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MONDAY MORNING QUARTERBACK: GIVING UP BIG PLAYS HAVE COST WOLVERINES IN LAST TWO LOSSES, SAYS MILLER (2019-09-30)

By TIM BIRNEY
Valley Sports Report
WAVERLY - For the second week in a row, Waverly gave up big plays in the second half, this time in the fourth quarter of a 34-26 loss at Chenango Valley. Longtime coach Jason Miller said it's been the difference in both losses.

"We made a lot of mistakes (Friday night)," he said. "It was amazing we were able to hang around.

"The last two weeks have come down to three or four plays in the game that have made the difference," noted Miller. "We have to be mentally disciplined.

"There were a lot of times in that game, for example, we weren't even in the right alignments. When you're misaligned, you're giving the other team a tactical advantage in a lot of different ways," Miller added.

Miller stresses the fact, it's not for a lack of effort on his team's part.

"We played very tough, but mentally we made mistakes.

"We have to eliminate the big plays that are costing us games," said Miller. "It's not like we're getting it stuffed down our throats on 14- or 15-play drives, in both of the last two games it's been big plays because of blown assignments or missed tackles.

"Speed kills," noted Miller "Iif you blow an assignment or you're not in position, you can't recover from it, and that's what's happening.

"We're playing really good football, with the exception of a handful of plays every game," he added.

Miller also says part of improving lies on the shoulders of the coaching staff.

"We come out of Sunday night learning where we made mistakes, and we try to correct them," he said. "Typically, there are different things each week. This week, it's kind of the same story.

"Some of it may be on us too," added Miller. "The onus is on the coaches to make subtle changes in our schemes. I haven't been willing to do that yet because I don't think we're real good at what we're doing, so trying to do something else doesn't make any sense."

Miller also notes there is no time to relax the rest of the season.

"Every game from here on out is brutal.

"We talk about three things: alignment, assignment, and aggression,: said Miller. "We get an "˜A' on aggression. We play very, very hard, and we play for 48 minutes. Our alignment and assignment is where we're not perfect, and that's been the difference in these games.

"Again, against the teams we're playing, you can't get away with being bad on four or five plays because it's going to be six points," noted Miller. "You can get away with it when you're playing lesser quality teams, (but) the teams we're playing are use to playing at a high level. They're use to being in these games, and being focused for 48 minutes - on every single play.

"It's great competition, and it's making our team a better football team," he added.

Miller said his offense did a lot of good things in the game.

"We made some plays, made some unbelievable catches, and some unbelievable throws," he said. "I thought at times we were pretty solid running the ball.

"I thought our line did a pretty good job in pass protection," noted Miller. "We didn't block great in the run game, but (CV's) athleticism gave us problems - they can make you look bad."

The progression of 8th-grade QB Joey Tomasso continues. He completed 50 percent or more of his passes for the third straight game and had career highs with 268 passing yards and four TDs.

Tomasso has done a good job of spreading the ball around. He has three receivers with 10 or more receptions, and four different receivers have led the Wolverines in receptions in a game this season.

"He simply understands what's going on in the secondary. He prepares very well, and watches a lot of film," said Miller. "He understands where to go with the ball most of the time.

"He has the physical capability to throw the ball, especially short," noted Miller. "He understands he needs to take what the defense is giving him, and there's always someplace. And, he's done a good job of finding those places.

"He prepares well, and if you're a quarterback, you have to do more than everybody else. He does," added Miller.

The Wolverines defense, according to Miller, played pretty well aside from a few breakdowns.

I thought we did a pretty good job on defense, with the exception of about four plays. Those four plays really hurt us - they were the difference.

"We need to clean things up in the secondary," he noted. "They completed some balls we should be defending a little better.

"And, we're not doing a good job in the secondary on fake runs of getting to the football and stopping them from scoring - making them earn it a little more, as opposed to these big plays late in the game that are 60 or 70 TD yard runs," said Miller. "It shouldn't happen, and it has to improve.

"We need to do a better job of tackling runners when they get into space because it's going to happen, especially against the option," he added.

Miller was pleased with his special teams play.

"Our PATs were good, and we blocked a PAT early, which was a big play early in the game - Hunter Rando got another block.

"And, we did a pretty good job on kick coverage," he said.

"Overall, our special teams were pretty good," added Miller.

GRADE: B. "We cleaned up some things, and we're getting better in certain areas, but we're talking about the same things as last week - giving up big plays and mental breakdowns," said Miller. "If we eliminate them, we're going to win football games.

"Our goal is to continue to grow and get better at what we're doing, and I think we did that in most respects," added Miller.

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IN PHOTO: Waverly coach Jason Miller.

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