JCU moving on from loss to Mount Union

Coach Rick Finotti, like most coaches, allows his team the typical 24-hour rule after a win or loss.

It’s either 24 hours to bask in a win, or 24 hours to sulk or do whatever a player needs to move on to the next challenge.

For a difficult loss such as Sept. 22 at Mount Union, where his John Carroll Blue Streaks came close to upsetting the No. 1-ranked Purple Raiders before falling, 23-10, the rules stay the same for his players.

For the coach, though, it’s a different story. The 24-hour rule doesn’t apply to Finotti.

“It has to be (that way), especially for the head coach because everyone’s looking at you to set the tone for the next thing,” said Finotti. “Believe me, the 24-hour rule … you better drop it by then. But you better drop it and understand the lessons.”

The lesson Finotti hopes his team learned is that — even with the loss to Mount — the season is just three games in to a 10-game schedule. Up next for the Blue Streaks is a second straight road game Sept. 29 at Muskingum. It also

marks a start to the 2018 season in which JCU plays three of it first four games on the road.

A loss such as the one to Mount can linger if a team isn’t careful. Down, 16-10, JCU had two separate drives in Purple Raiders’ territory in the game’s final minutes before a late defensive TD by Mount clinched it. Finotti was proud of his team’s effort, but the time to move on happens fast in football, and he spread that message.

“Nothing’s changed,” Finotti said of his team’s mindset. “Sunday afternoon we had a practice, and they were focused and ready to go. The guys are hungry. Win or lose, they knew it was Week 3, and now they know it’s onto Game 4.”

Film study for Finotti and his staff after games

begins on Saturday nights, and stretches into Sunday. What he saw from the Mount game pleased him.

“Every game tells you where you’re at (as a team), and you better look at that as a coach,” he said. “A big win, a big loss, a tight game, close win, every game you better look at rationally. I take what happened (against Mount) very seriously in terms of reflection and what we have to do. And you look at the pluses and minuses. These are things I have to gauge: It’s the effort and concentration there? And the answer is yeah.”

Linebacker Chad Stalnaker of Lake Catholic said it wasn’t difficult moving on from the loss to Mount. That’s the nature of sports, he said — onto to the next opponent. What will be of value is lessons learned from taking the nation’s No. 1 team to the brink.

“Anytime you go up against an opponent like that, it’s a real test for what works, what doesn’t,” said Stalnaker, who had a sack and a pass break-up vs. Mount. “With them being the best in the country, there’s a lot to learn, a lot we can take from that. It’s a great tool, a great thing to look at and see how we did.”

The challenge for the Blue Streaks is simple if they want to be in a position to make the NCAA Division III playoffs: Win their last seven games, starting Sept. 29 at Muskingum.

“We have to play our tails off to try and make a run to get into the playoffs,” said JCU junior quarterback Anthony Moeglin. “That’s what it is now.”