Game One at Nouvel

Nouvel storms out of the gate

Friday, August 29, 2008

GREG MANCINA

THE SAGINAW NEWS

Flint Hamady had planned on putting up a bigger fight Thursday night in the Red Feather Classic against Nouvel Catholic Central.

But the Hawks compounded their own problems in facing the two-time defending state champions, and the benefit game at Arthur Hill's Memorial Stadium quickly got out of control.

Taking advantage of crisp offensive execution to go along with Hamady's early mistakes -- a poor snap on a punt, an interception and a fumble -- the Panthers rolled up a 34-0 lead after the first quarter on the way to a 55-6 victory.

''Obviously, when you're going against the No. 1 team in the state, they'll capitalize on your mistakes,'' said Flint Hamady coach Clint Galvas. ''It got out of hand quickly.''

The quick start was partly by design as Nouvel coach Mike Boyd wanted the ball first in order to pound on a team that was using many of its players on both sides of the ball.

''We couldn't have had a better start,'' Boyd said of his team's seven-play, 66-yard drive into the end zone on the opening possession.

''Then they helped us with turnovers,'' Boyd added, ''and it got out of control.''

The Panthers broke in a new starting quarterback and running back, and both responded beautifully.

Ryan Henris completed 6 of 9 passes for 107 yards and three touchdowns, adding pizzazz to an effective ground game.

Chad Jacobs caught two of the touchdowns -- 31 and 27 yards -- and finished with three catches for 67 yards, while Sam Herbert hauled in two passes for 19 yards, including a 4-yard score.

'Ryan has a couple of good receivers and he put the ball on the money,'' Boyd said of his senior quarterback. ''He called some audibles a couple of times and put us in the right things.''

Nouvel also has newcomer Kevin Robinson at tailback, and the 218-pound senior carried the ball eight times for 88 yards and touchdowns of 20 and 31 yards.

Nouvel ended up with 329 yards of offense.

''Kevin Robinson ran very strong I thought, and we played very well up front on both sides of the ball,'' Boyd said.

The offensive outburst, which included five touchdowns in 8 minutes and 10 seconds in the first quarter, nearly overshadowed a Nouvel defense that is the strength of the team coming into the season.

Hamady had negative total yards until the second-from-last play of the first half and finished with just 89 total yards, including Altario Chism's 2-for-8 passing for 5 yards.

The Hawks had shown a couple of offensive formations that the Panthers did not expect, but still could not sustain anything on the ground.

''They just flowed to the ball very well,'' Boyd said.

After the opening scoring drive, the Nouvel defense held and then sacked the punter off a bad snap at the Hamady 22-yard line.

Two plays later, Henris threw a 4-yard touchdown to Herbert.

Another defensive stop led to a 42-yard scoring drive that Henris capped with a 31-yard toss to Jacobs.

Ditto the next score a stop, a short field, and a 27-yard TD toss to Jacobs.

Murphy Wilson scored Nouvel's next touchdown on a 35-yard interception return to cap the first quarter with the 34-0 lead.

In the second quarter, Austin Krawczak scooped up Chism's fumble and raced 71 yards for another defensive touchdown and the 41-0 lead.

Backup quarterback Ross Rokita then made it 49-0 by halftime on a 25-yard bootleg for a touchdown.

The first half ended with 1:47 left on the clock when officials allowed time to run out while medical staff tended to an injured Hamady player.

Both teams ran the football during the second-half running clock, although Robinson broke through for a 31-yard touchdown run for Nouvel, while Mario Harris Jr. returned the ensuing kickoff 94 yards to finish the scoring.

''I hope we learn a lot from this loss and can turn it into something positive,'' said Galvas, whose team begins defense of its Genesee Area Conference's Blue Division title next week against New Lothrop.

Boyd also is anticipating a game at Traverse City St. Francis.

''It's going to be interesting next week,'' Boyd said. ''It'll be tough to stop Traverse City St. Francis from running the ball, but that's what we do well.'' v

Game One Photo's

2008 Hamady Football Preview

Cupboard not bare for new coach

By Mark Spezia The Flint Journal

Published on Wednesday August 27, 2008,

FLINT, Michigan — If the theory holds true that football games are won in the trenches, Flint Hamady will be just fine under new coach Clint Galvas.

The Hawks lost the bulk of their exceptional skill players and the majority of their defensive backfield from last year's squad which made the playoffs for the second straight year, finishing 8-2 under former coach Nathaniel Williams, now at Carman-Ainsworth. Hamady also captured the Genesee Area Conference Blue Division, its first league championship in 25 years.
The good news for Galvas, a former Montrose standout and Hamady assistant the past two seasons, is that he has an experienced, talented core of linemen to work with. That's especially helpful when attempting to instill a new offense.

"Obviously, our strength is going be at the line which should will really help all the new guys in the backfield although they are learning some new blocking schemes," Galvas said. "The players are adjusting to the new system (veer option) and learning well through a lot of repetition. We've made good progress and I see us getting better and better at it."

In Williams' second season (2006), the Hawks went from 10 straight losing seasons to the playoffs. They have not had three straight winning seasons since 1982-84.

"We want to continue the success Nate had here and keep the new winning tradition alive," Galvas said. "He instilled great work ethic and desire in the kids. The ultimate goals for us are winning a playoff game for the first time and repeating as league champions."
Hamady has made tremendous progress despite less having less than 25 varsity players the past two seasons. There are 22 this year.

