More than 170 snaps over four quarters and three overtimes. That’s what went into Friday night’s win over the Seward Bluejays.
And at the end?
“Relief. You know, not many kids get to experience that kind of game in their lives. I haven’t had that experience in years of coaching. It was quite an experience,” Tiger Head Coach Rick Ripperger said Monday morning.
When it came down to the final minutes, Ripperger believes pre-season preparation played a large role.
“Our pre-season conditioning showed up Friday night for sure. We had very little cramping and saw a lot of that from the Seward side. We could tell what team was in better shape,” Ripperger said. “With that, we had about three guys who played all of those 170-plus snaps.”
It’s tough to go into the next week without a great deal of excitement for more wins on the season. But Ripperger said this win was not without concern for areas of improvement.
“Obviously we have some things to work on in all aspects of the game. Offense needs to clean up the penalties, defense needs to allow fewer big plays, we need to tackle better, block better. We need to work the kinks out of the special teams.”
Ripperger said some of the focus areas of preseason are coming together like they hoped. Along with technique, this is something coaches hope will carry the team through.
“These young men showed a tremendous amount of heart. They showed unity. They stuck together and that played a big part in their success.”
The Tigers take on Grand Island Northwest in their first home stand on Friday, August 31 at 7 p.m. at Hastings College.