Plymouth hopes to stay hot in another rivalry game

Courtesy of The Pilot News, Photo by Sue Garrity

PLYMOUTH — Plymouth’s Rockies picked up a big win a week ago, not just for the season but for a program that has had its struggles over the past five years. It was the kind of win that energizes a team.
“Having the chance to take care of business on Friday turned into a great Saturday morning with our JV group,” said Plymouth coach Adam Handley. “It just rolled into a good weekend. The kids came in Monday still hyped up and energetic made coming to practice that much more fun.”
It leaves the Rockies in a position that every program wants to be in.
“We talked about how to keep them focused but the greatest thing that is real is that we control our own destiny,” said Handley. “If we would happen to win out we would be co-champs with Concord. That just makes it exciting in itself, to have been where we’ve been and now potentially be playing for a conference championship in week nine.”
“In the back of your head, you know that you are making improvements and you are getting better, but you take each week when it comes,” he said. “You never really predict things ahead of time, but this team is better. How much better you don’t know until you play the games.”
Friday saw the Rockies play maybe their most complete game of the season and they were rewarded by the football gods as nearly every break went their way.
“You look back at week three and none of those breaks went our way, but we didn’t play our best game by any means,” said Handley. “I think the kids have to realize that every detail matters. Those little things are what matters in a football game.”
“Our guys have to realize that we are a good football team, but we have to fine-tune some of those small details,” he said. “Getting off the line at the same time and taking care of the football, the little details matter, especially when you are in tight ball games. If you are winning by 35 or losing by 35, those little things may not make the difference in a game, but they have to be worked on for when they do.”
There is also a time to remember where you’ve been.
“There is a fine line between confidence and cockiness. We are still playing NLC football,” said Handley. “I don’t care if NorthWood is 3-3, I don’t care if they are 0-6, they are still NorthWood and we haven’t beaten them since 2015. We have to have the mindset that we may be playing good football but this is still a conference team and we have to execute or we will be humbled really quickly.”
“We talk about the Warsaw/Plymouth rivalry, and it’s a rivalry, but there is something about this NorthWood rivalry that we’ve struggled with,” he said. “You go back the last 35 years, we’ve only beaten them eight or ten times. It’s something they do over there, the way they carry themselves; they are always ready to play Plymouth.”
“It’s not going to be a surprise. Everybody that is on their roster, other than some of the younger kids that might not have dressed, they were in Lucas Oil Stadium (state finals) last year on Thanksgiving weekend and you don’t get to do that unless you are a great program. There are guys in that program who are used to winning. That’s something that we strive to get to, that winning is expected, not a surprise.”
While the Panthers have had a certain amount of tough breaks this season, as Handley said, they are still NorthWood.
“They’ve had some injuries at the quarterback position,” said Handley. “After halftime of the Concord game, their starting wide receiver was playing quarterback and their starting middle linebacker was playing running back, and you wouldn’t have known other than the numbers they were wearing. They still ran the same plays and they were able to run the ball and compete with Concord who is the #1 team in 5A.”
“We have to take care of the football. We have to continue to win that turnover battle. Three-and-outs kill our game and kill our defense. We have to sustain drives and take care of the football.”