Tiger football blog: Oct. 23
By Alex Oey
Independent Sports Writer
What a ride it has been.
The Marshall football team has been on a tear this season, running through the Southern Alliance undefeated, claiming the title with a 37-0 win over Worthington on Wednesday night.
The Tigers deserve a big hand for winning Marshall’s first conference football title since 1991.
It is a huge accomplishment to take the top spot in the conference, not to mention the top seed in Section 2AAAA football playoffs.
But now comes the hard part.
I’m not trying to say that the first eight games didn’t mean anything, or that the Tigers’ accomplishments to this point are on a lower level, but the playoffs are here.
With the playoffs comes that mentality of one more game.
Just keep playing one more game.
Back in 1997 when my high school football team went undefeated, winning the conference championship, we had our fun for the weekend, getting a few extra days of rest, much like the Tigers are right now.
But when we came back to practice on Monday, our coaches were ready to gear things up for us.
In the playoffs, everything is do-or-die. If you lose now, your season is done. There is no rebound game.
Marshall will have to get through some tough teams if they want to advance deep into playoffs.
Luckily the Tigers will have a first round bye, thanks to being the No. 1 seed, but things do not get any easier.
Marshall will face either Willmar, the No. 4 seed, or Hutchinson, the No. 5 seed in the second round.
Hutchinson ended the Tigers’ season last year, something that I am sure will be on the players’ minds next week.
Marshall’s season has reminded me a lot of my senior season. Similar records, similar wins and we also had a pair of stand out runningbacks with about five behind them that could have been starters on other teams.
The farther you get into the playoffs, the more the other newspapers in the state start to take notice.
In covering the Tigers for the Marshall Independent, I try to stay objective as possible.
In my memory, I do not remember ever making too bold of claims about future games. I try to use the stats to back up my claims.
When I was a senior at Sisseton (S.D.) High School, the Argus Leader out of Sioux Falls, S.D., did match-ups of each playoff game.
We were playing Madison, a team which had taken us out of the playoffs my junior season, if I can remember that far back.
The Argus Leader sports writer had a sentence that has been burned into my memory that will be there for a long time.
“Madison doesn’t have what it takes to win it all, but they have what it takes to win this game.”
As you can imagine, all that did was fire us up and we were able to win the game.
All week long, that phrase was on our minds, making us practice even harder.
I try to watch the Star Tribune to see if there are any pieces about local athletes, and to see what they have to say about key games during the season.
One thing I hear a lot about Hutchinson football is how they play bigger teams and how their conference is much tougher than Marshall’s. And don’t forget, Hutchinson won last year.
I hope that the players are able to use whatever motivation they have, be it internal or external, and make a good run in the playoffs.
Independent Sports Writer
What a ride it has been.
The Marshall football team has been on a tear this season, running through the Southern Alliance undefeated, claiming the title with a 37-0 win over Worthington on Wednesday night.
The Tigers deserve a big hand for winning Marshall’s first conference football title since 1991.
It is a huge accomplishment to take the top spot in the conference, not to mention the top seed in Section 2AAAA football playoffs.
But now comes the hard part.
I’m not trying to say that the first eight games didn’t mean anything, or that the Tigers’ accomplishments to this point are on a lower level, but the playoffs are here.
With the playoffs comes that mentality of one more game.
Just keep playing one more game.
Back in 1997 when my high school football team went undefeated, winning the conference championship, we had our fun for the weekend, getting a few extra days of rest, much like the Tigers are right now.
But when we came back to practice on Monday, our coaches were ready to gear things up for us.
In the playoffs, everything is do-or-die. If you lose now, your season is done. There is no rebound game.
Marshall will have to get through some tough teams if they want to advance deep into playoffs.
Luckily the Tigers will have a first round bye, thanks to being the No. 1 seed, but things do not get any easier.
Marshall will face either Willmar, the No. 4 seed, or Hutchinson, the No. 5 seed in the second round.
Hutchinson ended the Tigers’ season last year, something that I am sure will be on the players’ minds next week.
Marshall’s season has reminded me a lot of my senior season. Similar records, similar wins and we also had a pair of stand out runningbacks with about five behind them that could have been starters on other teams.
The farther you get into the playoffs, the more the other newspapers in the state start to take notice.
In covering the Tigers for the Marshall Independent, I try to stay objective as possible.
In my memory, I do not remember ever making too bold of claims about future games. I try to use the stats to back up my claims.
When I was a senior at Sisseton (S.D.) High School, the Argus Leader out of Sioux Falls, S.D., did match-ups of each playoff game.
We were playing Madison, a team which had taken us out of the playoffs my junior season, if I can remember that far back.
The Argus Leader sports writer had a sentence that has been burned into my memory that will be there for a long time.
“Madison doesn’t have what it takes to win it all, but they have what it takes to win this game.”
As you can imagine, all that did was fire us up and we were able to win the game.
All week long, that phrase was on our minds, making us practice even harder.
I try to watch the Star Tribune to see if there are any pieces about local athletes, and to see what they have to say about key games during the season.
One thing I hear a lot about Hutchinson football is how they play bigger teams and how their conference is much tougher than Marshall’s. And don’t forget, Hutchinson won last year.
I hope that the players are able to use whatever motivation they have, be it internal or external, and make a good run in the playoffs.
posted by Alex Oey at 11:56 AM
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