In Their Own Words - Voices of the PAC-6 - Person vs. ECH (11/10/2010)

Heading into the 2010 season there were a lot of questions in the PAC-6, but none were more evident than at Person and East Chapel Hill where new head coaches would be taking over teams that had been in transition for years when it came to the coaching carousel.  Cedar Ridge head coach Lou Geary decided to step away from a program that he had helped nurture into a known commodity in the AA level of play and take over Person High after Coach Don Donevan's departure.  East Chapel Hill, in part due to budget cuts, opted to also go in another direction, letting Coach Darian Harris go and picking up northern Virginia mainstay and spread coaching guru Bill Renner.  Both coaches brought enthusiasm to their respective programs due to past success and in a year where Hillside appeared to be the only sure-thing in the PAC-6 the prospect of either team competing on a consistent basis appeared plausible.  On Friday night, East Chapel Hill entered with one win overall on the season against AA Northwood, while Person had just captured their third win of the year over Riverside and was looking to reach four wins and see if that would be good enough for a slight chance at the playoffs.

Overall records aside, the whole story is much deeper for both teams.  For the Wildcats, they showed consistently throughout the year that with their new spread attack they were able to put the ball in the end zone and found themselves on the losing end of six games where they put up 23 or more points.  Person, after starting out slow to begin the year, rebounded once conference began and played Hillside even in the first half, lost in a close affair to conference third place finisher Northern Durham and had a victory in-hand against fourth place finisher Jordan before late turnovers led to a late game defeat.  Coach Geary spoke about how it took time for his schemes, new to the Rockets to take hold.

"The schemes that I wanted to use on the offensive side of the ball had to be learned by the players," he said.  "That goes along with adapting to the style of coaching, and the assistant coaches picking up on the new schemes so they can, in turn, teach the players."

Friday night's finale for both teams played out in a representative fashion for both squads.  East Chapel Hill managed to once again score, but couldn't shake off the impressive offensive performance of the Rockets which continued to improve through conference play and took the victory 49-21 [DFBFan's Pick - Person 28, ECH 21].  The Wildcats reached their seventh game where they scored 21 or more points in a losing effort, while the Rockets piled up 577 total yards of offense.  The Wildcats continued to have problems stopping the run, something that will need to be fixed in the off-season for East to compete on a higher level in 2011, as they gave up 402 yards rushing.  For the Rockets, they have continued to show strong progress and playoffs or not, adequate motivation and momentum was gained in the late season push by the Rockets to think that the 2011 off-season will be an opportunity for a lot of enthusiastic growth to occur in the Rocket program.

The Wildcats finish out 2010 with an overall 1-10 record and 0-6 in conference play, while the Rockets finish at 4-7 and 2-4 in conference play.  The quotes are from the voices of the PAC-6 and were included in articles from the Roxboro Courier-Times and the Chapel Hill News.  For more information on the game, follow the links provided at the end of the post.

After the game, Person head coach Lou Geary spoke about how proud he was of his teams' effort.

"I'm real proud of the guys.  We had kind of a slow start tonight but then we pulled it together," said Geary.  "I'm happy for the seniors and all the players to get another victory like this.  A lot of good things came out of this game."

The Rockets continued to improve on offense, while the Wildcats continued to have issues stopping their opponents.  Rocket running back Thurman Clayton (JR) rushed for over 200 yards on the evening and tallied three touchdowns and Coach Geary commented on one of the young men that will be returning in 2011 to help spearhead the Person offensive attack.

"He had a strong night and he's really on a roll right now," said Geary.

The Wildcats continued to put pressure on opposing teams defenses with their Air-Renner attack and had the opportunity near the end of the first half to draw close to the visiting Rockets as they entered the Person red zone, but after turning the ball over the Rockets capitalized and stretched the lead.  East head coach Bill Renner commented on the turn of events - an emotional momentum shift that challenges even the best high school teams.

"That was a crusher," said Renner. "A 14-point swing...we fumble it, and on the next play they score.  That's just a big turnaround.  It put us down by 21 -- bang."

One of the benefits of spreading your opponent out is the potential for gaining a numbers advantage in the box and that is exactly what happened early in the game when the Wildcats moved the ball with ease on their opening drive.  Coach Renner spoke about the early success and the subsequent adjustments by the Person staff.

"I don't think they expected us to run the ball, and we ran it right down their throat," said Renner. "Then they kind of put some bigger guys in there."

Coach Geary discussed after the game the Rockets approach to closing out the contest after leading 35-14 going into the fourth.

"We wanted to score some points because we're still trying to sneak in the back door for the playoffs," said Geary. "We just figure if they look at the points that might get us in.  That's only four wins, but two in the PAC-6, so we'll see what happens.  It'll come out Saturday, and hopefully these guys get to play another game."

When the brackets were released the Rockets were one of a few four win teams not to make it [Selection Saturday (TODAY) - PAC-6 Playoff Picture & More].

Coach Geary spoke in depth about his teams journey over 2010 and his perspective on what is required in part for the Rockets to continue to grow under new leadership.

"I think the team did well this year considering they had to endure their fourth head coach in the last five seasons," he pointed out. "Building a complete team takes time because you're trying not only to change the offensive and defensive philosophy but the athlete as a person.  Building athletes starts from their freshman year until they are seniors."

Turnovers were one of the biggest issues that faced the Rockets in 2010 and Coach Geary spoke about this aspect of the game and how improvements in just this area could make huge differences in where the Rockets stood win wise.

"We got a big line, but what's been killing us all year is turnovers," said Geary. "We got a good team, but when you've got 5 or 6 turnovers you're not gonna beat anybody."

"If you take away all the turnovers we game up this year, we're at the very least 7-4," said Geary. "One thing about this year's team is they would never give up no matter what the score was."

Roxboro Courier-Times (article by Greg Phipps - Game Recap)
Roxboro Courier-Times (article by Greg Phipps - Season Recap and Future)
The Chapel Hill News (article by R. Thomas Cocca)