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Bye provides West with much-needed hibernation
BY Kevin Hageland Staff Writer
Plano West’s bye couldn’t have come at a better time.
But while healing the bumps and bruises that build up during the regular season is a plus, it’s the mental side of the game where the Wolves truly needed time off.
“It’s good to get this break and sort of get away from the grind,” said Mike Hughes, West head coach. “So much of this game is mental, so it helps to get away a little. Now our guys can use this time to refocus and get rejuvenated.”
The players got the weekend off and came in Monday to watch film of the game against the Pirates. What the players and coaching staff saw on video was much the same as how they remembered Friday’s debacle at Clark Stadium.
“We saw some mistakes,” Hughes said. “We couldn’t get a run game going and we weren’t blocking our responsibilities.”
The latter of those errors led to a pair of punt blocks against Wylie. Combined with two onside kicks recovered by Plano East the week before, the Wolves have surrendered four special teams’ turnovers over the past two games. This is a far cry from the first half of the season in which special teams was West’s top unit.
“We had to make some personnel changes on the punt team and that’s never good this late in the season,” Hughes said. “But that’s not an excuse; those were still critical mistakes we can’t afford to have in the playoffs.”
The special teams may get a boost if senior Sean Ballard, West’s main kick returner, can return for next week’s bi-district contest against either Cedar Hill or Irving Nimitz.
Ballard, who missed Friday’s game with the same hip injury that kept him out against Jesuit, is also part of a running triumvirate that is a bit battered heading into the postseason. The healthiest of the bunch, which includes junior Jarrett Horan, may be junior Kameron Haddock and he is coming back from an eye injury suffered against East. Horan suffered a hairline fracture in the season opener against Southlake Carroll and has struggled in his return to the starting lineup.
“Jarrett is trying to battle and help this team,” Hughes said. “It’s hard enough to play at this level, let alone when you aren’t at 100 percent; and anyone who saw Horan run last year knows he isn’t 100 percent right now.”
Getting the running backs, and a banged up offensive line, up to speed will be key if West wants to win its first playoff game since 2004.
In order to help the physical healing process along, the team has gone through lighter workouts this week. The first half of the bye week was spent largely on lifting and conditioning with the second part focusing more on special teams and perimeter work with the secondary. Thursday and Friday’s practices were also blocked out for basic gameplanning against Nimitz and Cedar Hill. The Longhorns will be the Wolves bi-district opponent.
The coaching staff watched the Cedar Hill-Nimitz game Friday night knowing they would be scouting the Wolves first round playoff opponent regardless of the outcome. Meanwhile, several West players went to the Jesuit-Plano Senior game to learn where the Wolves would be seeded in the Division II bracket.
West is no doubt hoping to charge into the playoffs with the same surge of momentum the team enjoyed following its last blowout defeat. The Wolves lost to Allen by 49 points in late-September and followed up with a season-high three straight victories.
“I think you’ve seen that this team is resilient and able to come back from a loss,” Hughes said. “I suspect we’ll do that again next week. Plus, once you make it into the playoffs anything can happen, so we have to be prepared.”
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