Game of the Week: Plainville ends long drought
Published on -10/30/2009, 12:16 PM
Printer-friendly version
E-Mail This Story
Related Video...
Area Game of the Week: Trego at Plainville
By CONOR NICHOLL
PLAINVILLE --Sophomore Andrew Casey missed half of the season with a knee injury and first-year head coach Joe Simon has tried to limit Casey's touches to keep the fullback/linebacker healthy. However, Casey's talents make that difficult.
"He is so much better than everybody on the field -- on our team," Simon said. "We try to get him the ball as much as we can."
On Thursday, Simon provided Casey with a game-high 17 touches and the 6-1, 190-pounder picked up 142 total yards, including two scores, and helped Plainville defeat WaKeeney-Trego 44-0 on a cold, rainy night. The win ended the Cardinals' 18-game losing streak, marked the first time Plainville had tallied more than 20 points in 24 contests and moved Plainville into the Class 2-1A playoffs.
"Can't even describe with words right now," Casey said. "It feels so great to get a first win."
The Cardinals (1-8, 1-1 District 10) will face Smith Center, on a nation-best 75-game winning streak Tuesday. Trego, under former Plainville coach John Petrie, finished 0-9, 0-2 in district play after losing multiple starters off last season's playoff team.
"A lot of people knew it was kind of coming a little bit," Petrie said. "We were hoping that we could squeak out a few here and there. You just do what you can with what you've got. Nothing against our kids, they played hard, they worked hard. Just something we didn't get the breaks that we needed here and there. A lot of young kids."
The Golden Eagles finished with (minus-5) yards of total offense, including -37 on the ground. Senior quarterback Bobby Garrett was 4-of-17 for 32 yards and 3 interceptions.
"Our defense played amazing tonight," Casey said. "Probably our D-line played the best."
Casey, who returned last week from his knee injury, delivered a solid performance, too. Plainville, which had scored 22 point total in the eight losses, led 30-0 at halftime. Casey, the Cardinals' leading rusher with 82 yards on 12 carries, scored the game's first points on a 1-yard run.
"He is just a player," Simon said. "Anybody that watches him play any sport that he plays, he is just a phenomenal athlete. He makes us a lot better. Without him, we struggle to move the ball. We struggle a little bit on tackling on defense. With him, we were a much better team."
Senior quarterback Jaden Perkins finished 12-of-15 for 141 yards and three touchdowns against one interception. His first score was a 12-yard play to sophomore Kyle Becker for a 14-0 lead. He tacked two TD passes to senior tight end Alex Dreher (6 and 20 yards).
"He did a great job of throwing the ball in the rain," Simon said.
Casey scored the final points in the first half on a 36-yard run when he broke a tackle at the line of scrimmage and bounced off another tackler. Just before intermission, he hauled in a 20-yard catch down the right sideline on a leaping, one-handed grab. Plainville scored twice more in the second half and the running clock started with 6:03 left in the third quarter.
"The kids needed that more than anything," Simon said. "They have been working hard and it finally payed off. They got to have some fun tonight. I couldn't be happier for them."
This always happens in small towns. New coach new comments. I am very happy those boys got their first win. Especially when our size (physically) is not designed for 11 man football. And our rooster as well. We should be in 8-man next year, but we have too many school board members who can't accept we are decreasing in size. Numbers are everything. Our kids have amazing dedication and heart. And unfortunately there will be standouts in every sport. BUT it does take the team. I am proud of Andrew's comments. On Coach Simon's though I would have chosen different words. Not that I care personally, because my children are still in grade school. I do feel for the kids when they hear about it. I feel for Andrew when he has to hear it from team mates. Good luck Cards against Smith Center, play hard and play fast.
(Posted by: Jr Cardinal Parent)
to disgusted and ashamed: 11/2/2009
I wish people would get the facts before making comments that could damage someones reputation or good name
(Posted by: concerned fan)
Misquoted: 11/1/2009
I have learned the statement which I found very disheartening was indeed a misquote/misinterpretion and not what Coach Simon truely said. He has already addressed the statement with his team. Unfortunately, these mis-quotes can and will happen, these are things we have to overcome. I am very happy this was indeed the case and am very excited to to see what the future holds.
