By Mike Moore
Staff Writer
Brooklyn — He stood in the end zone with his team, still beaming from the previous 10 minutes and what had transpired.
A roll of the dice had come up perfect for Josh Kubiak, as the Columbia Central football coach elected to go for two when trailing by one.
His decision gave way to a slow developing but drama-filled pass to the end zone.
And a 29-28 come-from-behind victory over Hillsdale.
So as he stood there, still a bit of welcome shock in the home crowd after a 7-2 regular season, and was asked how he and his team have to remove themselves from a win in Week 9 while preparing for a Week 10 battle in the playoffs.
“I don’t know if we want to forget it,” Kubiak said smiling. “I want to use this momentum going into next week.”
Well, next week has arrived, and speaking Thursday about this team’s Division 5 opener with Southfield Bradford, not much had changed in Kubiak’s approach.
“We’re hoping to carry the momentum from last week over into this one,” Kubiak said. “We have a real good vibe going right now. We feel prepared.”
The Hillsdale win was the fifth in a row for the Golden Eagles, who closed the regular season 7-2, putting together the most wins in a two-year span since the 1980 and 1981 teams combined to win 16 games.
And actually fueling the team’s confidence heading into Friday’s home tilt, is Bradford itself.
“Last year (in the playoffs) we played Robichaud, and this is a very similar team to that,” Kubiak said of a 50-37 loss last October in the opening round. “Yes, we lost by 13, but we had a touchdown pass dropped. We had two other drives stall out deep in their territory. That’s 21 points right there. … We feel deep down that was a game we should have won, and that experience is something these kids are building from.”
Bradford comes in at 7-2 as well, though the team didn’t have a game last week due to a forfeit.
What the Bulldogs do have, though, are athletes on both sides of the ball.
They averaged nearly 30 points per game on offense, and with a speedy defense that flies around, gave up just 78 total points.
“We’re going to have to play smash-mouth football,” Kubiak said. “We’re not sure that’s a team that’s been hit, week in and week out. The key for us is eliminating mistakes on our end and not allowing them to hit the big play. We can’t allow the 50-yard run, or the big kick return that changes the game.”
Bradford, which is in just its seventh full season with a football program, has never been in the playoffs before. The team’s 7-2 record nearly doubled its best of 4-5 in each of the past two years.
Kubiak and his guys are ready for the challenge, though, and expect those in the bleachers to be so too.
“We’ve kind of been the talk of the town right now,” he boasted. “We have a great supporting cast from this community. We hope Southfield travels well and it’s a big atmosphere. That’s what we’re expecting.”
Mike Moore is a play-by-play commentator and Sports Writer for JTV Sports. You can reach him at mjm12@albion.edu. He’s also the author of ‘Love, Defined; A Dedication to the Love, Sacrifice, and Magic of Motherhood.’ Love, Defined is available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Tate Publishing or by contacting Mike directly.
Visit http://lovedefinedbook.weebly.com for more information.