Mead capitalizes
This just in: Mistakes are killing the Coeur d’Alene Vikings.
Actually, it’s been happening all football season.
Friday night, Mead took advantage of a costly Vikings turnover on the Panthers’ goal line, driving the length of the field to turn what could have been a 14-all tie into a 21-7 lead early in the fourth quarter.
Mead (2-1) went on to a 24-7 non-league victory over Coeur d’Alene (1-3), which was left wondering, yet again, what might have been.
“It makes it a different game,” Vikings coach Shawn Amos said of the turnover at the Mead goal line, which came on third-and-goal at the 2 when senior tailback Matt Conger was unable to handle a pitch from quarterback J.J. Turbin. “We continue to be our own worst enemy.
“I still believe we’re going to be a pretty good football team because we play tough teams right down to the wire, and we just keep killing ourselves. When we get over that, we’re going to be a good football team.”
Amos, obviously frustrated by his team’s lack of execution, also said he did not want take any credit away from the Panthers.
“Our players have got to figure it out – we’re not on the field with them,” Amos said. “We’ve just got to make plays in those situations.
“And Mead is a good football team – you can’t make critical errors against a good football team.”
After Mead QB Glen Reser found mammoth tight end Jason Spitz with the football equivalent of an alley-oop from 9 yards out late in the first quarter, the Vikings evened things at 7 early in the second when junior running back Jason Goodwin punched it in from 2 yards out.
With 3 minutes left in the half, Panthers running back James Allen turned a fourth-and-1 into a 58-yard touchdown dash off right tackle to put Mead up 14-7 at the break.
On its first possession of the second half, Coeur d’Alene, mainly on the legs of Goodwin, drove 73 yards to the Mead 1 before the fateful turnover.
“We ran the ball much better, and that was one of our goals this week,” Amos said. “Our defense – like I said, if we could just score some critical points, I think for the most part our defense plays pretty solid.
“Those are the same things: We drive down, botch the scoring attempt, and then they drive all the way down and score – our three losses have basically come down to that.”
Mead coach Sean Carty first tipped his cap to the Vikings.
“They’re a good football team – we knew they were,” Carty said of Coeur d’Alene. “Their record is not indicative of what this team has – they’ve played some very good football teams.
“We were ready for all of their offensive looks, and they focused – they were down on the goal line and that could be a totally different game.”
He then praised the play of his Panthers.
“After that play on the goal line, we stepped up and showed our mental toughness,” Carty said. “This is a tough group of kids – we’ve got things to work on, like tackling for example.
“But we’re tough, we’re a team and, hopefully, we can keep it going.”