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Wolvin proud of his Vandercook Lake squad after eight wins and spot in postseason

 By Mike Moore

Staff Writer

 Jackson – The loss, some five days old, still stung.

Steve Wolvin wanted to be coaching football this week, not looking back on a season that was.

But less than a week after falling to Lumen Christi 35-7 in a Division 6 playoff opener, the Vandercook Lake coach took a moment to reminisce about a season that was — a season of excellence.

“We had a bunch of kids that came from so many different backgrounds and accomplished something here that hadn’t been done in a long, long time,” Wolvin said. “That’s what we’ll enjoy about this year.”

From close calls to upside down records, the Jayhawks had knocked on the playoff door plenty of times since last making it in 1997, but the 2015 group kicked said door down.

Vandercook started the season wit a 27-14 victory against Springport and never looked back, reeling off seven straight wins before falling to Manchester in Week 8.

But in one of the wildest games anyone has ever seen, Vandercook capped the regular season with a 45-42 victory over Springport in which the Spartans scored seven touchdowns, but failed on every two-point conversion.

“I’m still trying to figure out how we won that game,” Wolvin said with a laugh.

The draw against Lumen was obviously a tough one, though the Jayhawks never backed down, dominating into the second quarter before Lumen shifted momentum and found a way to run away with it.

“We felt like we were going to be a good team, probably a playoff team at the start of the season,” Wolvin said. “At the same time, we knew what our troubles would be, in the sense of staying focused and keeping the drama out of the game. So we focused on one game at a time. We took things one step at a time, and that really helped us.”

So too did the team’s playmakers, from quarterback Nolan Hancock, to receiver Noah Cooper to the deadly trio in the offensive backfield of Chase Pierce, Zaithon Allen and Malik Wilks, just to name a few.

The offense averaged nearly 35 points per game this season, while the defense gave up just 22 per contest in the regular season.

“The thing with this group is you couldn’t go into a game talking about how big it was, or what we had to do or couldn’t do. We went in having fun,” Wolvin added. “We played loose and let the athletic ability play out.”

Now, the challenge is maintaining what was accomplished.

“We have a small, but good, group of juniors returning in key positions,” Wolvin said. “We have some good potential coming up on the offensive line. And we’re going to bring up some young kids and bring. We don’t want to take a step back, that’s for sure. When you gradually increase your wins every year, it shows stability and it shows that a system is in place. We feel that’s where we are as a program. We feel the playoff are an expectation again next year.”

 

 

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.

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