Observer Sports Blog

Oh, baby, what a game!

See what I did there? Because Kenric’s a junior. Oh, nevermind.

Let me just say that I am so excited about Spring’s massive win over Stratford that I am giddy and almost speechless.

Almost.

You know, I know what this sounds like, but I was THIS CLOSE to picking Spring over Stratford in my predictions. I mean, that week, I ranked them within the top ten of my HCN Football 5A poll, and seriously, intensely considered picking them over Stratford.

I’m so not trying to say “I told you so” because in the end, I didn’t pick Spring. But I wanted to come on here and let everyone know how close I was to picking my team over the favored Stratford.

This indecision was based on a number of reasons, but primarily because I was flabbergasted with the Lions’ performance against Smithson Valley, which was one of the best high school teams I’ve ever seen in a long time. We all know how I felt about that game. I’m sure Coach Karas himself is sick of my talking about that game. So, we’ll move on.

Joe pointed out to me at the beginning of the season that he thought that if a team could shut Andrew Luck down, they would shut the Spartans as a team down, too. When I saw the Lions’ “D,” it totally occurred to me that they could be the team to do it. I mean: Charles Solomon. Derek Batiste. Cody Pflughoeft. Tahare Ray. Lyncarlos Madumere. I could go on.

In the end, I thought … well, I don’t even know what I thought. Maybe I wanted a show of consistency before I committed my pick to such an upset. I should have never lost faith in my Lions. They, like I’ve said a thousand times, never lost faith in themselves. I couldn’t be happier if I played on that team myself (Of course, if I did play on the team, they would have never found themselves in this position. But that’s another story.).

Nice job, guys. You have a lot of talent and a lot of poise. I can’t wait for next week. Heck, I can’t wait for the rest of the season, because I think it’s going to be a longer one than a lot of people expected.

Look at Joe’s write-up for the the full story, and of course, look for our additional coverage in this week’s papers.

One more thing, in parting. Along with possessing talent, poise and everything else, the Lions are extremely well-coached. We all knew that already, but tonight it’s more evident than ever. Happy 100th win, Sonny.