Following a definitive 42-7 loss at Spring Creek that highlighted growing pains and a looming identity crisis, Fernley High School football coach Anfernee Sloan is challenging his team to handle adversity head-on.
The defeat marked a distinct shift in perspective for the Vaqueros. After each of Fernley’s first three losses this season, Sloan pointed directly at self-inflicted mistakes, maintaining a firm belief that his team had beaten itself.
This time, however, Sloan openly acknowledged that his team was simply outplayed.
“It ultimately comes down to just doing our job and making the plays," Sloan said. "They did everything again that they showed on film, and they just executed. It comes down to teams that want to execute and do the game the right way.”
It didn’t start of that way for the Vaqueros, who took the opening possession of the game for an apparent touchdown. But a holding penalty wiped out the 39-yard run by Ke’aunue Tolliver and the Vaqueros ended up punting at the end of a 15-play drive that took more than half the first quarter.
Spring Creek then embarked on its own 15-play drive, scoring on a 14-yard pass from McCoy McArtor to Nolen Francis, with 10:36 left in the second quarter.
The Spartans went on to score on all four of their first half possessions to take a 28-0 halftime lead.
The Vaqueros never recovered from that opening setback.
"These guys struggle with handling adversity," Sloan said. "At halftime, I illustrated to them: 'Guys, this is life right now that you're experiencing. You guys are experiencing what happens when things just aren't going your way, and you're responding the complete wrong way.'"
The Vaqueros responded well after half, forcing a quick 3-and-out by the Spartans, and following it up with a 63-yard touchdown drive to cut the score to 28-7.
But any hopes they had of getting back into the game were dashed by a 14-play, 75-yard drive that included two third-and-long conversions and a 14-yard touchdown pass from McArtor to Landon Boyle on a fourth down play.
Though the Vaqueros showed improved fight in the second half, the defeat underscored a deeper issue for a program that has enjoyed success in recent years. The current roster is transitioning away from the veteran, star-powered groups of the past.
"I’ve got a group of young men right now that aren’t used to having to deal with the hard. They're used to having others work through it and play for them,” he said “Unfortunately, I don't got Keeshawn's, I don't got Riley's, I don't got Joey Machado’s. I got who I got, and I'm gonna ride into battle with them."
But the Northern 3A is an unforgiving league, and a team suffering a crisis of confidence gets no breaks. Underscoring that, the Vaqueros face Truckee this week, the league’s longtime measuring-stick program.
“We have to go and compete to win the game,” Sloan said. “I mean, we're not going to sit here and submit to anything. Truckee is a blue collar football program that's going to show up and play. And those guys, I'm willing to bet you, have a salty taste in their mouth after last season. So we gotta be willing to match that and be ready.”
Comment
Comments