Much like the guy who filled the role before him, Tom Henson, John Glavickas, who served as Henson’s offensive coordinator, is pretty straight forward when it comes to assessing his team.
Especially, in terms of effort.
And, in that department, too, he says his Mustangs were defeated by the Gilmour Academy Lancers last Saturday afternoon.
“I feel Gilmour just wanted the victory more than we did, as a team,” he said of the 21-8 defeat.
There were some circumstances, aside from desire, that paved the way to defeat, GV’s third in five outings in his first season at the helm, Glavickas, who squad hosts Lutheran East on Friday night at Grand Valley Stadium, said.
“They got up quickly on us... I think they scored two touchdowns before four minutes even passed by,” he said. “They capitalized on our mistakes. You cannot have the opportunities we had to score and come up empty-handed.
“Having watched the film with the kids, we saw the mistakes we made. Sometimes ,the mistakes were up front. Other times, we thought it was the guys up front but it was our lead back not iso-ing the correct man. Other times, our quarterback might not have made the correct decision.”
With the winless Falcons coming to town this week, Glavickas said the loss at Gilmour Academy will ensure noses are kept to the proverbial grindstone this week in Mustang Country.
“There was enough mistakes to go around,” he said. “Hopefully, they all left knowing each one of them have room for improvement.
“That is the great thing about sports — there is always tomorrow or a next game.”
And that means the Falcons, who have lost 15 consecutive games, dating back to a season-ending 34-14 triumph against visiting Southington in 2010. Lutheran East went 0-10 a year ago, one of the losses being a 50-0 whipping administered by the Mustangs. Grand Valley leads the all-time series, 3-0.
Glavickas says there will be plenty of athleticism on the other side of Grand Valley Stadium on Friday night.
“Lutheran East is a quick, athletic team,” he said. “They have guys who can go the field pretty quickly.
“On defense, they seem to like to be in a 4-4. They like to crowd the linebackers toward the line of scrimmage. On offense, there are times they will come out in double-tight and then try to spread you out. They will come out in either one- or two-back sets. They like to use multiple formations.”
Then, there’s speed, something that proved to be extremely problematic for the Mustangs in a 31-0 loss to visiting Youngstown Christian in Week 4.
“(Lutheran East) is athletic at each of the skill positions,” Glavickas said. “There are a few guys we have to account for.
“They have a kid who plays quarterback for them at times, but they will also put him in the backfield and hand off to him. They definitely have some speed at the wideout positions.
“On the defensive side of the ball, they are quick to get to the ball carrier. They have a good defensive end.”
Junior quarterback/defensive back Jake Vormelker was banged up pretty good at Gilmour Academy and his availability will be a gametime decision, Glavickas said. Freshman two-way lineman Kaleb Mathis is out for the season because of a torn ACL and MCL.
Having lost back-to-back games, Glavickas admits he expects more out of his squad.
“We are not where we would like to be,” he said. “We thought we had the opportunity to squeeze out another victory. We need to be playing at a higher level than what we are at right now.
“We need to turn it up a notch.”
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