Good teams... championship teams, always have one of those games at some point during their drive to glory.
You know the type — when it seems everything is a struggle, when nothing appears to be going their way — but they still find a way to emerge victorious.
Those kinds of teams are sometimes labeled teams of destiny.
Could the 2012 Grand Valley Mustangs, who host Mathews on Friday night at Grand Valley Stadium, be one of those teams?
Stay tuned.
But last week’s 14-6 Northeastern Athletic Conference triumph over Southington at Hiram College can certainly be classified as one of those games.
Consider:
n The Mustangs were outgained by the Wildcats, 174-120, in total yardage.
n The Grand Valley defense was on the field all night as Southington ran 61 offensive players, compared to the Mustangs’ 38.
n Southington led, 6-0, going into the final quarter.
n And the Mustangs, the most-penalized team in the area this season, were flagged 11 more times, resulting in 85 yards going the wrong way.
Yet, GV (5-3, 2-0) still prevailed as quarterback Kyle Orgovan — running a no-huddle attack for the first time all night — completed three passes and ran three times, the final one being from 3 yards out for a touchdown, to cap an 8-play, 62-yard scoring drive. Josh Kovats’ all-important point after gave the Mustangs a 7-6 lead.
When the Wildcats attempted to answer, Kovats scooped a fumble and sped 38 yards for GV’s second score.
“When you look at all the stats, I don’t know how we were victorious,” first-year Mustangs coach John Glavickas admitted. “Just that the boys responded when they had to. It was another flagfest. Believe me, it drives me absolutely nuts.
“The kids just made the plays when they needed to and played some great defense when we needed it most.”
Suddenly, Grand Valley finds itself one win from playing two-time defending NAC champion Ledgemont for the outright conference crown.
GV has not won a league championship since Hall of Fame coach Jim Henson’s 1997 Mustangs rolled to a 10-0 season, the East Suburban Conference championship and a spot in the playoffs.
Glavickas is more than aware of what is at stake against Mathews (1-7, 0-2). First-year coach Mike Palumbo’s Mustangs dropped a 26-12 non-conference verdict at Lutheran East on Saturday afternoon.
“This is a very important game for us this week,” he said. “We try to hammer in that each week is a NAC championship game for us. If you lose any of them, it is over.
“The Mathews game is just as important as the PV, Southington and Ledgemont to finally get that crown. The kids know what is at stake this week and I feel they will come out ready to play. I think it being homecoming will help as little, as well.”
A win against Mathews, while setting the stage for a winner-take-all grudge match at Ledgemont in Week 10, would also mean a milestone for the Grand Valley program.
It would mark the fourth-straight better-than-.500 season for the Mustangs for the first time since the aforementioned Henson led GV on a seven-season stretch of such seasons from 1991 through 1997.
“We didn’t realize it has been that long since we put four of these together,” Glavickas said. “I told the boys (Monday) about it and it brought smiles to their faces.
“I just hope we can keep the streak going for many years to come.”
Mathews, which runs a slew of formations — including the spread, full house, unbalanced and wing on offense and a 4-4, sometimes a 6-2 on defense — is an enigma, Glavickas said.
“It’s a funny thing with Mathews... my staff and I were just talking about it,” he said. “We were saying how it is tough to look at their record and then see them on film, they don’t match up.
“ We have the PV game and Ledgemont game and I thought they definitely do some things well.”
With so much on the line these next two weeks, Glavickas mapped his keys to victory against Mathews.
“The first is that we need to dominate the line of scrimmage and run the football... do what we do well,” he said. “We also need to be able to throw the ball around.
“On the defensive side, we need to be able to stop their running game.”
However, he had an addendum.
“I am going to add a fourth one to my list,” he said. “We need to cut down on our penalties.
“Penalties are killing us right now.”
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