Prep Football: 2nd Place in the FVA!

The Fond du Lac Cardinal football team is the 2nd place team in the Fox Valley Association all by themselves with a 6-3 record. If you had told me that with a first year head coach, a drastic change in offensive philosophy, and a JV team that struggled a year earlier, this team would be 2nd in the FVA, I would have had my doubts. It really appears that the kids did buy into Coach Koz's philosophy and it paid off. From the first time I met him in Fond du Lac Athletic Director Brian Skortz's office last spring, and as I got to know him and talked to others who worked with him on a daily basis I was impressed. From having DVDs of his offense ready for coaches, to bringing in former players from Virginia to help teach the Wing-T, to running crisp practices, to having his team answer with "Yes Sir!" while he addresses them into the huddle, to having teachers wear the players jersey's on game days to promote school spirit, he's injected a new brand of enthusiasm to a program that already had a tradition of being successful.

When I looked at the schedule before the season I thought this team would be a 5-4 or 4-5 and finish in the middle of the pack in the league at best. Being the outsider looking into the program I speculated that sure wins would be, Appleton East, Kaukauna, and Appleton West. Games that I thought Fondy would drop would be Kimberly, Oshkosh West and Appleton North. That would have left the Cards at 3-3 with "swing" games against Neenah, Menasha, and Oshkosh North to decide their playoff fate. Shows you what I know! Fondy swept the "swing games." Beat the two of the three teams I thought would defeat the Cardinals in Oshkosh West and Appleton North, and lose to my sure wins against Kaukauna and Appleton West. Oh well! I'm glad I underestimated them.

The thing I like about this Cardinal team is that they don't beat themselves. The offensive hasn't been lights out this season, but it hasn't had to be. Ben Anderson has led an offense that didn't make too many mistakes and didn't put the team in position to lose.

I really like how Coach Kozaczuk has his offense running like a machine. They get in and out of the huddle quickly and aggressive. Huddle up, line up, snap the football. There were many times this season that the team would have huddled and be ready to go with the next play before the ref had set the football back in play. I loved the crisp tempo that they have.

On defense the "bend but don't break" philosophy has been the motto. If you look just at the stats..both on defense, and on offense, this team should be 3-6 rather than 6-3, but the numbers do lie in this case. Fondy's defense has given up a ton of yards this season, but once the opponent got to the red zone, either the Cardinal defense would make a big play or the other team would self destruct on their own. 9th in the FVA in total defense and 10th against the run, don't add up to six conference wins...unless you're a Fondy Cardinal! I like it!

2nd place is great, but Fondy isn't done yet. They have a playoff game or two or three or four, or five Hopefully the first is at Fruth Field next Tuesday night. As Coach Koz told his team in the post-game huddle after the Appleton North game last night. "The Road To Camp Randall Starts Friday!" Lets hope the Cardinals can keep finding ways to win and make some noise in the post season.

The playoff pairing will be announced on Friday afternoon. When they come out you can hear them on News-Talk 1450 KFIZ. We'll also broadcast the Fondy game on Tuesday night on News-Talk 1450 KFIZ. You can also hear past Cardinal games via podcast at our website at www.kfiz.com. Most games will be online by noon the next working day and available to listen to and download for free.

Again, congrats to Fond du Lac on a great regular season! Let's keep it going!

I'll see you at the game!