxson and I were all up waiting for them when they rolled in at 10:30. After they arrived, we ushered the boys off to bed quickly and loaded the truck so it was ready for the early morning ahead.  4:00 AM the alarms sounded and we all spring from our beds in a mad dash. Knowing the alarm was like the starting pistol for a race to find 6 spots in a dove field at DEER Creek wild life area. Even Pop (who can be a little pokey at times - but don't tell him I said that) was in a hurry.  Just like that we were loaded up and on the road.

We pulled into the first parking area a solid 2 hours prior to daylight, yet still there were already 25 cars parked there. (Not joking 25)  This field was by far the most desirable, nicely laid out with healthy sunflowers, cut wheat that had been burnt and LOADED with birds (when I had walked it a week prior). It was not a large field, so I knew it would be crowded, but it was the best field for sure!  We started to unload the truck, and as the 3 little guys with us jumped out, I just couldn't do it.  If it was just us 3 adults, I would have felt okay about trying to squeeze into this field, but no way were we taking any chances with these guys.  It just would not have been safe enough.  So back in the truck we went, and off to find another field.  The 2nd place we went had even more vehicles, but this field was huge. (3/4 of a mile long)  There would be plenty of room to spread out, have good shooting lanes, and most importantly no one sitting across the field from you taking unsafe shots. We were settled into our spots 45 minutes before shooting light.

Around 7:00 the shooting started, and it was still going we left the field at noon.  Owen buddied up with Pop, Jaxson with me, and WIll with Luke.  We were seeing tons of birds, occasionally hitting one, and had really nice guys on both sides of us.  (Not like the old Bastard we sat next to last year - if your not familiar go check my post from Dove season 2016 HAHAHA) Things were going along great, when out of the blue Owen hollared to me "Dad, Something is wrong with my gun." I went to see what was the matter, and he explained that he had ejected 4 shells from the gun.  I ask if he was sure, and he assured me "YES, I'm positive". (This is an issue because the guns are required to be plugged so they will only hold 3 rounds. This is the same rule for all types of bird hunting) I tore it down in the field, and sure enough it was missing the plug.  (I still cant figure out how) Well after a quick consult with Pop, I started widdling down a sunflower stalk to fit in his magazine.  It didn't take long, and I had his gun functioning as if it had factory installed plug inside.  (A nice bush fix) Well a 1/2 hour later, can you guess who came bye to check on us. Yep ODNR....  Nice guys, as always, and the gun passed inspection without a 2nd look. (Fortunately they didn't open it up, they just verified it wouldnt hold to many shells) I was pretty excited that Owen being the young hunter he is, paid enough attention to what he was doing to know their was an issue.  He could have been so busy shooting, not to notice... Had he not said anything, I likely would have gotten a rather large ticket. But since he did, the ticket was avoided, and we were able to follow the rules. 

Doves can humble even the best of wing shooters, so typically a 1 to 3 kill ratio (1 bird for every 3 shots) is pretty good when dove hunting. Well I'm betting that Jaxson and Owen both had sore shoulders the next day because between the two of them they shot more than 500 rounds of 20 gauge ammo to score their 28 birds. I also bet, that I saw more smiles, and heard more giggles during those 500 shots than I have seen or heard in a long time. They both had a blast, and shared a really cool day together. Luke & Will, experienced what I've been telling him for the last several years (that they had to come over for Dove season) Luke managed to shoot his 15th bird just before running out of ammo. A prett solid feat for a rookie dove hunter.  Pop, had a good day of shooting & trying to dial in his new side by side 20 gauge.  But I think he really spent more time laughing at the boys, than he did looking at the sky and shooting at doves.  

All in all, what a awesome time.  We were that group that I have made fun of in the past, and swore I would never be.  You know, six guys literally dragging a wagon, of lunches, guns and ammunition into the field.  But just same as Stacy told me 20 years ago, "she would never drive a minivan".... Things change. 

I did video the hunt, so when I get time I will get a YouTube video posted. I hope you have all enjoyed.

9-1-17 before sunrise from the field

Jaxson & Owen - At the ready

Doing a little dog work - Owen and Jaxson retrieving their birds

See the shells on the ground? LOL

A days Hunt - 64 Doves - Time to clean them boys! LOL

Week 2 Alder Vs. Marion Harding

Well week two has came and gone, and with it came another tough opponent in Marion Harding. The preseason butterflies of a senior year are behind us now and we are just excited to see the guys in black playing smash mouth football.  As the boys warmed up tonight I had memories of my obstacle conditioning course set up behind the junior high, blowing my whistle, and yelling encouragements at PC white to hit harder, move faster, and to push themselves. While across the field I could see the other 1/2 of the boys with coach Dye, him in his shoulder pads and helmet, yelling "come on boys, you got to hit me harder than that".  While our methods were different, I have to say they both worked.  After thinking of those young boys learning the game of football from us the best way we each knew how, to now. I lookout across   the field and see the guys from both of those teams "getting it done" every Friday night. Those were fun times, but these are better.

Back in Black was playing tonight when the boys took the field, as it should be every week.  4th year hearing it as they walk out, and we all still get cold chills in the stands. (Well Stacy and I do anyway) The boys in black got it done tonight in a physical battle at the line of scrimmage.  The Marion D line was big and strong so yards wouldnt come easy for either team, on this night. But in the end the battle at line was won by Alder on both sides of the ball.  Jamie Dye ran hard (as he always does) and fought for yards after contact all night. The O line fought and fought hard for their brothers with the football, providing time for Preston to throw when needed, and seams for Jamie and Drew.  We were outmatched in size physically , but it was no contest with size of heart.

Tonight, Nolan had one of his best defensive games in high school. He seemed to be all over the field, and must have knocked the QB down 6 or 7 times.  He had multiple sacks, tackles for losses, and a knocked down pass. In a couple of my favorite plays, he had some of the best hits of the night leaving a couple of their guys looking up at the stars when the play was over.  He had a very disruptive game to the Marion offense, and I have no doubt he was a topic of conversation about adjustments at 1/2 time in their locker room. He again, only missed a snap or two from scrimmage and never seemed to tire much. Since a lot of people read this, I'm trying not to feel guilty for writing a paragraph about my kid, but I'll remind you all (and myself) this is not the sports page.  This is a journal for him down the road, that I am just sharing with you too...

Nolan is really close with my life long best friend Luke Payton, his "uncle Luke".  Luke lives out of state but was there tonight to watch him play for the first time. I know it meant a lot to both of us that he was there, and these two guys (Nolan and Luke) are two of my favorite football players.  Back in the day (20 years ago) Luke was serious D End also.  Thanks for being here brother....

The contest ended with Alder on top 21-7 so we advanced to 2-0 on the season.  After every home game this year Stacy and I are feeding the Varsity boys breakfast on Saturday morning following their film session.  This week we had a special guest that wanted to come over and talk to them. Our Neighber Dan Thomas was a member of the only undefeated Jonathan Alder team back in the 73 season (Class of 74) He only talked to them for about 5 minutes, but what he had to say was profound. He said this, "We didn't have any superstars on our team.  But we had a lot of heart, and we played for each other.  We played as hard as we could EVERY SNAP.  You do the same, and you could be the next undefeated alder team".  Can't thank Dan enough for taking the time to give these words of wisdom.  They all seem to be listening, we'll soon find out...

(Photo credits to Bill Morgan)

O line getting it done

Nolan looking down field after putting a hit on the QB

Drew Meyers, Michael Boggs, and Nolan

Ringing the Victory Bell

Next Up Clear Fork - Should be another dandy....