Friday night’s opener was not a great start to the season.
Coming into Week 1, the Bradford football team knew their first game on the schedule would be a tough one, and they were proven right, losing 44-0 to Punxsutawney.
“Punxsy was kind of what we thought they would be. They’re a big, physical team up front and kind of took it to us,” said Bradford head coach Jeff Puglio. “We had some injury issues and that kind of took us out of it and we were playing catch up from the get go.”
Throughout the offseason and training camp, the Owls had focused on building a culture of strength and toughness, especially on the line of scrimmage. However, against the Chucks, Bradford struggled to match their opponents intensity and physicality. On offense, the Owls couldn’t create gaps for their backs or protect quarterback Talan Reese long enough to get an accurate pass off, and on defense, the Chucks pushed the line into the Owl’s secondary.
“They were bigger and more physical than us. I don’t think they were necessarily stronger, but definitely, technique-wise and fundamentally, they played a better game than us up front,” said Puglio. “Something we’ve really been trying to focus on this week is getting those fundamentals back.
Up next for Bradford is the reigning District 9 Region 3 Champions Coudersport.
In Week 1 of the season, Coudy opened up their season with a similar shutout, beating Keystone 36-0. The Falcons managed to find the endzone in every quarter against the Panthers and were led offensively by returning Big 30 All Star receiver Ethan Ott and third-year quarterback Gavyn Ayers.
With the aforementioned trouble in Bradford’s trenches, Ott and Coudy’s run game, which totaled 192 rushing yards, will present an area of concern for the Owls. In the game against Punxsy, the Owls allowed 354 yards on the ground.
“I think Coudy runs a lot of ISO that looks very similar to Punxsy’s ISO. I’m guessing when (Coudy) got the tape of our game, they were probably pretty happy with the way Punxsy was able to run right at us,” said Puglio. “For us this week, it’s been paying attention to detail, especially at our second level. We’ve got to fill holes, we’ve got to get off blocks and try to force the ball back off the line of scrimmage.”
In game one, the Owls decided to go away from their typical air assault attack, with Reese only throwing seven times and garnering a total of 47 yards through the air. Going into the second week of the season, Bradford will look to stick to their roots more than experiment.
“I think we kind of went away from our identity. We wanted to run the ball and work the clock down, and that’s not really who we are,” said Puglio. “We want to put the ball back in Talan’s hands and get the ball distributed out to our athletes out in the perimeter. We didn’t really do that well last Friday.”
While the Falcons will undoubtedly be a tough task, it serves as another test of Bradford’s commitment to toughness. The Owls got beat up against the Chucks in Week One and now have a chance to show that they can be the more aggressive team on the field, something they will need if they want to break the 30-game losing streak.
“I think it’s going to be the same story all year. It’s going to be where we are in the battle up front. Are our lineman up to the task tomorrow night, and that’s what it’s going to come down to,” said Puglio. “Are they going to come through and bring the physicality to Coudy. If we don’t do that Friday, it’s going to be a very similar result.”
OTHER FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS:
Port Allegany (1-0) at Clarion (1-0), 7 p.m.
Sheffield (0-1) at Otto-Eldred (1-0), 7 p.m.
Smethport (0-1) at Cameron County (1-0), 7 p.m.
Kane (0-1) at Punxsutawney (1-0), 7 p.m.
