Scott Keyes
Sports Scene
First the good news.
The Valley Lutheran football team snapped an 18-game losing streak by defeating All-Saints Central 53-6 the first game of the season.
Now the bad news.
The Chargers dropped three straight Tri-Valley Conference West Division games in a row to Merrill, Ithaca, and St. Charles.
Despite some shortcomings, coach Randy Finney has seen some positives from the team.
“Defensively, we have a long way to go,” Finney said. “No individual has jumped out since summer workouts. On offense, we are moving the ball well and on a pace to set a school record for points scored in a season.”
It’s no secret that defense hasn’t been a positive for Valley Lutheran, giving up 70 points in back-to-back weeks to Merrill and Ithaca.
Finney knows that in order to move forward as a program, that has to change.
“We have been bad on defense and need to vastly improve in that aspect of the game,” he said.
“We need to eliminate mistakes on offense. We have been making far too many turnovers and penalties.”
Even so, the offense has shown glimpses of stardom this season with its win over All Saints and putting up 48 points against Merrill.
Aubrey Moore and Norman Braddock create match-up problems with their speed. Moore is on pace to set the school rushing record, and Stephen Holihan should break the passing record this season for the Chargers.
“Basically what it comes down to is that we need to get more physical on both sides of the football,” Finney said.