MVP of the Issue: Lakeland football defense
Muskie "D" progresses throughout season; vital to team's success
Carlos Millan
Issue date: 11/12/09 Section: Sports
Usually the MVP of the issue is an athlete that demonstrates great determination and contributes in a way that helps their team earn a victory. For this issue, the MVP is the entire Lakeland Football team's defense.
Over the past couple of games the defense has been playing like unstoppable giants and is holding opponents to unbelievable stats.
In the game versus Maranatha Baptist the Lakeland defense held Maranatha to a total of four first downs for the entire sixty minutes they played. Imagine trying to run the ball against a defense of this caliber. To give you an idea of how strong the Muskie defense is, Maranatha Baptists ran the ball for a total of negative 24 yards.
The Muskie defense just plain destroyed the running game and held the passing game to 53 yards. The Muskies did not just dominate Maranatha Baptist but they controlled Concordia Wisconsin just as well.
The Muskie defense did not hold Concordia to four first downs like Maranatha, but did hold them to just ten first downs. They did allow more yards this game, but did have four sacks and three interceptions in the game. Overall, the end score is what matters, and the defense did not allow a single touchdown in two straight games.
For the past two games the defense has four sacks, four interceptions, and held both teams to a combined total of 76 rushing yards and 157 passing yards.
This evolution of the defense comes from the very beginning. During the non-conference games, Kevin Doherty, Lakeland's head coach, explained that the defense is young and needed time to mature and develop.
"It has taken time to get our defense where it is now and it'll take time for us to improve. We're still trying to play together and get used to our roles," Doherty said.
This quote comes from the opening non-conference games. During this time the Muskie defense was just developing and in no way resembles the defense we see now. They still lacked the mental part of the game.
"We need to cut down on mental breakdowns," Doherty said. "These breakdowns cause us to give them big plays."
These big letdowns don't exist anymore because the defense has grown into an unstoppable machine. Every tackle they deliver is powered with a strong will of determination to get the opponent down. Every sack is delivered with relentlessness and every interception is a pick-six in the making.
The defense has grown so much over the past weeks that we need to examine where they could go from here.
The next game the Muskies will have is against Aurora this Saturday, Nov. 14 at noon. The defense will pick off where they left off.
Get ready to witness another impressive win by the Muskies and see the defense pick apart Aurora's offense. If there is a word the Muskie defense mimics, it's progression. To get from where they were to where they are not is nothing but progression.
Over the past couple of games the defense has been playing like unstoppable giants and is holding opponents to unbelievable stats.
In the game versus Maranatha Baptist the Lakeland defense held Maranatha to a total of four first downs for the entire sixty minutes they played. Imagine trying to run the ball against a defense of this caliber. To give you an idea of how strong the Muskie defense is, Maranatha Baptists ran the ball for a total of negative 24 yards.
The Muskie defense just plain destroyed the running game and held the passing game to 53 yards. The Muskies did not just dominate Maranatha Baptist but they controlled Concordia Wisconsin just as well.
The Muskie defense did not hold Concordia to four first downs like Maranatha, but did hold them to just ten first downs. They did allow more yards this game, but did have four sacks and three interceptions in the game. Overall, the end score is what matters, and the defense did not allow a single touchdown in two straight games.
For the past two games the defense has four sacks, four interceptions, and held both teams to a combined total of 76 rushing yards and 157 passing yards.
This evolution of the defense comes from the very beginning. During the non-conference games, Kevin Doherty, Lakeland's head coach, explained that the defense is young and needed time to mature and develop.
"It has taken time to get our defense where it is now and it'll take time for us to improve. We're still trying to play together and get used to our roles," Doherty said.
This quote comes from the opening non-conference games. During this time the Muskie defense was just developing and in no way resembles the defense we see now. They still lacked the mental part of the game.
"We need to cut down on mental breakdowns," Doherty said. "These breakdowns cause us to give them big plays."
These big letdowns don't exist anymore because the defense has grown into an unstoppable machine. Every tackle they deliver is powered with a strong will of determination to get the opponent down. Every sack is delivered with relentlessness and every interception is a pick-six in the making.
The defense has grown so much over the past weeks that we need to examine where they could go from here.
The next game the Muskies will have is against Aurora this Saturday, Nov. 14 at noon. The defense will pick off where they left off.
Get ready to witness another impressive win by the Muskies and see the defense pick apart Aurora's offense. If there is a word the Muskie defense mimics, it's progression. To get from where they were to where they are not is nothing but progression.
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