ST. PAUL — Focus is still an issue for the Indians gridders, despite their 48-0 win over Altoona-Midway on Friday in the home opener here, Coach Doug Tuck said.
“Even though we won, I don't think we played as well as we played the week before,” Tuck said. “It was a different calibre of team and I think we kind of played down that way.”
Coming off that last minute 38-30 loss to Crest high school the week before in Colony, the Indians came out strong in the opening minutes of the game, scoring 26 unanswered points in the first quarter. St. Paul added another touchdown, followed up with a 2-point conversion to carry a 34-0 lead into the locker room for the half.
“We didn't come in as focused as we did against Crest,” Tuck said. “I think we got off to a good start right off the bat but we kind of lost focus as the game went on.”
That lack of focus showed, as the Indians scored just once in each quarter of the second half. They missed the extra point in the third quarter, but made up for it with another 2-point conversion in the fourth to wrap up the game.
“To be fair, in the first quarter, we began subbing in, mixing things up,” Tuck said. “That does mess a little bit with the consistency.
“I give credit to Altoona. Their numbers are down, but they played well. They made us work for everything.”
Kendal Winter led the Indians, rushing for 89 yards on 11 carries and one touchdown. Close behind was cousin Jerod Winter, with five carries for 83 yards and two touchdowns. Senior starting quarterback Logan Giefer went 2 for 2 for 44 yards in the air, picking up another 32 yards on the ground on 4 carries, scoring the opening touchdown of the game. D.J. Vitt rounded out the Indians' rushing game, scoring twice from the tailback position on 8 carries for a total of 41 yards.
One highlight of the night for Tuck was getting his younger players an opportunity to play, including freshman quarterback Tyler Kennedy, who led the Indians' attack for about half the game. Kennedy carried the ball 13 times for 81 rushing yards and one touchdown.
It's important to give younger players varsity experience, Tuck said. It only helps the program down the road.
“We're going to eventually lose our senior quarterback,” Tuck said. “D.J. Vitt is our backup right now, but Tyler's our quarterback of the future. It's nice to get him in there, get him some varsity time, to try to get him ready for the future.”
Even though he'll take the win, Tuck said he wasn't completely satisfied with his Indians' performance Friday. The team is still having problems focusing and playing consistently, problems Tuck and his staff have tried repeatedly to remedy in practice.
“I think we kind of played our two games so far the way we do in in practice, kind of inconsistent,” Tuck said. “What I see as a coach is a lot of promising things, but a lot of it right now is the mental part of being focused throughout the game.”
Next on the agenda, the Indians will face off with sister District 505 school, Chetopa, on the road Friday. The game promises all the excitement and action of any rivalry game, Tuck said.
“Whenever you've got a rivalry game, it's going to be really intense,” he said. “They've got some talented kids and I know they're going to be prepared and excited for us.
“It's going to be an exciting game. It's going to be one of those big rivalry games that makes high school football fun.”
Tuck doesn't really expect any surprises from the Chetopa offense. They like to spread opposing defenders out and pass, which could present a challenge for the Indians, he said.
“Defensively, our strength is in stopping the run,” Tuck said. “We're seeing a lot of teams here early on that like to spread out, get you in one-on-one situations and throw the ball.
“Obviously, we have to play a good offense. Hopefully, we can come out, control the clock and make some plays to keep their offense off the field. I'd rather have their good athletes on the field playing defense than having to run around, chasing them on offense.”