Hawk’s Year in Review with Coach Monzingo
The ReSporter wants to go over the recent season while also looking
Head Coach Matt Monzingo
ahead for next season.
The interview with Coach Monzingo was broken down with three questions…the first is how strong was our District?
The question was born from last week’s first round of playoff games where, Navarro and Boerne lost, while Wimberley won in overtime as District 26-3A was outclassed by District 25-3A.
“It tells you they were better than us,” Coach Monzingo said matter of fact. “Wimberley had kids that believed they would be in an easy game.”
Wimberley won the game, but Taylor took the Texans to overtime, while they fought from behind to tie the score in the fourth quarter.
“Boerne was not physical enough and Lampasas was a very physical team,” Coach Monzingo continued. “They (Lampasas) had 23 Seniors playing and a strong running game.”
Navarro also was exposed by Liberty Hill, in fact, Navarro surprised Liberty Hill last season and Liberty Hill might of had a little revenge brewing.
District 26-3A was 3-0 this time last season against the district to our north which spoke very well for how the top half of district that was pretty salty.
There was a couple of reasons for the way the season ended for the Hawks.
Turnovers and injuries were the next two talking points with Coach Monzingo.
“Boerne killed us on turnovers,” Monzingo lamented. “Our defensive mentality was not aggressive football.”
Coach Monzingo was responding to the stat of finishing minus six on the turnover chart.
Canyon Lake only forced 12 turnovers while giving up 18 during the season.
Last three season’s turnover numbers:
Season Canyon Lake Opponents + - Record
Int Fumbles Int Fumbles
2009 13 16 19 4 +6 Canyon Lake 6-5
2010 10 16 12 10 +4 Canyon Lake 6-6
2011 8 4 10 8 -6 Opponents 8-2
The numbers don’t lie when you compare the last three seasons. It is true that Canyon Lake finished with a much better record than the two previous years, but this season had the potential to send this team to heights not seen.
A stronger emphasis in this area could of produced a team not satisfied with just two rounds in the playoffs.
“We did not have a real dominant, ‘play dirty’ type of players like we had with our ‘09 team,” Coach Monzingo said reminiscing.
The numbers above only reflect the lost fumbles, which would could also tell you how many drives might have been stopped based on that lost play for the offense, giving the Hawks another chance with the ball after a punt by the opposition.
The word for the last part of an explanation for the disappointing finish would be, “Frustrating,” Coach Monzingo said when asked about all the injuries the team went through for this season.
The ReSporter talked about how much depth this team would have for the season and that would of been a great reason for a continuation of games. However, the injuries dipped into our depth and finally had a say in the two game losing streak.
“We had our share (of injuries),” Monzingo said in hearing the question. “Daniel (Camarillo) going out gave us a waterfall effect and left us with just two secondary players that played 10 games.”
The defensive side of the ball was the unit hardest hit by the injury bug. The linebackers had several players who had to fill in during the season.
“We had guys that had to play defense, which hurt us on offense,” Coach Monzingo said painfully. “Kids were tired and had not played those positions for much of the season and were thrown into a situation they were not used to….it was frustrating.”
The depth issue was still an incredible asset based on where the Hawks might of been without players stepping in to finish the season.
The ReSporter will not end on a ‘woe is me’ attitude as we will continue our conversation with Coach Monzingo and the future of the players coming up and how the team will fare for the 2012 season.
Stayed tune for the ‘rest of the story’ next week.
