Hawken football adjusts on the fly

Week 5 opponent changed the day before the game

As Hawken football coach Brian Stephenson was walking out to practice last Wednesday, Sept. 15, his phone chimed signifying he had just received a message.

The team he and his team had been practicing for and gameplanning for — Grand Valley — had just canceled the game that was supposed to be played 48 hours later.

The Hawks didn’t know it at the time, but they were about to learn a few life lessons.

Adjusting on the fly and responding to adversity.

The Hawks didn’t find out who they were going to play until the next day, but they practiced hard on that Sept. 15 afternoon just at the possibility of finding a game.

That preparation paid off.

Fewer than 24 hours after finding out it would be playing Harrison Central in Cadiz County, the Hawks drove more than 2 ½ hours to defeat the Huskies in a game in which they had one practice to prepare.

“That’s huge for our program in terms of confidence,” Stephenson said of the victory that improved his team’s record to 3-2. “It showed we can compete with anyone on a moment’s notice. That’s a credit to our players and our staff.”

Hawken isn’t the first team in The News-Herald area this season to adjust on the fly because a game was canceled because of health protocols on an opponent’s team.

Lake Catholic had its Week 4 game with University canceled, albeit because of a non-COVID health issue at US, and went through two other potential foes before finding a game against Glenville

that week.

Wickliffe had its Week 4 game with Fairport canceled, as well as its Week 5 game with Brooklyn. The Blue Devils found a Week 4 replacement game with Akron Kenmore-Garfield, but were idle on Sept. 17.

VASJ has had its last TWO opponents cancel on them, first Wheeling Park, W.Va., on Sept. 10 and then Cleveland Central Catholic on Sept. 17.

Cancellations aren’t easy to deal with, especially when they happen late in the practice week.

But the options are few for teams facing such scenarios, either (1) just take a bye week or (2) find an opponent on short notice.

Lake Catholic coach Marty Gibbons said, “It was challenging to prepare for four separate opponents week 4, We placed the priority on playing and getting better. If you think about a young person’s high school football career they are only guaranteed so many opportunities to compete with their friends. Instead of trying to make sure we play somebody we want or playing at the perfect location, we felt it was our responsibility to give our players the opportunity they have worked so hard for through the years. It was tiring to find games and prepare in this climate, but our players wanted to compete. They didn’t make excuses or complain.”

Stephenson is of the same mindset.

“After our game was canceled, we started looking,” he said. “There were six options or so for us. With COVID being out there, there were numerous teams open. It was just a matter of finding an option that we felt was a good match for us. We were looking for the right fit, since we only had about 24 hours to prepare.”

Harrison Central was that fit.

Stephenson said while Harrison Central and Grand Valley were similar in some ways, there were other challenges.

“We prepared all week for (Grand Valley’s) 4-3 defense and then we were going against a team that runs a 3-3-5,” Stephenson said. “It was Yom Kippur last Thursday, so we didn’t have school. That gave us a little more time to make adjustments for practice that afternoon.”

The response Stephenson got from his team nearly left him speechless. The Hawks went on to defeat Harrison Central, 3427.

“Our kids stepped up,” he said. “Dom Johnson went down on our last drive, and sophomore Emmanuel Robinson stepped in and got a big first-down conversion for us. Our kicker, Josh Lombardo, was out and freshman Julian Javoris stepped in and did a great job.”

Hawken is scheduled to host Brooklyn on Sept. 24 in the Hawks’ homecoming game. They will do so armed with the confidence they got from facing adversity and adjusting on the fly to get a Week 5 win against an opponent they didn’t know they would be playing until the day prior to the game.

“I’m proud of the way our kids responded,” Stephenson said. “I told the kids to think of it as a playoff game — a short turnaround against a team we’re not familiar with. You adjust on the fly and find a way to win. That’s what we had to do.