Football Friday Preview with Coach Schaum

Benjamin J Veshi

The Hargrave Tigers are preparing to face VIC opponent Roanoke Catholic on Friday evening at Dick Dyer Field. Prior to this week’s game, we had a chance to catch up with Coach Schaum to get his thoughts on this matchup.
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Coach Schaum, halfway through the season, your team continues to make strides on the field that haven’t necessarily translated to the win-loss column. What are your thoughts as you’ve reached the halfway point of the 2019 season?

Schaum: “Believe it or not, we have shown a lot of improvement this season. We have thirteen new players on this year’s team to go along with eleven returners. At times, during games we exhibit signs of brilliance but we still make some youthful miscues along the way. Overall, we are young and will only continue to improve as the season wears on. Our strong point has been the defensive unit so far this season. Defenses are normally ahead of the curve and this year’s squad is no exception.”

You’ve had some great individual performances so far this season, like Peyton Johnson on the defensive side of the ball and Nick Hammock had a tremendous game last Friday against the Virginia Spartans. What impact have those guys made on your team this season and do you expect their performance to continue at a high level?

Schaum: “No question, new Tigers (Peyton) Johnson, (Shy’Heim) Davis, and (Nick) Hammock have had a huge impact. Their leadership has inspired returners (Darius) Hankins, (Rob) Sovula, (David) Hubbard, (Frank) Piccione, and (CJ) Farmer to step up their games.”

The injury bug has hit you pretty hard this season. As a coach, you always want to prepare for your team to be at their best but you’re cognizant that injuries happen. How have you been able to navigate those waters so far this season?

Schaum: “The injury bug is always a factor, that’s why we are teaching our guys multiple positions. It’s hard to maintain consistency, especially on the offensive line, when we lose key players. Case-in-point, in last Friday night’s game, we played three different quarterbacks. We have not had the same five offensive linemen practice together in two consecutive days (since training camp), but we will soldier on! Some of our offensive miscues are a direct result (of injuries) but we are definitely finding ways to overcome these occurrences-we can only control what we can control!”

Looking forward to Friday evening, Dick Dyer Field should be teeming with excitement as it is Hargrave’s annual Parents Weekend. What are your thoughts on this Roanoke Catholic team as you prepare for your second conference game as the Tigers’ head coach?

Schaum: “Roanoke Catholic is loaded, very experienced, fundamentally sound, and very well coached. Our defense against their offense should be a great matchup. It is going to be interesting to watch how we rise to this challenge! Our offense will have to keep us ahead of the chains and run more of a ball-control tempo for this matchup. We had a great practice yesterday and look to build on that performance heading into Friday night!”

By all accounts, Roanoke Catholic’s offense has been firing on all cylinders. How do you plan on slowing down this potent attack?

Schaum: “We need to control the ball and the clock offensively, take care of business on that side of the ball and allow our defense to play the game with their usual “reckless abandonment” mentality! Our progress will be a direct result of our offensive line play, we are looking for big games up front from (Andrew) Ponton, (Mason) Rucker, Farmer, (Kip) Barskdale, and Piccione/(JT) Coley.”

Not to get too far ahead of ourselves, looking at the schedule, including Friday night’s game, you finish with three out of four games at home. What strides are you hoping to make as we get into the second half of the season?

Schaum: “We just want to continue improving daily and continue coming together as a team. I tell our guys, ‘If you believe it, you will achieve it!’ and being able to showcase what we’ve worked on in the friendly confines of Dick Dyer Field is great for our young group. The crowd support has been tremendous this season and I hope it continues down the stretch!”
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The Tigers face off against Roanoke Catholic on Friday, October 11th. Kick off is scheduled for 6:00 PM from Dick Dyer Field.

Schaum