Works in progress – that may be the best way to sum up Bradford High’s football season so far. Obviously, head coach Jeff Puglio was pleased with his team’s win last week in their home opener, but agrees there is work to be done on both sides of the ball.
In the Owls opener against Brookville they scored 60 points, but gave up 69.
Last week against St. Marys the offense produced just 14 points, but the defense tightened its belt and allowed just two.
“Brookville put us in a lot of isolation … we were out in space (defensively) and didn’t handle it well … we’ll see it again,” Puglio explained Thursday night. “Defense and tackling come along throughout the season. We had some guys out for Brookville, but got them back for St. Marys.
“We worked on it (defense) and got better,” he pointed out. “St. Marys came right at us and we were able to tackle better than the first game. Patrick Caskey had a nice game for us on defense”
While the Owls’ defense put the clamps on the Dutch offense, Bradford’s offense had problems but came up with enough points to win the game despite fumbles and penalties.
“Offensively, we were our own worst enemy last week,” Puglio uttered.”We stopped more of our own drives than they did, but defense was definitely the story. As a unit we came together (defensively) and the goal line stand was important for us as we move forward.
“Right now we’re looking for consistency on the offensive line. We’re shuffling guys around looking for our best five guys, but no one has stepped up and taken over. We’ll just have to wait, so right now it’s a work in progress,” he added.
This week the Owls coaching staff had to adjust its practice schedule because their game with Kane will be played on Saturday. Kickoff on the Wolves’ home field is set for 6 p.m.
“Kane still has a lot of talent on the team and considering the kids they lost, it’s going to take them a couple extra weeks to figure it out,” Puglio noted. “Our guys better be ready because they’re going to come after us.
“They look like the Kane teams we’ve seen in the past with a couple different wrinkles. They’re physical and we have to go there, which is never an easy place to play. We need to get out of our own way and play a complete game on Saturday.”
