By Havenfootball.net Staff
It is not unusual for a team to simply have a bad night. You hope that the problems go away and your opponent isn’t able to capitalize on the mistakes. Last Friday night the Panthers kept shooting themselves in the foot and the Garnet Valley Jaguars just kept turning those mistakes into points. Beating the Jags was not going to be easy but giving up three touchdowns as the result of mistakes makes it almost an impossibility. No doubt the Panthers kept plugging away but they dug themselves into a hole that was just too much to dig out of.
This Friday the (3-5) Panthers have a truly “must-win” game against the visiting Radnor Red Raiders (3-5) if they want a shot at the playoffs. It is possible that a 4-6 team will get into the PIAA District One 5A, 16 team playoffs this year. Two weeks from now they travel to play a very tough Marple Newtown (7-1) team. If the Panthers are going to get four wins this year it will need to defeat Radnor.
The Red Raiders have been struggling to find some kind of rhythm this year. They are led by #11 Pat McDermott who showed a great arm last year, but like the team, is struggling this year after breaking his left foot in Week 1. His running work horses are #28 Najeh Fowler and #34 Zach Wade. McDermott loves to throw the ball and he can place it almost anywhere if the receiver gets open.
Haven needs a strong dose of “good football” this Friday. They certainly have the talent to take it to Radnor but they have to stay penalty free and play smart football. Complete the blocks, wrap up the tackles and dominate on both sides of the ball.
We like what we’ve seen these last couple of weeks as Coach Clancy has opened up the game a bit with some new plays and some more passing. We don’t think you have to go 40 yards in the passing game to be successful. We think that 5-7 yards a completion and letting our guys run free and see what they can find in the open field is the way to keep the ball on offense, gain yards and use up clock. Good, consistent, passing takes practice. We’d like the Panthers “turn it loose” in the air this week and see what happens. If Haven does that this Friday night, and do it well, it will definitely give the Tigers something to think about for next week’s game!
Kick-off is at 7:30 PM at George L. King Field. If you are coming to the game don’t forget to bring your portable FM radio and tune it to 88.0 to hear our full play-by-play broadcast right in the stadium. If you can’t make the game you can always listen to our broadcast right here at havenfootball.net. Our broadcast will begin at 7:15. The game will be available on our archives as soon as the game concludes. You can also check in on Twitter for score updates.
