Coaches Corner with the Hawk’s Charley Drum
The ReSporter: Hey Coach, congratulations on the win last week. Could you tell us how the practices have gone this week after that win over Wimberley?
Coach Drum: “There has been a lot more enthusiasm and you can tell the difference the way they start each day. It was like being paid for all the hard work you have done and they finally got the fruits from all that hard labor.”
The ReSporter: That had to be one of the largest crowds in Hawk history.
Coach Drum: “Yeah, our stadium holds 6000 and the last time I saw the stands like that was 5 years ago when we were playing Wimberley and we were both undefeated.”
The ReSporter: That game had to be a confidence builder for the team, especially Ben Fulton after the first half had all the negative things happening.
Coach Drum: “We talked at halftime to just settle down and he (Fulton) shoulders a lot of blame but our offense has so many other parts that are not based on the quarterback and so we just decided to have a safe pass to start the second half.”
The ReSporter: Tell us how that decision came about in throwing a pass on the first play.
Coach Drum: “The offensive coaches wanted to throw a safe pass and stretch Wimberley’s defense out…we also wanted to get the ball into our playmakers and Tanner (Faris) had a good catch but he made some moves to get a big gain for us.”
The ReSporter: I know the offense is based running the ball, but that first half, Canyon Lake was having a hard time getting any positive yards. I’m sure having 100 passing yards will be a good thing for Fulton and the offense.
Coach Drum: “That is something we will need down the road.”
The ReSporter: What can you tell us about the Lampasas game?
Coach Drum: “They are a smash mouth football team that likes to run and they will remind a lot of people of Blanco’s offense.”
The ReSporter: I saw where there running back had almost 300 yards rushing in their game with Lago Vista earlier this year.
Coach Drum: “We will need to play gap control and come right at them…they will have a lot of student body right and student body right and this will be a good test before we play Liberty Hill.”
The ReSporter: This time last year the team had just suffered a one point loss to Wimberley and now you are going into this game with a win….how will that play against Lampasas?
Coach Drum: “This has been a momentum thing and that would be what we would like as we go into our off week and it is always better to get on a roll early than late. In the past we have done well after the first half of games and getting that momentum now would be good.”
The ReSporter: You have said quite often on how the younger players have won much more than losing are they responding like you would hope?
Coach Drum: “They are competitive and I know I have said they are young, but they have played 2 scrimmages and 4 games and they are not young anymore and that is the same as our seniors.”
“I was proud in how they responded and fought back in that Wimberley game when they (Texans) came back to tie the game right before half.”
The ReSporter: Being a defensive coordinator, how big was that goal line stand after such a blood bath the week before with Marion?
Coach Drum: “That was the first time they just buckled up and that was a huge play by our defense and that has been one thing we have been missing. We were in man coverage and Parker (Reno) is one of our best players on timing the blitz. You are rolling the dice when you blitz in that situation because you can’t lose containment.”
The ReSporter: Thanks for the time Coach and good luck this week in Lampasas.
