With the excitement of the first game behind them, the Fayetteville-Manlius football team has the wind to its back heading into the home opener against Henninger.
F-M, which lost to Corcoran on a night where they didn’t live upto the standards that they have set for itself, is looking forward and hopes to be the team that it wants to and knows it can be.
The fact that they are playing at home could be extremely helpful when they try to avoid the mistakes and then put a bandage on the bumps and bruises that they suffered against Corcoran.
With that said, it’s important for them to gain the momentum early on in the contest. In the Corcoran game, the Hornets treaded water for a little while and allowed it to be a good game, the offense struggled to possess the ball, the defense got tired and collapsed, and Corcoran took advantage of the opportunities that they had.
The culture in the locker room and on the practice field indicates that they have put the loss behind them. The Hornets have put blinders on and are focused on what they need to do to come out with the win.
Last season’s meeting between Henninger and F-M (0-1) featured something that we probably won’t see come Friday night. F-M’s former running back and safety, Eric Coley, who joined Syracuse University’s football team this year, rushed for 405 yards when F-M downed Henninger in 2016.
But the Hornets know that Coley’s gone and that a different gameplan will be needed to beat Henninger (0-1) this time around.
Although F-M’s head coach, Paul Muench, as always, wants the running game to be the center of the offense, he has spent some practice time this week working on making the offense more versatile and is looking to expand the playbook by getting his troops more comfortable with moving the ball through the air.
Muench constantly reminds his offensive unit that he isn’t really looking for one explosive play to get them on the board. He just wants positive plays and believes that possessing the ball for as long as possible is going to be the key to success when his team faces Henninger Friday night for their first home game.
Love your work! Beth Shaw