The Huskies have been preparing all week and working to overcome last week’s tough loss against Warren HS. Tonight at Gustafson Stadium at 7:00 p.m. on the visitors side, they will be taking on the John Jay Mustangs for what will be John Jay’s homecoming game.
Head Coach Juan Morales shared what was learned from the Warren game and how the team is going to apply it for tonight:
“The game against Warren was actually a lot better then a lot of people saw. There were actually 12 plays that they were able to get most of their touchdowns from. We played really well. I think our boys have shown that they have a lot of effort. They are the epitome of husky fight never dies because they didn’t give up from the beginning to the end. Also we have made moves this week to get those mistakes fixed,” Morales said.
Morales also spoke on the John Jay offense and what fans should expect tonight.
“Their quarter back is an extremely great passer, but I don’t think they utilize him as much as they probably could. They do have two very good and young running backs, so it will be interesting to see how we can try to stop them. They don’t run a difficult game, but they are very athletic. I think we can take advantage of their offensive line because our defensive line has played really well against Warren and O’Connor,” Morales said.
Morales also shared his thoughts about Jay’s defense:
“I’m looking forward to how we’re going to do because, again, we made some changes. We put guys in different places against Warren and O’Connor and it looked good. With that, we will be able to put it all together against Jay,” Morales said.
We also got an insight on any significant injuries from our team.
“We actually had a dislocated elbow with Malcolme Wisher and that’s going to hurt us. He was our strong back up to DQ, so that’s going to be something we have to change on offense. We also had a receiver get a concussion; Daniel Perkins. He is going to be okay, but he’s going to have to be out this game. Our receiver core is going to be a little different. We will have to call on our veteran receivers like Joey Ortiz and Jake Lee to do more than what they usually do,” Morales said.
Here is what fans should be on the lookout for:
“Some of the guys we are moving over to offense were Kriovanni Johnson and Julian Medina. We’re going to see what they look like on the offensive side. We also probably need to keep an eye out for Demetri Rodriguez and of all of our defensive players,” he said.
How can fans best help support the team this week?
“The fans have been great. They have been there through all the tough times. However, I think they should understand that this is more of a rivalry game then an ordinary game. We want as much support as possible, like cheering on the boys, but also it’s military appreciation week. We want them to be there at the game, so they can help us celebrate those hero’s we have and first responders,” Morales said.
How do you keep your players motivated?
“We look for different ways constantly, sometimes though, we have to come to a realization of what we are truly focused on. For example, last week we focused on everyone’s effort. This week we are working on execution on trying not to make mistakes and to not beat ourselves. We basically just refocus every week on what we are going to improve,” Morales said.