Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Seeley on football: Another year, another playoffs vs. Thanksgiving dilemma

By Don Seeley
dseeley@pottsmerc.com

ROYERSFORD — Chad Brubaker made a decision this past weekend he didn’t really want to make, a decision he knew wouldn’t make a whole lot of people happy … a decision he truly believed he had to make.
Not long after Spring-Ford held off Ridley in last Friday night’s District 1-Class AAAA playoff game, and moments after school officials agreed to move up the annual Thanksgiving morning game with Phoenixville, Brubaker announced the Rams’ regular starters would not play tonight (7 p.m.) against the Phantoms.
It wasn’t necessarily a surprising move, or an unprecedented one for that matter, because the Rams have yet another game — and a much bigger game in every sense of the word — on Saturday afternoon when they travel to Pennridge in a district semifinal showdown.
“We had to make some decisions that we knew may be unpopular, but when everything is broken down we have to look at what is best for our football program and the safety of our players,” Spring-Ford’s third-year head coach explained. “There is a reason there are no football tournaments on weekend, why we only play one game a week.
“Our kids play 75-plus snaps a week, banging into other players who are big and strong, too. We played 48 minutes of physical, intense football at Ridley, and we’re going to have to play 48 minutes of physical, intense football against Pennridge. Our varsity players need time for their bodies to recover and rejuvenate. That’s why we can’t justify playing them against Phoenixville, why only non-varsity participants will play (tonight).”

( For the complete story, click here )

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