When Bradford High’s 2016 football season began to unravel following a 3-1 start, Owls’ head coach Jeff Puglio knew what needed to be done and it wasn’t just talk. His words came from experience.
“When I was a sophomore, and at that time most of us sat on the bench, we made the playoffs and it was pretty neat, but we lost to A-C Valley in a home game,” he recalled.
“Our juniors, who were the next season’s seniors, took over and said that we were not going to be physically dominated by anyone. If someone was going to beat us, it would be because they were just better.
“If we didn’t show up at the weight room, those guys would actually come to our door and get us. They didn’t let any of us take a day off.”
That following season, 2000, the Owls lost their first two games and then began a win streak that would reach nine games.
“We started slow, 0-2. One of the losses was to Clearfield and then it all clicked,” Puglio lamented. “We won nine in a row, beat Clearfield for the district championship, beat Central Cambria in the first round of states and then lost to Wilmington. I remember there was even a parade for us.”
Now the Owls’ coach hopes to pass those feelings along to his own team and he feels he has a solid starting point for next season.
“I can see parallels,” he pointed out. “Our JVs were unbeaten [back then] and this year we had a good JV team. We also gained a lot of momentum for next year from the win over Warren. All the stuff we talked about, the intensity, being physical and our tackling, came together Friday night.”
“In the warmups we could tell … you could see it in our guys’ eyes. They were focused, intense and were ready to go. A rivalry game will do that. The guys were making noise, there was intensity, but they were also loose. There was also fire and passion … all the things you want to see before a game.”
Bradford took command of the contest early, something it had been unable to do in the previous five games.
“Our goal in any game is to make our opponent quit, and we made them (Warren) just flat out not want to play any more,” he continued. “There was a lot of build up to the game and our kids were fired up.”
The Owls finished the season 4-6, a disappointment overall, but Puglio views it as a marked improvement and praised his seven seniors who have stuck with the program.
“We won three games in three years and four games this year,” said the Owls coach. “It’s a testament to our seniors, Kyle Kirk, Dawson Ambrose, Alex Coppella, Alex Daughenbaugh, Harley Peterson, Mitchell Vleminckx and Zach McCammon. They rode it out out through the tough times, especially playing in the Erie league. They were a major part of it and leave our program better than when they found it. Friday was a good send-off for them.”
Now the reins are being turned over to the underclassmen.
“We have a ton of momentum going into the off-season, which we have not had, but our kids have to be in the weight room together. Hopefully this season was a wakeup call and they’ve learned that we have to be more physical and more intense to win these types of games [losses] and that’s done in January and February in the weight room.
“Guys can’t make excuses, or, say that they’re working out. It has to be done together with their teammates in the weight room. What we want to be, will all be determined in the next six months. Guys can’t wait until next August. By then it will be too late. All the heavy lifting and hard work happens during the winter. By June we’re in preseason mode.
“Our goal is to be practicing on Thanksgiving Day and we’ve fallen short of it. But I feel that we’re ready to take the next step. The potential is there, but our kids have to make the commitment. They have to do it together in the off-season so we can play together,” he emphasized.
