D-structive

Bearcat’s defense has found a way to make opponents pay
BY CHRIS OGRYSKI
EDITOR

While the offense has gotten a lot of credit for Ubly’s success this season, the defense has played a key role as well.
The Bearcats have allowed just 130 points heading into the Division 7 state finals against Traverse City St. Francis or an average of 10 ppg. In 12 of 13 games this season, Ubly has held opponents to two touchdowns or less.
The 10 ppg average is the lowest average points allowed by an Ubly team since 1987, when the Bearcats allowed 83 points in nine games for a 9.2 ppg average.
While it seems like this year’s numbers would be hard to improve on, the Bearcats numbers have gotten even slightly better. In four post-season games, Ubly has only allowed 36 points or an average of nine ppg. “We’ve progressed defensively,” Ubly head coach Bill Sweeney said.
“We never knew if we were getting better (during the regular season),” he admitted. “Now we get in the playoffs and we see that we’ve improved defensively.”“The defense has been real good all year,” senior defensive back Brandon Sorenson said. “We’ve just progressed and gotten better and better each (and every) game.”
He added, “(We haven’t done anything different in the playoffs), I think we just rise to the occasion when called upon. This is the playoffs, it is win or go home…so you just have to buckle down and play physical football.”
Last week, the Bearcats held Reading to eight points in the D7 semis. The Rangers had scored 527 points heading into that contest or an average of 44 ppg.
Pretty impressive. Which begs the question, how has Ubly been able to hold opponents so many of their opponents in check this season?
One reason is the preparation. “There is a lot time put into it,” defensive coach Jim Becker said.
“You can coach one of two ways; you can put the time into it or not put the time into it. I think it is reflective that we (as a staff) do put the time into it,” he added.
That prep not only includes getting a game plan ready for the week, but also getting materials to the players for them to study.
“You should see the packet we get from coach Becker,” senior defensive back Jordan Kaufman explained. “It has plays they run and if they run one play six times, he’ll have it marked that they ran the play six times.”
“We definitely have what we need preparation wise.”
Junior linebacker Dalton O’Connor added, “Normally coach gives each defensive player a tape and sometimes we get together at lunch, eat pizza and watch it. Sometimes we even go to (Eric) LaBuhn’s house and watched it the night before and just reading on what they are going to do against us on certain plays.”
That preparation has paid off in a big way for Ubly, who has held every opponent they have faced this season heading into the finals to below their season scoring average (see sidebar).
“We focus on the little things,” Becker explained. “We focus on running the play and everyone doing their assignment.”
He added, “We run the 5-2 defense (every year). We’ve done the same thing for the last 10 years and it has been effective.”
One thing that has changed over the years is the addition of several assistants to the coaching staff including Craig Jacobson in 2003. Jacobson helps out on defense and is the “eye in the sky,” during games, lending his expertise from the booth.
Kaufman believes that Jacobson has made a big impact while working with the defensive secondary. “Our pass defense is fairly good. Coach ‘Jenkins’ (Jacobson) is always preparing us for passes and how to cover it,” he said. “He knows every type of pass coverage you’ll ever dream of.”
As for Kaufman, with the numbers he has put up offensively, it would be easy to overlook the contributions he has made on defense. That would be a mistake.
“He’s a phenomenal defensive guy,” Sweeney said. “We like to leave him in the middle of the field, because he can kind of run things down.”
He added, “His closing speed is unreal. I never seen it on a football field the way he closes defensively.”“There are other times when we need a shut down defender and (senior) Mitch (Cleary) is already occupied with somebody (so we use him that way).”
As for Cleary, despite being just 5’9”, he has been a huge part of the secondary as a shut down back since his sophomore year. “(He’s got) technique, athletic ability and experience. He’s been our lock-down corner guy for three years,” Sweeney said.
Cleary believes that good technique is one of the reasons he has been so successful over the years against bigger, taller receivers. “I just play up tight and physical; you can bump them up until is thrown, so I play physical and just slow them down a bit,” he said.