(Posted by: Proud Cardinal Fan)
What is the true issue: 11/1/2009
I was very disappointed when reading this article. It is dishearting to me to read something which credits very few participants in a game which requires many. Yes Andrew is a very talented, dedicated athlete, but every single person on the team is dedicated and works very hard throughout the season to become the best players they can personally be. No, not all have the same athletic ability and yes Andrew may be one of our most talented players, but this does not mean the other players are not equally adequate. Unargueably, Andrew is amoung our top athletes in our school, but to publically state "he is so much better then anybody on the field" has to demoralize the character, effort and pride of each and every player on our team. Coaching fundamentals is only part of the job. Mentoring our children to have respect and positive morals, while implementing discipline, motivation, trust and drive from your players are all qualities a successful coach must bring to our young athletes and students. These are all contributors which are the basis of molding our children to become upstanding citizens. Talent only goes so far on the football feild, most of it is pride, heart and spirit, which is the backbone of the Plainville High School Football program. Football is a team sport where every player is vital. Each player has their own assignment and must execute their assignments to succeed as a team. Plain and simple you must have linemen blocking, recievers running routes, running backs faking and quarter backs executing the play to successfully move the ball down feild. As everyone is aware Plainville has struggled the past several years. The game Friday hopefully is the beginning of a brighter future in our athletic programs. These athletes hopefully realized playing as a team, not individuals provided them with a victory. A good player is derived from hard work and dedication, which every team member involved has endured, but again are simply not as naturally, athletically talented. It is these same boys who have played with Andrew all his life, helping him gain experience, learn team camaraderie and push him to his limits which in the end all utimately mold him into the individual and athlete he is becoming. In return Andrew has done the same for these boys, they are constantly bettering each other. It is all part of being a team player and learning from your peers. With this being said, I am not, in anyway, taking away from Andrew's talents, abilities and success as a Cardinal football player, he is an instrumental part of our football program and a respected team leader. We all know the dedication and love he has for his team and his school. I just hate to see something taken away from our other players, his teammates, as they all have this same dedication and love. Also, they all contributed to the win on Friday. Please, Andrew and all Cardinal athletes, know it is individuals like you that become respected and trusted role models, which our community needs to inspire our youth. Thank you for being a young adult our youth can look up to and admire, as you are all valueable assets to the development of our youth as role models and leaders. Please do not let others actions and/or words discourage or negatively influence your promising future of becoming well rounded athletes and adults. I truely hope this was a misquote or misleading statement because of the negative affects on our players morale, especially coming from the person they all look to for support and guidance. This is more reinforcement of the scrutiny often heard from members of our community. These kind of incidents need to be eliminated to put the negative behind us and allow us to move foward for a positive future for our children. I feel the players are gaining confidence in themselves,strength, endurance and knowledge of the game, which will lead to more success next season. From my observations and from what I have heard, the players respect and are learning from our new coaching staff, so I hope this does not defer any forward movement seen in our program. I truely believe with the hard work of our coaches and players, gratification is near. These positive steps forward must be done together. We as parents, community members, coaches, teachers, staff, administration, athletes and students must back, applaud, support and respect each other to have a successful school program overall. Many of my thoughts are not stemming from this one probable misinterpretaion, but from many years of Plainvile as a community "killing our own." As stated to me by one of our long time coaches, "Plainville's problem is we 'kill our own'". I hope this is taken to heart and we can support our youth instead of ridiculing them and if there is just ridicule, look into the mirror, as parents, to find answers instead of blaming others. Could it be the lack of care and proper rearing we may be providing our children with in these very important early stages of their lives? Or is it the need to find other's misfortune as our gain. Or maybe the need to dig for faults in others to make our own seem better. Or maybe the notion of mine is better then yours. And there is the concept of this is how it was when I was in school and how it still should be. The answer? Take your pick, but be truthful to yourself. A combination of all is most suitable. The fact is we have to work together, be compasionate for one another and live in the present. We need to do what is best for our children and provide them with the best possible basis we can, so they can learn from us and become the adults we want and know they can be. For those of you who feel the same will agree and understand this whole "incident" is just another rock in the mountain we have built for our children to overcome and for those of you who don't agree, will never get it and are the one's who need to take a look in the mirror. Yes, I have totally gotten of the subject at hand, but it is all intertwined. These instances make us who we are and build character. So Cardinals keep your heads up, good things will come for those who work hard. Maybe not quickly, maybe not on the field or on the court but in life. In closing---- GO CARDINALS!! We are behind you!
(Posted by: Proud Cardinal Fan)
To Disgusted: 10/31/2009
Obviously you don't agree with Coach Simon in his assessment. Who would you say is a better player than Andrew Casey?
(Posted by: Bob)
Wow: 10/31/2009
Coach Simon, I truly hope you have been misquoted by HDN ... otherwise, I am ASHAMED! While Andrew is a fantastic player, to say that he is "so much better" than anyone else on our team? How horrible of you! We don't need you for a coach if you feel the need to be prejudice like that.
(Posted by: Disgusted! )
Impressive Win: 10/30/2009
GO CARDINALS
(Posted by: Kendall)
COMMENT ON THIS STORY
All comments are subject to approval before being posted. Please keep comments constructive and relevant. Opinions certainly can be expressed, but comments that are rude, abusive, slanderous, threatening, sexually oriented, contain profanity or are vulgar will not be tolerated. Comments will not be edited. Any comment that violates the above-listed rules will be deleted.
