Golden Eagles looking for consistency under Blackstone
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
MT. STERLING — In his second year at the helm of the Madison-Plains Golden Eagles head coach Barry Blackstone wants his team to gain one thing this upcoming 2010 football season: consistency.
The Golden Eagles are coming off a 3-7 season where they went 1-5 in the South Central Ohio League. One year ago, MP defeated the McClain Tigers, 7-6 in a week five matchup. Other wins for MP last season came against Cedarville (45-11) and the Columbus Crusaders (42-21).
For the '10 season, MP will have 10 seniors, but only half have varsity experience according to their head coach.
On the offensive side the Golden Eagles are young but return some varsity experience with sophomore quarterback Seth Castro (5-8, 150), Ryne Davis (6-0, 160) and running back Steve Lemieux (5-6, 130).
"Our returning freshmen from last season (now sophomores) played at the varsity level last year," Blackstone said. "They worked hard and continue to get better."
With consistency being the word of the season for the Golden Eagles, Blackstone wants to see improvement from his offense. Last season, MP scored a total of 165 points, scoring 111 points in three non-league games. In SCOL games MP finished with 54 points.
"We didn't have much of an offense last year," Blackstone said. "Consistency is what we need to improve. We just need some consistency."
As for an offensive attack, Madison-Plains will use a variety of formations and offensive looks, depending on what team they will face this upcoming season.
"We use all types of formations. The day of having a base formation is gone," Blackstone said. "I know I keep saying this, but we just have to see what works for us and be consistent."
On defense, senior linebacker Jeff Francis (6-0, 200) and junior defensive tackle James Henry will lead the defensive attack.
"The guys have been working very hard. We need to get a lot better on defense this season as we have a long way to go," Blackstone said. "But, we have guys that are working, but if we don't improve we'll win three games again."
Blackstone said he didn't keep track of the rest of the SCOL, saying he and his team had their own worries while preparing for the season.
"We need to improve our numbers if we want to be competitive each year," he said. "We would like to have at least 40 players this season, but we would like to have more. We are one of the smallest schools in the league."
The Golden Eagles want to flip the record from 2009, but to do that Blackstone said his players need to win and gain a winning confidence.
"The key to any program is to win. With winning you can get confidence, which makes the team feel good," he said. "In order to win, players and the coaches have to work hard.
"If you look back to this time, last year, early in the year, we are steps ahead in the right direction."
Madison-Plains will start the 2010 season at home, where they will face Cedarville.[[In-content Ad]]
The Golden Eagles are coming off a 3-7 season where they went 1-5 in the South Central Ohio League. One year ago, MP defeated the McClain Tigers, 7-6 in a week five matchup. Other wins for MP last season came against Cedarville (45-11) and the Columbus Crusaders (42-21).
For the '10 season, MP will have 10 seniors, but only half have varsity experience according to their head coach.
On the offensive side the Golden Eagles are young but return some varsity experience with sophomore quarterback Seth Castro (5-8, 150), Ryne Davis (6-0, 160) and running back Steve Lemieux (5-6, 130).
"Our returning freshmen from last season (now sophomores) played at the varsity level last year," Blackstone said. "They worked hard and continue to get better."
With consistency being the word of the season for the Golden Eagles, Blackstone wants to see improvement from his offense. Last season, MP scored a total of 165 points, scoring 111 points in three non-league games. In SCOL games MP finished with 54 points.
"We didn't have much of an offense last year," Blackstone said. "Consistency is what we need to improve. We just need some consistency."
As for an offensive attack, Madison-Plains will use a variety of formations and offensive looks, depending on what team they will face this upcoming season.
"We use all types of formations. The day of having a base formation is gone," Blackstone said. "I know I keep saying this, but we just have to see what works for us and be consistent."
On defense, senior linebacker Jeff Francis (6-0, 200) and junior defensive tackle James Henry will lead the defensive attack.
"The guys have been working very hard. We need to get a lot better on defense this season as we have a long way to go," Blackstone said. "But, we have guys that are working, but if we don't improve we'll win three games again."
Blackstone said he didn't keep track of the rest of the SCOL, saying he and his team had their own worries while preparing for the season.
"We need to improve our numbers if we want to be competitive each year," he said. "We would like to have at least 40 players this season, but we would like to have more. We are one of the smallest schools in the league."
The Golden Eagles want to flip the record from 2009, but to do that Blackstone said his players need to win and gain a winning confidence.
"The key to any program is to win. With winning you can get confidence, which makes the team feel good," he said. "In order to win, players and the coaches have to work hard.
"If you look back to this time, last year, early in the year, we are steps ahead in the right direction."
Madison-Plains will start the 2010 season at home, where they will face Cedarville.[[In-content Ad]]