"Yes, but they are not 22 guys who just showed up the first day of official practice," Galvas said. "All of them have been working hard all summer. They have all been in the weight room and done well in 7-on-7 leagues."

The players most responsible for the Hawks' school-record 368 points last season are gone, including All-State running back Antoine Smith-Guise (2,077 yards, 27 touchdowns) and first-team all-leaguers Brian Echols (quarterback, 1,055 yards, 15 touchdowns, 255 yards rushing, 6 touchdowns), Darius Brady (receiver, 23 catches, 476 yards, 7 touchdowns).
Returning to the line are first-team all-leaguers Banay Jones (senior, three-year starter), second-teamers Kenny Bowen (four-year starter) and Juliano Jenkins (senior) and honorable mention pick Rodgrezz Clark (junior). Also on the line are senior Marquavis Anderson and junior Tyree Randle.

Also back is second-team receiver Mario Harris, a junior who had 11 catches for 277 yards and six touchdowns last season. Other wideouts are senior Anthony Coleman and junior Ples Hunter.
The quarterback is junior Alterio Chism and sharing the backfield will be seniors Stan Page, Darnell Hunter and Gevelle Hunter-Sims, a transfer from Davison. The tight end is senior Donald Perry.

Gone from the defense are honorable mention All-Stater Brian Greene (54 tackles, 4.5 sacks), first-team GAC Blue picks Dominique Norris (98 tackles) and Brady (45 tackles), second-teamers Jack Boyd, Antonio Campbell and Derahn Shields (29 tackles).Back are first-team pick Randle (line, 17 tackles) and honorable mention choice Page (46 tackles). Others on the line will be juniors Brandon Draheim, Donte Gatewood and Terrance Chism, Clark, Anderson, Jones, Jenkins and Bowen.

Among the linebackers are senior Jon Green (26 tackles), junior Brandon Draheim, Darnell Hunter. Defensive backs are Harris (24 tackles) and seniors Andrew Robinson, Reynolds Swilley and Chuckie Taylor along with Ples Hunter and Coleman.

Hurry-up Offense

This article was written by Bill Kahn and featured both Coach Galvas, and former Hamady coach, Nathaniel Williams as they begin their programs as Head Coach of their respective schools. This was published in the Flint Journal on August 12th, 2008.


FLINT, Michigan — The season opener was 17 days away for most of the high school football teams that practiced for the first time Monday.

For Carman-Ainsworth and Hamady, that may not seem like nearly enough time to be prepared.
Both schools took the field Monday under new head coaches who were hired within the last 11 weeks.

A chain of events that impacted both programs was set off when Jason VanDerMaas resigned in early May after one year in charge at Carman-Ainsworth.

Williams, who was coaching at Hamady, was hired to replace VanDerMaas in late May. That created an opening at Hamady, which filled it in early July with Clint Galvas, the school's junior varsity coach.

There's been a crash course in learning new systems at both schools ever since.
Williams is ditching the spread offense Carman-Ainsworth players had to learn for the first time last year in favor of a more conventional power-running attack. Hamady is running the veer option, which Galvas was introduced to in his first days as a youth football player in Montrose.

"We're all on the same time schedule," Williams said. "With them learning a new system, I'm just going to be patient and teach the game. It's all still about football. It's about tackling and blocking. If we can do those things, we should be fine."

Galvas is a 25-year-old first-time varsity head coach who was on Montrose's 1998 state championship team, but he brings some old-school methods to Hamady. He has a simple, yet time-honored, way of penalizing players for missed pitchouts in the new option attack.

"Every time that ball hits the ground, we're doing some push-ups," senior running back Stanley Page said. "We didn't do too bad today. We probably had 40 (push-ups) today; that's four drops. In the summer, I think we peaked at 120 at one practice. Then he had us doing up-downs."

If there's a common theme at Carman-Ainsworth and Hamady, it's that neither coach will tolerate anyone using their late hiring as an excuse to fail this season.

"Some people would say we've had a lot of different challenges with a new coach two years in a row," said Carman-Ainsworth senior Isaac Smith, a kicker and free safety. "We've dealt with it fairly well. The coaches have pushed that it doesn't matter what you've got, you've got to make the best of it."

For Carman-Ainsworth junior lineman Tremondae Branch, this will be his third head coach in three seasons on the varsity. Branch was on a team that went 7-4 under Jerry Parker and made the second round of the playoffs in 2006, then on a squad that was 2-7 under VanDerMaas last season.

"It's a tough adjustment changing coaches every year, but this year he came in with a different attitude," Branch said. "It's just a new day over here. We've got everybody on the same page, becoming one team. We're trying to see what the future holds for us."
Fellow lineman Aaron Brandt said Williams set a new tone immediately when he first met with his players.

"The expectations are higher," Brandt said. "He came and put his foot down and made us not goof off. We came together. There's more team unity. He just reminds us every day that without team unity, we won't be a team. I believe we're growing a lot more."

Both teams laid a good foundation during the offseason so they were ready to hit the ground running Monday.

Galvas, who teaches at Hamady, maintained the weightlifting and speed program during the search process for a new coach. VanDerMaas already had an offseason program in place when he left, allowing the Cavaliers to participate in a team camp and a seven-on-seven league.

"As soon as he left, I tried to step right in and keep things rolling," Galvas said. "One thing I told them is we're not going to use the coaching staff, the later start and implementing some new things as an excuse. I have high expectations for these guys. With the high expectations, I hold them to a high standard."