With well over 100 years of coaching experience between the three of them, there is nothing Bill and Bruce Haddow, along with Chris Beaton, haven’t seen before.
Whether it’s empty back sets, double wing formations or nickel packages, it’s not going to catch this trio off-guard.
It’s when you don’t have enough personnel to counter what your opponent is doing that your vast high school football knowledge and strategy can mean very little.
Case in point was the Hugh Boyd Trojans’ key AA Southern Conference game Saturday in Surrey against the Holy Cross Crusaders.
Richmond’s only senior high school football team made the trek east with 18 available players and four junior call-ups. The limited depth chart is nothing new this season due to injuries and other circumstances but it means walking on a tight rope every week.
The Trojans started out fine, opening up an early 12-7 lead. That’s when the injury bug bit again.
Recently appointed quarterback Tariq Lopez left the game with an ankle injury. That forced star tailback Gabe Saklofsky behind centre for the remainder of the first half.
The pass happy Crusaders took a 21-12 lead into the second half and began to pull away thanks to another long vertical play to start the third quarter. Lopez hobbled back onto the field but there were more fallen players to deal with.
Standout linebacker Patrick Ruvalcaba’s afternoon was cut short with a leg injury and the bread and butter of Boyd’s offence soon joined him when Saklofsky went down in the third quarter.
That left receiver Robbie Conroy as the Trojans’ last remaining offensive threat. He was moved into the tailback position and did manage a 75-yard major in the fourth quarter.
With all these players lining up on both sides of the ball, the Crusaders took advantage of Boyd’s battered defence to roll to a 51-19 victory.
“What do you do?’ asked head coach Bill Haddow. “All we can do is take it day-to-day and week-to week. “We can’t produce anymore bodies.”
Haddow knew the Crusaders would be a tough match-up as his defence is built to shut down the run with the bulk of his key players in the front seven. Falling behind two or three scores almost presents an almost impossible task for the offence which features little in the way of passing plays.
“We don’t have a natural quarterback so we may sprinkle a few passes in and that’s about it,” added Haddow. “Opposing teams see the film and they are jamming the box and bringing more people than we can block. It’s basic stuff.”
The coaching staff have shorten this week’s practice schedule to get their team healthy for Friday’s 7 p.m. home date with Moscrop.
