Pregame with Coach Marshall

Blake’s varsity football team is preparing for their third game of the season against Sherwood on Friday, September 16. Blake has lost the last two matchups against Sherwood, the most recent being their playoff loss last season. In a poll released to Blake students, 59% of responders are attending the game on Friday. In an even more staggering result, 94% of Blake students believe Blake will win tomorrow. This is MocoShow’s game of the week, meaning the stands will be packed with students and reporters in attendance. In order for Blake to be able to contend for a championship, Sherwood is an opponent Blake has to be better than. 

Q: How do you feel heading into the game against Sherwood?

A: “I’m excited about it, for our school, for our kids, obviously a rivalry between the schools. I’m expecting us to win the game, but I’m definitely excited, you know, about the opportunities we have for our game.”

Q: How did last year’s playoff loss affect the offseason this year?

A: “Yeah, we talk about it every day. It’s definitely something we remember, we lost to them twice last year, once during the regular season and once during the playoffs. [But] Winning this game for our team, will not be revenge for last year. In order for us to get to where we want to be, we will have to beat Sherwood. It’s definitely something that is on our minds, it definitely gives us motivation.”

Q: What players are you looking to make a big impact on tomorrow?

A: “All of them…Obviously, our sophomore QB Kirby Matson, Jeremiah Seaton, who had a great game last week against Churchill, the seniors, Myles Miller, Jesai McKenzie will be the main ones, up front O-line and D-line, Nick Kouao, Adam Roberts, Johnson (???), Mohamad Salamah Jason Perez, are the guys who we are looking to lead us to victory.”

Q: How do you prepare for the pressure of the game tomorrow?

A: I don’t think there’s pressure. Pressure only does two things: bursts pipes and creates diamonds. For us, we see the pressure as an opportunity, we’re gonna go out there, execute our game plan the best way possible, and hopefully, we come out there with one more point than Sherwood.

Q: From the last two losses against Sherwood, is there anything you learned that you want to execute in the game plan tomorrow?

A: The last two losses we had a lot of penalties, we would make a bunch of big plays and then get called back, because of penalties. But tomorrow night will be about executing the discipline part of the game plan. We can’t have personal fouls, things that will take us off schedule. That’s the main thing we are looking for, we are trying to make sure we do our job in the discipline aspect.