Derek Leonard (head coach) and Steve Buecker (defensive coordinator) for putting a running clock on the #2 in 5A Peoria Lions at Peoria Stadium on their opening night of their new turf. Apparently, the Rockets go fast on turf as well. All the while having their #1 quarterback sidelined with an injury from the preseason.
That's what happens when you have
chess-playing coaches against
checker players. No slight against anyone meant here. Most
ALL coaching staffs are at a great disadvantage when going up against Derek. In fact, since the Class 4A semifinal loss to
Metamora in 2009, I only need
some of the digits on one hand to count the number of times the Rockets have lost to a public school, and
NO public school has beaten them in the post season. Check this out: including the 2010 postseason, Rochester has
ONLY lost
4 playoff games-
4 games-and
ONLY lost to three football programs-twice to
SHG, and once each to
Belleville Althoff and
Bishop Mac. And since joining the CS8 in 2010, the regular season has resulted in losses to only two public school members of the conference:
Chatham Glenwood and
Decatur MacArthur.
But
malleus, how can you say Derek Leonard is such a great coach if he has lost to some private schools' programs over that same period of time: easy! All over the state, and as even reflected in past posts on this board, we hear the whining and complaining about the UNFAIR advantage that private school programs have over the public schools i.e., the recruitment argument. Using these detractors' logic, I guess that means the skill of the coaches of these private programs are less important. So, it's the
all star players who defeat Derek's teams from time to time, not the game planning of the opponents coaches- GOT IT!!!!
To repeat -
chess vs.
checkers
P.S. You people who have complained about private program recruitment on here, don't even attempt to argue the last point above. I assume you wouldn't wish to embarrass yourselves (or maybe you would)!!