After completing the first episode of this new podcast I decided to go back and watch videos that were available online. These videos all included representatives from the Warner Robins area. One video I was able to find was the game video from the 2000 City Championship between the Warner Robins Demons and the Northside Eagles. This game will be featured in later episodes of Season 1 but what struck me during this review of the game video was the amount of talent on the field.
Both teams came into that Game considered the top two teams in the state of Georgia. Ironically both teams were eliminated from the playoffs at the same point, the Quarterfinals. This was the game that included the hurdle by Chansi Stuckey over the Defensive End from Warner Robins that I spoke of in episode 1.
Warner Robins was ranked #1 in the state of Georgia at the highest classification in the state and narrowly defeated the #2 ranked Eagles 23-21. I watched some additional videos that included mostly Northside Eagle State Championships and playoff games. The 2014 State Championship game was an exciting comeback victory over Mays High School in the Georgia Dome. Sophomore QB Tobias Oliver dominated the second half of this game and he scored on a huge Touchdown run in the Fourth Quarter. Northside was down 18-7 at the half and rallied for its 3rd State Title in school history. Mays shutdown star running back Willie Jordan but did so at its own peril allowing Oliver to dominate on the perimeter. Northside's defense shutdown a high powered Mays offense and pitched a second half shutout.
I review all of this to recap some of the high points that I went back and was able to watch online. This is one of my favorite things to do. Go back and watch video of huge games that I attended in the past. I do this all the time with my favorite College Football team, the Georgia Southern Eagles. I go back and analyze the ESPN 3 feed to see what plays worked well, and what strategies would have been better to employ. Analyzing tons of game video I have determined 3 facts that I feel lead to victory more than 90% of the time.
1. Victories in High School and in College are accomplished by not turning the football over. - Turnovers kill drives - Turnovers lead to scores for the other team
2. The team who can Run the ball the most successfully normally wins. - Running successfully controls the tempo and clock - Running successfully imposes physical wills on teams
3. Penalties kill drives and momentum. - Drive Killers - Momentum Killers - Creates angst among the team, finger pointing If I was building a football program or taking over a team, these three areas would be the most important aspects to address.
A 4th area would be special teams. Small things separate successful programs from the truly great programs. These attentions to detail would be my focus. These seem to all be areas where evenly matched teams are separated by winning and losing. Northside has been extremely successful in all three of these areas for almost 30 years now. They beat teams by great Defense, Scoring Special Teams, and consistency. They have been consistently fundamental which has helped earn them 3 state titles and 6 titles game appearances.
Success is a cultural thing. Early on Warner Robins held the cultural and mental advantage in the town. Northside was the little brother and held a small inferiority complex to the Demons. But success breeds success and many Eagles teams accomplished more than they were capable of because of the name they had developed and the expectation of achievement. I could say Warner Robins created the same culture years earlier which lead to expectations and domination. In some sense both schools have become mirror images of the other just separated by years of when they were dominant.
As we continue down this journey I will encounter even more of these memories. Some memories are probably more romanticized in hindsight than they actually were. Some memories are able to be revisited with the help on online videos uploaded by people. I love revisiting these memories and sometimes memories are validated for their spectacular accuracy!
Warner Robins was ranked #1 in the state of Georgia at the highest classification in the state and narrowly defeated the #2 ranked Eagles 23-21. I watched some additional videos that included mostly Northside Eagle State Championships and playoff games. The 2014 State Championship game was an exciting comeback victory over Mays High School in the Georgia Dome. Sophomore QB Tobias Oliver dominated the second half of this game and he scored on a huge Touchdown run in the Fourth Quarter. Northside was down 18-7 at the half and rallied for its 3rd State Title in school history. Mays shutdown star running back Willie Jordan but did so at its own peril allowing Oliver to dominate on the perimeter. Northside's defense shutdown a high powered Mays offense and pitched a second half shutout.
I review all of this to recap some of the high points that I went back and was able to watch online. This is one of my favorite things to do. Go back and watch video of huge games that I attended in the past. I do this all the time with my favorite College Football team, the Georgia Southern Eagles. I go back and analyze the ESPN 3 feed to see what plays worked well, and what strategies would have been better to employ. Analyzing tons of game video I have determined 3 facts that I feel lead to victory more than 90% of the time.
1. Victories in High School and in College are accomplished by not turning the football over. - Turnovers kill drives - Turnovers lead to scores for the other team
2. The team who can Run the ball the most successfully normally wins. - Running successfully controls the tempo and clock - Running successfully imposes physical wills on teams
3. Penalties kill drives and momentum. - Drive Killers - Momentum Killers - Creates angst among the team, finger pointing If I was building a football program or taking over a team, these three areas would be the most important aspects to address.
A 4th area would be special teams. Small things separate successful programs from the truly great programs. These attentions to detail would be my focus. These seem to all be areas where evenly matched teams are separated by winning and losing. Northside has been extremely successful in all three of these areas for almost 30 years now. They beat teams by great Defense, Scoring Special Teams, and consistency. They have been consistently fundamental which has helped earn them 3 state titles and 6 titles game appearances.
Success is a cultural thing. Early on Warner Robins held the cultural and mental advantage in the town. Northside was the little brother and held a small inferiority complex to the Demons. But success breeds success and many Eagles teams accomplished more than they were capable of because of the name they had developed and the expectation of achievement. I could say Warner Robins created the same culture years earlier which lead to expectations and domination. In some sense both schools have become mirror images of the other just separated by years of when they were dominant.
As we continue down this journey I will encounter even more of these memories. Some memories are probably more romanticized in hindsight than they actually were. Some memories are able to be revisited with the help on online videos uploaded by people. I love revisiting these memories and sometimes memories are validated for their spectacular accuracy!
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