It’s not too late for Pack
Published 12:00 am Tuesday, September 28, 1999
As usual, Steve Knox and his coaching staff didn’t find time for shuteye until after 3 a.
Tuesday, September 28, 1999
As usual, Steve Knox and his coaching staff didn’t find time for shuteye until after 3 a.m. Saturday.
Following a 39-29 loss to Owatonna earlier in the night, Knox and Co. viewed the tape of the game at Knox’s home, then viewed an exchange tape of their next opponent, Mankato East.
After that, the Austin coaching staff found time to hear a report from their advance scout who saw East lose to John Marshall, 28-12.
Believe it or not, in this Big Nine land of meat, potatoes and fullback dives, East employs a run-and-shoot offense – a questionable brand of joystick football that has produced exactly zero championships at any level in the history of football.
Still, it’s not an easy attack to prepare for. The receivers’ highjinks make Benny Hill chase scenes look like Paula Abdul choreography.
East’s Xs-and-Os made it necessary for the Austin staff to begin devising its game plan prior to Saturday morning’s team meeting.
"You’re not going to see too much of that offense around here," Knox said, "We’re going to have to do some readjusting this week."
By 7 a.m., Knox was awake and at Wescott Field, where his football team viewed tapes and discussed dos and don’ts.
By all accounts, Austin’s dos outweighed its don’ts against Owatonna. If the Packers didn’t put a scare into the Huskies, at least they made the Huskies punch a clock and work hard for their postgame fast-food supper.
Austin’s loss could be traced to three first-quarter mistakes that led to three Owatonna TDs. Take away those and Austin wins the game.
By Saturday afternoon, Knox hadn’t put his finger on how to stop the team’s slow starts. (At halftime, Austin, 1-3, has trailed in its three losses by a cumulative score of 75-29.)
"Right now," he said. "I’ve got no answers. But we need to find a way and we will find a way."
Knox insisted the team’s mission is a 5-3 regular season, something that could get them a high seed in the Section 1AAAA playoffs. (Northfield, the state’s top ranked team in AAAA, has the top seed all but sewn up.)
The Packers have upcoming games against East, Century and Albert Lea before a season finale at home against Big Nine top dog John Marshall.
"I don’t want to create false expectations," Knox said, "but we’re a good football team. I feel good about what I’ve seen."
You can bet Knox is telling his players to forget about the record and keep working.
"You’ve got to remember," Knox said. "For 99 percent of our kids, the Owatonna game was the fourth start of their varsity careers."
It may not be pretty, but underneath the debris of defeat, there is evidence that Knox and Co. are building something.
Take for example the following statistics against Faribault – Austin’s most lopsided loss. The Packers limited the Falcons to 29 yards on 19 of 21 second-half plays. The other two plays went for big yardage, including a 77-yard touchdown gallop.
Right now, it’s to the point where Austin is performing a great percentage of its assignments correctly.
Now, the Packers have got to do the hardest thing of all – polish out the mistakes.
If the Packers can accomplish that, Knox is not ruling out a Austin vs. Northfield section title game.
"That’s definitely the plan," he said.
And he’ll continue to lose sleep over it until the Packers get there.
Brady Slater’s sports column "Sure Shots" appears Tuesdays