That method has been successful so far this season, as Cleary leads the team in interceptions. “Jumping routes and reading my keys (has been the key to all my interceptions),” he explained.
He was also quick to credit the D-line for their role in the secondary’s achievements. “You have to give credit to the line, they are the guys that force all the bad passes (by getting the pressure n the quarterback),” Cleary said.
While Cleary and Kaufman get a lot of attention for their defensive ability, they couldn’t shut down the pass game without Sorenson, who has emerged as a tough defender this season. “Brandon is just a kid that worked his tail off,” Sweeney said.
“Last year, he got a little bit of playing time and this year, he hit a little growing spurt and has been a great addition to this team,” he added.But Sorenson’s growth was more than just physical, as he has emerged as a leader of the team. “I named him a captain at the beginning of the year because his leadership is phenomenal. He’s a guy that just gets lost in the shuffle, but he’s made play after play for us defensively,” Sweeney said.
Two players that won’t get lost in the shuffle are the tandem of sophomore Eric Booms and O’Connor, who have emerged as two of area’s best linebackers. O’Connor thinks after a year of playing together, this duo has really learned how to work effectively together. “We played together (him & Booms) for most of last year, so we know what each other are going to do and we know how to play together,” he said.
That chemistry on the field is the result of good communication at practice. “During practice Eric and I will talk about things like if the guard does a certain thing than the play is going a certain way. We tell each other so we can both pick up on that (went it counts in the game),” O’Connor explained.
While O’Connor and Booms have racked big numbers this season, they finished 1-2 in total tackles on the team for the regular season, they know without the D-line that wouldn’t be possible.
“The D-line does a great job forcing double teams so we don’t get blocked and we are able to make the tackle,” O’Connor explained. “But without the D-line, I don’t think we would have as many tackles as we have.”
That D-line includes LaBuhn, John Walker, Bryant Messing, Tyler Peplinski and Brandon Lemke (who rotate at their spot) and Steven Weber. “I think the defense, all starts with the line. We have five guys on the line who are always hustling and always busting it,” LaBuhn said.
Despite some issues on the line early in the season, the team has been to overcome them as Messing has emerged as the nose tackle. “We knew we had the core there. We knew we had the secondary, linebackers and defensive ends, but had to figure out what we were going to do with our TNTs (tackle, nose tackle, tackle),” Sweeney said. “We’ve always got good play out of our nose tackle, but we always had a tough time finding guys to do what we wanted to do,” he added. “Bryant Messing really stepped up and he started playing the nose for us in Week 8 (and things improved greatly).”One of the keys to Messing’s success, as well as the entire team’s, has been the physicality. And Ubly definitely has players who like to hit people.
“Our job (LaBuhn’s and mine) is to set the tone defensively,” Kaufman said.
“Against Reading, the first play, Eric just bent the kid in half and the third play I hit that kid and that just set the tone that we were there to hit,” he added. “I think from that point on it was game over.”
While many teams would sit their quarterback defensively or try and hide them on the field, Kaufman wants to get right there in the middle of the action. “It’s fun being out there, running around and hitting people for no reason…it’s a good feeling,” he said.
“When you’re the size like me, getting out and popping guys is fun,” LaBuhn added.
“When we punt, my thing is to…get down there and drill the kid. You know he’s going to be watching the ball and he’s not going to see who is coming at him,” Kaufman explained. “Usually there is not much protection from the other guy back there…so when you don’t see the fair catch, you are just going (to try and light him up).”
In the end, that desire to hit, play physical football and put in the time to win, comes back to the example set by the coaches. “I think Bill and Becker deserve a lot of credit for what they have built here,” Jacobson said. “It takes a lot of work behind the scenes (to accomplish this).”
LaBuhn added, “They put in the time, they put in the effort and they always gives so much to us…it’s time to give something back to them (like a state title).”