Coaches tell players to practice how you want to play.
Morgantown High senior Jestohn Moore never wavered from the philosophy, but if he had any doubt in it at all, this season has changed it.
“One of the biggest things we did was start focusing in practice,” said Moore, referring to last week’s win over John Marshall, which snapped a three-game losing streak.
“I feel like the energy we brought their carried over.”
The Mohigans entered the game 3-5 following the downward spiral, and had found the end zone just twice in the previous 13 quarters.
It wasn’t anything that a hard week of practice couldn’t solve — they just didn’t have the right mentality at first.
“Our seniors and our coaches reminded us that if we don’t turn this around it’s going to be over,” sophomore quarterback Cam Rice said. “But that was the best week of practice we’ve had in a long time. That’s what we needed to get back on track.”
According to all accounts in the locker room, senior Ty Konchesky wasn’t ready to watch the season go down without a fight.
“Ty and our seniors put together a speech that hit us pretty hard,” junior Jace Whetsell said. “They told us we have the ability to do great, but we just aren’t playing like it. Things started going uphill from there.”
Now, the attitude is a bit different than it was just a couple weeks prior — but MHS knows their back is against the wall. They sit one spot out of the playoffs with one game to play — against cross-town rival University in the annual Mohawk Bowl, and a win is their only hope of seeing the postseason.
“An animal is most dangerous when its on its last leg,” Moore said. “That’s when it doesn’t play around with you and gives everything it has to come after you.
“That’s how I feel this team is this week.”
The Mohigans are “straight business” now, as Whetsell likes to put it. The idea is simple in theory: Leave no doubt you gave your best effort and then some on the field.
“Our current attitude in the locker room right now is that when we go out on the field we’re going to give 100 percent effort. It doesn’t matter who we’re playing,” Rice said. “Having that kind of attitude and winner’s mentality gave us confidence. That helped us get out of the slump to begin with.”
Of course, with a hatred as bitter and deep as the one between the Hawks and the Mohigans, no extra incentive was necessary. It all adds up to a more determined MHS unit — and for University, that is perhaps the spookiest thing they’ll run into this Halloween.
“There are high tensions between certain people on the two teams, myself included, but we care more about winning this game than anything that could potentially cost us,” Moore said. “This isn’t the type of game you play around with.
