Photo by Reily Chestnut
(Marion) — When Marion hosted Comfort for their first scrimmage last week, Head Coach Joel Call called for his team to play fast and furious. To paraphrase him, Call wants his Bulldogs to hold onto their speed like they would “hold onto the prettiest girl in class” after a great date.
Clearly, Call knows how to give a quote. So, how does he feel after checking the tape from last week on the Bulldogs’ attack speed?
“I think our kids responded well. They saw the fruits of success going to that tempo,” Call said. “In practice, we are always trying [to replicate that]. It’s organized chaos out there. People hollering [and] screaming. We give them a countdown clock every time the play is run to match that tempo we want to do.”
That begs the question, how must the defense handle themselves if the offense is scoring faster than the Showtime Lakers?
“Defensively, if we score fast, it puts them back on the field,” Call said. “But they’re ready for it. They know we are going to play fast [and that] within two or three plays we could have a big play. They’re fully capable and ready to have a quick turnaround.”
The Bulldogs seem to be trending upward. But what lies ahead when they visit Poth this Thursday? According to Call, there are some similarities with Comfort.
“Poth is like Comfort. They’re going to be really well coached,” Call stated. “They’ll play physical, sound football. Once again, another layer of exposure. We want them to expose some of our faults and weaknesses so we can address them. The theme of this week is: ‘Now What?’. Now that we’ve seen some of our strengths, some of our weaknesses, are we just going to [sit] on that knowledge? Are we going to put it to work? That’s kind of the objective.”
Marion’s final preseason battle at Poth starts at 6pm this Thursday. The game will start with both sides running some scripted plays before playing a live half.