First possession of third quarter pivotal, especially in playoffs
CARMICHAELS – Come halftime, it would be easy for most football coaches involved in a tight game to breathe a little fire at their players. “Why didn’t you stay in your lane?”
“Where was your head at on the kickoff?”
“How many times do I have to tell you to be on the line of scrimmage when the ball is snapped?”
While he’ll never be confused with Mother Theresa, Carmichaels’ John Menhart would rather rationalize than point fingers.
“Very rarely at halftime (is there yelling),” Menhart said. “We try to do more teaching. We never blame the kids. If things are going wrong, it’s the way we’ve (coaches) prepared them. I honestly feel we have kids who do the best they can do on every single play.”
Two games, two halftimes, and two WPIAL playoff victories later, Carmichaels finds itself alive and kicking in the Class A semifinals against two-time defending PIAA champion Rochester. The Mikes have opened both of their playoff games on offense, winning the coin toss against Canevin, then receiving the ball when Fort Cherry won the flip but chose to play defense.
That said, Carmichaels knew it would kick away to open the third quarter, which made Menhart’s motivational speech at halftime short and sweet.
“Our goal was simple,” he said. “We wanted to come out, get a stop on defense and score when we got the ball. I felt in both games that if we did that, we would win.”
The philosophy sounds like a no-brainer, but because of the finality of the postseason, Menhart believes players make take the advice more to heart.
Trailing first-round opponent Canevin, 7-6, the Mikes entered the locker room with the momentum after scoring with 54 seconds left in the half. Once the third quarter started, it took just six plays from scrimmage – three by both teams – for Carmichaels to pick up where it had left off.
The Mikes’ Jono Menhart intercepted a Canevin pass on third down, and three plays and 38 yards later, Colby Giles was standing in the end zone after a six-yard run. He added the two-point conversion and Carmichaels was up to its ears in momentum.
Mikes 14, Crusaders 7.
Game, set, match.
Carmichaels would score on its next four possessions, with Justin Zielensky’s four-yard touchdown finalizing a 42-7 rout.
“We could judge by the latter part of the second quarter (we had them on their heels),” Menhart said. “They came out (to open the game) and took their punch. They were playing on emotion. They converted two third downs over 10 yards on their scoring drive. We knew we had to just keep trying what we wanted to do and relax.
“In a close game, you have to establish yourself in the second half. The playoffs are final. If you lose, you go home. If things start to slip away, it’s like you can beat teams into submission.”
Against Fort Cherry, the Rangers won the toss, but deferred. Bobby Hathaway promptly gave Carmichaels a huge boost when he returned the opening kickoff 48 yards to the Fort Cherry 37. On the drive’s second play, the Mikes were flagged for holding, but, on second-and-24, the Rangers got caught with their hand in the cookie jar and were whistled for pass interference.
The two penalties wiped each other out, and six plays later, Hathaway scored his first of three touchdowns to give Carmichaels an early 7-0 lead.
Two subsequent drives stalled, however, in Fort Cherry territory, and Carmichaels led only 13-0 at the half. Again, Menhart pointed out to his team how important each team’s first possession of the second half would be.
Fort Cherry started at its 28-yard line, and two plays later, fumbled on a second-and-five run by Josh Kemp. Menhart then called Hathaway’s number six straight times, the last resulting in a two-yard touchdown run which gave the Mikes a commanding 19-0 lead.
“My wife asked me the other night if I would prefer to win the toss and go on offense or play defense,” Menhart said. “I’d really rather play defense. It lets everything calm down and lets everybody settle in.
“But any time we win the toss, we’re taking the ball. Fort Cherry won the toss and deferred to us. The kids kind of took that personally.”