[gapman]

Very good ballgame by both clubs. It is always interesting to read everyone's spin. I will go ahead and throw out a fact and a spin. Haywood didn't take a knee to not put up 14, Haywood took a knee to guarantee Ashland doesn't touch the ball again. Good coaching decision. This is fact. If I were Ashlands coaching staff I would have let Belfry score with just under three minutes left and saved my timeout and took a shot at scoring 8 and overtime. May not have scored but at that point it was obvious to me that this would be the only shot. The turnover game was 2-2. That is a fact. However, the first traded turnovers negated a great kick return and the Pirates benefited probably 30 yards. The Ashland interception was on fourth and one insided or nearly inside the red zone. Belfry's interception was at the end of the first half and meaningless. Bottom line is Belfry executed their game plan and deserved to win the game. Ashland had better use this to get better and regroup. I hope I am not seeing some divisions and fingerpointing going on. If these kids will realizel that there are no great players on this team but a lot of good players and play accordingly they can be a threat. If they continue to blame teammates for shortcomings they will implode. District champions should be the main focus. AS A TEAM

I agree with you regarding the points bolded. If you're going to suggest that the players should refrain from finger pointing you might employ that high-road-tactic yourself (your negating comment). The players I talked to didn't seem to think it was anybody's fault, and I believe they view it as a team loss. Hindsight is always 20/20. A good team doesn't take a loss very well and they shouldn't IMO. Hart will help them channel that frustration in a way that will make them better. From what I have seen the players really love their team and care about each other. No team is going to play mistake free football. Belfry sure didn't. That was a hostile environment to play in and Ashland needed to be reminded how that plays into the scheme of things.