andy olds - WCPO

What has been one of the strangest seasons I have ever been involved with has now reached a new level of “strange”. Last evening, the visiting Knights played on a Sunday evening on the campus of Wilmington College against the Wilmington Hurricanes. Because we battled several cases of the flu throughout the week, the game was moved to Sunday to allow our team to get healthy and to have the ability to practice. Friday and Saturday were our only two days of practice as a team.

It ended up being a beautiful evening for football weather wise but the environment that you usually associate with “Friday Night” football was lacking to say the least. It was Wilmington’s Homecoming so we expected a somewhat loud and hostile crowd. Much to my surprise, the home team was very lacking in these areas. As a result, it seemed that the Hurricanes team would follow suit. Their lack of enthusiasm was evident to our entire staff and we were hoping it would carry over to their play. On the other hand, our players were coming off a very hard fought contest to Turpin and going into this game knowing we were good enough to upset the home team. But as the game unfolded, we were the team that seem to lack the emotion and crisp play that we all saw last week.

Without question, Wilmington has a very nice team with some very talented players. They out-played us in every phase of the game. As the first half ended, we finally showed some life and the fire we saw last week against Turpin had finally resurfaced. We went into the half down 14-7. However it was short lived. To open the second half, the Canes returned the second half kickoff for a touchdown. From this point forward, the rest of the night seemed to be in slow motion for us.

At many points throughout the game, it simply felt like a scrimmage game. But today is Monday and we have no time sulk or to feel sorry for ourselves. In just five days we will be traveling to Little Miami to face one of the most explosive offenses in the conference. But one thing I do know,  is our guys will be ready to play again on Friday night! The environment at Panther Stadium will be filled with electricity and both crowds will be into this contest!

See you at the game!

Coach Olds

GO KNIGHTS!!!