‘Pups can pop ya
Dave McKenna is the defensive coordinator at Gonzaga Prep and has been for the past seven years.
A quiet man off the field who teaches science and math, he looks a little like Clark Kent.
Maybe that’s why his defense has been playing like Supermen.
If anything has fueled the Bullpups run through the Greater Spokane League and the early rounds of the state 4A football playoffs, it is their defense.
The Pups, in their words, fly around, put 11 hats on the ball and lay the wood.
In English, they run well, the entire defense tries to get in on every tackle and they hit hard.
They are aggressive, disciplined, punishing.
And successful.
During the run to the GSL title, Prep’s defense yielded less yardage (243 yards per game) than anyone but East Valley (176) and Ferris (219). But the Pups led the league in one key category: points allowed, yielding just 10.4 a game.
“That’s the stat that matters to us,” McKenna said. “I tell the kids, ‘Hey, they might have 400 yards in offense, but how many points did they score?’ That’s what wins ballgames.”
Last year, when the Pups finished 5-6 overall, their worst record since 1999, they yielded almost a touchdown more per game, with many of the same athletes. What’s changed?
“It’s more our commitment toward the team,” senior defensive end Mike Ogrin said. “It’s not necessarily our talent level, it’s just a commitment to the team, to the program.”
“At the beginning of the summer, all the seniors sat down and decided there were some issues last year that we didn’t want to deal with this year,” senior linebacker Tom Adolfae said. “We decided we were going to be dedicated to the program, do what it takes to improve, things we didn’t do last year or in the past few years.”
That commitment has translated into fewer mistakes, which leads to fewer points.
And gives McKenna the confidence to do some different things with this group.
Things that aren’t really in his nature.
“These guys love to blitz,” McKenna said of this year’s defense, “but I’m not a real big blitz guy, I’m the kind of guy who likes to make you go the length of the field. At the same time, with the personalities of these kids, we’re going to fly to the football.
“As long as they do it correctly, get to the correct gaps, do the things we ask them to do, then we’ll be OK.”
Prep’s defensive personality started to assert itself in the second half of the Pups’ first GSL game, which was against East Valley.
The Knights, who would eventually tie for second in league and reach the state 3A quarterfinals, moved the ball well in the first half, rushing for 106 yards. After intermission, with Prep blitzing on almost every play according to McKenna, the Knights gained 14 yards.
A trust, between McKenna and the defense, and between the 11 defenders, was born.
“There are a few words we use, trust, belief, togetherness,” McKenna said. “Those kids hear it all the time. We can get all the accolades we want all year, but as coaches, we haven’t made a single play. It’s the kids who make the plays.
“But it’s the kids believing in the call that helps them make the plays.”
Prep’s defensive calls have worked in the playoffs as well, with the 42-13 win over Southridge the prime example.
The Suns, who averaged more than 360 yards and 30 points a game in Big Nine play, could manage just 306 yards and two touchdowns, the final 70 yards and score coming against Prep reserves.
Southridge’s highly touted 6-foot, 6-inch sophomore quarterback Jason Munns was sacked seven times, hurried countless more and threw two interceptions.
The Pups were ready, and, according to senior safety Brandon Schmidt, there was a big reason why.
“In practice we face one of probably the best quarterbacks, so it’s great practice,” Schmidt said. “During a game, no one can throw the deep ball better than (senior quarterback) Billy (Karwacki) can. Then when Brandon (Kennedy) goes on offense, we have reps against him. Those two are the toughest we face.”
Schmidt is one of eight starting seniors on the defense, which is another reason the Pups have been so successful.
“We have gone through so many repetitions at practice, it starts to become natural,” Ogrin said. “Especially with Mac’s defensive philosophy – everyone having a gap to control – it makes it a lot easier too.
“Last year I got hammered on by Mac. It was the best thing for me. This year I’m starting to realize how important it was to our success as a team and to me personally.”
Of course, with a complicated scheme and multiple responsibilities, it takes brains to make it work.
“We’ve got smart kids who also work extremely hard,” McKenna said. “They worked very hard this summer, these guys have stepped up.”
All this has added up to Prep’s best season in decades, no matter what happens Saturday when the Pups host undefeated Evergreen (Vancouver) in Albi Stadium at 3 p.m.
“I don’t think it’s really sunk in yet,” Adolfae said of the playoff run. “We are so caught up in just playing. We’ve talked with some alumni who’ve come back and they talk about how it was the greatest thing ever, but were just trying to get ready for the next game, so we really don’t have time to think about.”
One of the alums who played on one of the two Prep state champion teams of the 1980s was McKenna, a 1988 graduate of the school.
He sees similarities that span the generations.
“We don’t have the biggest guys, but I guarantee you we have the biggest hearts,” McKenna said. “I don’t know if you want to print that or not, that’s locker room talk. It’s not one guy hitting the hardest, it’s 11 hitting the hardest. It’s 11 guys to the football, then that’s a hard hit.”
Adolfae doesn’t have the same perspective, but he does have a better view of the 11 guys who are trying to put their hats on the ball in 2004.
They’re not Supermen. Just 11 Clark Kents playing together.
“Somehow we found the right guys, and we all just fit together,” Adolfae said. “We are closer, I guess, than we were last year. We kinda fit with each other.
“We’ve been together so long we kind of know what each other are going to do. We trust each other.”