by Geoff Fox
The Hancock Panthers football team fell to 0-4 on the season after back-to-back shutout losses to Northern Garrett (48-0) and Bath County Virginia (49-0). Those come after being shut out against Southern Garrett in the team’s home opener.
Other than chasing their first win, Coach Greg Cartrette said things are still “going good” with the Panther team.
Last week’s game took the team to Bath County, Virginia, to take on the Bath County Chargers – a trip about 3.5 to 4 hours away.
Cartrette said only 14 players traveled for the game.
“We went up against a very strong, a very good Bath County,” he said. “But luckily, thank goodness, we came through it healthy.”
Injuries present hurdles
That was unlike the game against Northern Garrett, Cartrette said, where three starters were lost to injury – two to concussions and one to a knee injury.
There were some bumps and bruises against Bath County but players remained overall healthy, he said.
There were some positives that came out of the losses and things the team has to work on, the coach said.
“We are making strides and improvement each week,” he said, “and there’s a few things that we need to still continue working on to get better so that we can play a competitive game.”
Cartrette said the biggest thing has been the team’s blocking.
“We cannot win a football game or even be competitive if we cannot block. And that’s one of the biggest issues we’re having right now,” he said.
The blocking is needed to give the quarterback time to make a pass or running backs time to make a play.
When the quarterback is throwing, he has defensive players in his face, Cartrette said.
A prime example of this was against Bath County where the quarterback threw two interceptions, one being returned for a “pick six.”
Cartrette said by the time the quarterback was ready to throw the pass, there was someone in his face and while being hit, both passes were intercepted.
In the four games this year, the Panthers have been outscored 177-8; the eight points came in the season opener against Berkeley Springs.
After being shutout the last three games, Cartrette said the team is handling that by staying positive on the things the team is improving on over the progression of the season.
He said the players understand they aren’t going to score any points or gain any passing or rushing yards if they can’t block.
“It’s just keeping them focused on the things that are good that we’ve improved on and get them focused also on the things that need to be improved on,” Cartrette said.
The coach added if the team can start to block, the Panthers would be in the games.
He said in the last week, they spent a whole day and a half working on blocking.
“I saw in our first couple of plays, I saw that. I saw a big improvement,” Coach Cartrette said.
After that, he said it started sliding and the players started getting tired.
Because of the small number of players on the Panthers football team, players were playing both sides of the ball the entire game and by half time, Cartrette said they’d played a full game.
Cartrette said he’s not making excuses, but he doesn’t have the numbers to have players line up a full squad to line up against the offensive or defensive line. He can do half lines, but not the full lines.
“That’s not an excuse, but that is something we have to deal with,” he said.
Cartrette said he can do one-on-ones, which are good, but he needs a full line to teach blocking.
As for the improvements, Cartrette said the Panthers’ defense knows what’s coming, as they’re prepared and in the position, they’re just not making the tackles.
Cartrette said in some cases, the team looks real good, but in others, they’re not executing and allowing the other team to have big plays.
Next game in Boswell
The Panthers this week travel an hour and a half west to Boswell, Pennsylvania, to take on the 2-4 North Star Cougars, themselves coming off a shutout loss.
Cartrette said he started game planning this passed weekend and watched film on the Cougars.
The Cougars, he said, run a spread offense, so there are things the Panthers are going to have to do to change things up, as they have not faced a true spread offense yet.
“We’re going to have to do some things a little different, a little unconventional but staying within the parameters of what we do,” he said.
Cartrette said North Star is going to spread the defense out to run, but they’ll also throw.
“We’re really going to have to focus in on defending the run and the pass, which we have not faced from any team,” he said.
The way Hancock has played the game has drawn some praise from officials and other teams.
Cartrette said after each game so far, the referees and opposing coaches have told him the team plays with heart and won’t quit or give up.
While Cartrette said he’d take a win, those compliments mean a lot to him.
“If I can’t have a win, then having people that go against us or refereeing our game coming and telling me that, makes me very proud because that’s one of the things I’ve stressed with these guys and they’re proving it to me each and every day,” Cartrette said.
He said the numbers might be low, but the players are giving it everything they’ve got, leaving it all on the field.
After the games, Cartrette said the team is laughing and having fun “and that’s what it’s all about.”
He said everything will come together eventually, whether it be this year or later.
He said when referees tell him other teams and players could learn from the way Hancock handles themselves, “that says a lot about our guys and what they’re doing.”
“We may not be winning, but we’re laying it all on the field. We’re leaving it on the field and we’re giving it everything we got,” Cartrette said.
