Photo by Michael Woodruff
Colon’s football team ran out of time in a comeback bid at home last Friday against Wyoming Tri-Unity, dropping to 2-2 overall. The Magi put together a 14-0 effort in the second half, but the gap was too much after surrendering 19 points in the second frame.
Magi head coach Darrin VandenBerg said it was back to the drawing board in Week 5, and here were some of his thoughts on Pittsford, which comes to Colon, and the state of his own program.
Injury report
Starting kicker/punter and cornerback Billy Vaughn has been struggling with an undisclosed, pre-existing medical issue that developed over the summer, VandenBerg said.
“It seemed to be improving, but this week he had a setback,” VandenBerg explained. “His status for this Friday is day to day. If he can’t go, Tyler Schipper will take over kicking duties.”
It’s a very real concern for Colon right now that the team will have enough able bodies to finish the year strong. The Magi started this campaign with only 19 players on the roster, and lost linebacker Ronny Moyer (knee) several weeks ago.
“Being a small team from a small school brings a lot of challenges along with it,” VandenBerg said. “If we have one or two kids sitting out nursing a minor or major injury it changes the whole dynamic of what we are trying to do in practice. While we continue to move ahead and stay on track working with the kids that can go, it creates a distraction and sometimes limits what we are able to accomplish in practice as a team.
“However, we are focusing on fundamental football … finding open receivers, catching, putting the ball away with both hands and blocking to the whistle are all points of emphasis.”
Scouting Pittsford
Since losing their season opener by 28 points to Homer, the Wildcats, which are tied with Climax-Scotts at 2-0 in the Southern Central Athletic Conference, have peeled off three wins by a combined score of 122-6. You’re more likely to find a briefcase full of diamonds on your front steps than dig up any solid statistical information on Pittsford other than that.
VandenBerg shed a little more light on his team’s opponent.
“Pittsford is a hard-hitting and disciplined team that prides themselves on defense. Offensively, their QB, (No. 15) is a good athlete that we will have to account for on every play. They are creative in their offensive play calling, which makes it even more important for our guys on defense to perform their responsibilities.”
Tough Magi
VandenBerg pointed out defensive Brandon Elliott and linebacker Ramsey Potter as consistent playmakers.
He [Elliott] doesn’t make a lot of tackles, but his ability to contain the edge makes him one of the most important players on our defense,” VandenBerg said. “Ramsey Potter led the team with 14 tackles last week and continues to improve weekly. I always get excited to see our defense play. While we have struggled overall, our defense has actually showed some great signs. In last weeks game against Tri-Unity we only gave up 35 yards of offense to them in the second half.”