Valley Has Moved From Hope To Ecpectation Of Victory
August 21, 2019 at 8:04 p.m.
Valley Has Moved From Hope To Ecpectation Of Victory
By Mark Howe-
They expect to.
And that represents a whole different way of going about things for all involved.
“We're going to be a tough team to beat, that's the thing about it,” Moriarty said. “We began last season playing (Culver Academies), Bremen and Northfield. And those are three tough teams, but finally we got it turned around an won five out of six games, got The Bell back and competed for the conference championship.
“We took Southwood to overtime, and left disappointed that we lost the conference championship, but still that's a long way from 'we are definitely rebuilding.' I think this is the year we start being a contender more than in the past.”
The work to get to this point is necessary for any program to have any chance at success, regardless of how that word is defined. Since the season ended in November, Valley has earned the luxury of taking different steps with the specific intent of building on its strong 2018 finish.
“They've worked pretty hard,” he said. “Our roster has basically doubled in size this season, and our attendance in the offseason program has been very good.
“We've done some things we hadn't normally done, we traveled to Seeger, which is 2-1/2 hours away, just to scrimmage a football game. We tried to make them feel a little uncomfortable, and make them overcome some obstacles they wouldn't ordinarily have. Also we went to Warsaw and went against Warsaw and Mishawaka, so we've played some bigger schools to get ready to play someone like CMA and down the road in the conference.”
Moriarty recalls a moment last season where everything all seemed to come together, and moved from hope to expectation.
“In the middle of last season, they kind of caught a groove where they really started working together, and that continued through the summer. But you have to get used to winning, and I think we're past that now,” he said. “We just want to make sure that we win every time.
“I think we're scrappy, and we play mad most of the time. And the part I like is that they give 100%.”
After taking last season off to concentrate on other sports, former quarterback Tanner Trippiedi returns to the team for his senior season. Moriarty wouldn’t commit to Trippiedi returning to behind the center, but said the senior would find his way to the field on Friday nights.
“His leadership is what helps us the most. He'll be a good leader on the field; he's very positive and the kids look to him,” said Moriarty. “What role he'll have on the field will depend on a lot of things. We've had a lot of kids step up and worked hard, so I'm not sure where Tripp will show, but he'll definitely be part of the show.”
Now that the Vikings have has a little taste of winning, Moriarty wants to see his team step up to the buffet and get all they want.
“I'd like to see us be a conference contender, and get up there and win that thing. We were so close last year that we got a taste of what that is like, but we just didn't have that finishing touch,” he said.
“Winning a sectional would be huge. Three of the top ten schools are in our sectional, and there's a lot of good competition in our sectional.”
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They expect to.
And that represents a whole different way of going about things for all involved.
“We're going to be a tough team to beat, that's the thing about it,” Moriarty said. “We began last season playing (Culver Academies), Bremen and Northfield. And those are three tough teams, but finally we got it turned around an won five out of six games, got The Bell back and competed for the conference championship.
“We took Southwood to overtime, and left disappointed that we lost the conference championship, but still that's a long way from 'we are definitely rebuilding.' I think this is the year we start being a contender more than in the past.”
The work to get to this point is necessary for any program to have any chance at success, regardless of how that word is defined. Since the season ended in November, Valley has earned the luxury of taking different steps with the specific intent of building on its strong 2018 finish.
“They've worked pretty hard,” he said. “Our roster has basically doubled in size this season, and our attendance in the offseason program has been very good.
“We've done some things we hadn't normally done, we traveled to Seeger, which is 2-1/2 hours away, just to scrimmage a football game. We tried to make them feel a little uncomfortable, and make them overcome some obstacles they wouldn't ordinarily have. Also we went to Warsaw and went against Warsaw and Mishawaka, so we've played some bigger schools to get ready to play someone like CMA and down the road in the conference.”
Moriarty recalls a moment last season where everything all seemed to come together, and moved from hope to expectation.
“In the middle of last season, they kind of caught a groove where they really started working together, and that continued through the summer. But you have to get used to winning, and I think we're past that now,” he said. “We just want to make sure that we win every time.
“I think we're scrappy, and we play mad most of the time. And the part I like is that they give 100%.”
After taking last season off to concentrate on other sports, former quarterback Tanner Trippiedi returns to the team for his senior season. Moriarty wouldn’t commit to Trippiedi returning to behind the center, but said the senior would find his way to the field on Friday nights.
“His leadership is what helps us the most. He'll be a good leader on the field; he's very positive and the kids look to him,” said Moriarty. “What role he'll have on the field will depend on a lot of things. We've had a lot of kids step up and worked hard, so I'm not sure where Tripp will show, but he'll definitely be part of the show.”
Now that the Vikings have has a little taste of winning, Moriarty wants to see his team step up to the buffet and get all they want.
“I'd like to see us be a conference contender, and get up there and win that thing. We were so close last year that we got a taste of what that is like, but we just didn't have that finishing touch,” he said.
“Winning a sectional would be huge. Three of the top ten schools are in our sectional, and there's a lot of good competition in our sectional.”
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