pfrommelt@digitalsports.com
Out of 10 AAA Prince William County football teams, the Osbourn Eagles are the last team standing. During the week leading up to the Eagles’ AAA Div. 6 VHSL semifinal matchup against undefeated Varina, Prince William DigitalSports will provide daily articles previewing the big game.
Day 5: Straight From the Sidelines
You’ve seen the stats and the videos. You’ve heard what people covering the two teams have to say. Now, with the big game only one day away, you get to hear it straight from the coaches’ mouths.
Osbourn Eagles Head Coach Steve Shultze
On practice this week:
They’ve been good. The kids have been excited about the situation that they are in and they have been working hard. We’re definitely ready to go.
On Varina running back Tre Johson:
He is a really good football player. He is a fast and elusive runner. We have to stop the run. You have to be able to stop the run. He is the type of back that can break tackles as well as make people miss and go the distance.
On Varina wide receiver Bobby Smith:
We don’t have a 6-foot-5 corner but we have been getting better all year and our guys are excited about the challenge. He is their go-to guy… They are excited about the opportunity of going up against a really good wide receiver and quarterback.
On Osbourn’s schedule:
We played 12 games this year and ten of those games were against teams with playoff talent. We are seeing good teams, that’s why we got better each week. Week in and week out, we have been playing really good football teams.
On how long Osbourn celebrated its Northwest Region title:
We enjoyed it that night and then we drove down [to watch Varina play] Saturday. Of course, while I’m watching, I’m going, “Oh geez, look what we have to prepare for.” I enjoyed it that Friday night. Then it was time for preparation. Now you gear up. You stress about it, watch a ton of film and try and practice and put schemes in that are going to help your teams win.
On Osbourn’s season thus far:
We are open and up front with the kids. We talk about where we have been. We always thought that we are a playoff caliber team both this year and last year. Last year, it didn’t gel. We got into a losing streak and lost confidence. We started off the block not playing good football. We were inconsistent and didn’t stick together. It took us awhile until we were playing good ball.
This year, the same thing kind of happened. We were playing good football, but just not getting it done and also getting beat by some really good teams. We talk about how proud we are on not giving up on each other and not give up on the season. We were in a do-or-die situation from week six on. The kids have realized that we have something special going on.
We are playing for each other, playing for our town, playing for our high school. We have been talking about it, but we aren’t talking state championship. We’re trying to stay in the moment, but also trying to talk about how proud we are on where we came from.
Varina Head Coach Stu Brown
On Varina running back Tre Johnson:
He is very big time. He is one of the rare athletes that the USC’s and LSU’s want to know about. He is legitimate…. He has been everything to us… He is the real deal. He is the most explosive player that I’ve ever coached. We have had some good ones down here.
On Varina quarterback Hermon Norrell
Hermon just delivers a nice ball. He is a throwing quarterback. We don’t move him out of pocket very much… He can throw it.
On Varina’s undefeated season thus far:
We have been in some battles throughout the year. You take the last half of our season — we had to beat Hanover in the fourth quarter, we had to beat Highland Springs in the fourth quarter. We had to beat Hermitage in the fourth. Our kids have faced adversity and they have learned through adversity. One thing about this team, they’re going to play for 48 minutes. They are the best with their backs against the wall.
In four of the five games when they got down by a score, they responded the next series. It is just a tough group of kids. Our district was tougher this year and our schedule was tougher. This 12-0 was definitely earned. Of the 12 teams that we played, three of them had a losing record. They’re definitely battle-tested.
On penalties:
[Osbourn is] a typical Northern Virginia team. They don’t do a whole lot wrong. We’ve had 101 more penalties than they’ve had. They force you to beat yourself. Our team is very aggressive. Aggressive teams have the tendency to make a lot of mistakes. It’s not like we don’t work on these mistakes every day. We happen to have a lot of penalties.
On Osbourn’s Jerell McFadden:
His motor. The biggest thing that stood out to us is that he is nonstop. When he runs the ball, he runs it downhill. Don’t get me wrong, he has some moves. The biggest thing that stood out was his motor. He runs it hard. There’s no patience in his running game. He don’t need much of a crease, that’s for sure.
On Osbourn’s ability to play the spoiler:
That’s the first thing that we talked to them about. It’s something
that they take pride in, as well they should. It’s actually a very
impressive stat. They are going to get their fifth shot at an
undefeated team this weekend. We do make them aware of it. That’s one
of the things that good teams feed off of. Osbourn is playing good
football right now.
Osbourn will host Varina on Saturday at 1 p.m. Check back tomorrow for more on the the Eagles’ AAA Div. 6 VHSL semifinal game.
Previous: Day 1: How Varina Advanced, Day 2: Winning on Paper, Day 3: Talking Heads, Day 4: Highlight Reel
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