Cloverdale looks to get off to a fast start this week

As he enters the sixth week of football with his Cloverdale Clovers, head football Tyler Lotz is continuing to learn about his team.

At 3-2 overall and 1-1 in the Southwest Conference, Lotz has seen plenty that has pleased him, some that has made him scratch his head, and some that has left him in disbelief. 

"We are still figuring it out. I thought we were trending in the right direction, and last Friday, we took a step backward. Hopefully, we get that turned around this week," Lotz told The Putnam County Post. 

Last Friday, the Clovers saw a two game win streak snapped as North Davies raced out to a 34-0 halftime lead en route to a 54-7 win. 

"We have talked, and I said starting fast would be a key to victory. We definitely did not do that. You can make a lot of excuses about why we didn't. There was an hour and a half bus ride, an hour weather delay, we didn't start until 8 p.m., all those things. At the end of the day, we have 14 seniors and we have to be able to start whenever they put the ball down. Our coaches have to do a better job, and we have to do a better job as a program to get that to happen. Hopefully, this week we can do that," said Lotz, who saw his team play four straight games on the road. "We talk about it every week. We have a lot of seniors and a lot of kids who have been in this program for a while. They want to win, and in order to do that, we have to fix some things. I am hoping this week we look like a different team."

Lotz said his team watched the film, addressed what went wrong and put it in the rearview mirror, hoping to return to their standard. 

"If you would've asked me three or four years ago when we first started here if I would be mad at a point where we were 3-2, it would've been crazy, and I probably wouldn't of believed you. But, right now, we are not happy with 3-2. We are excited to get better. We have come a long way, God is good, we have worked at it, and we are blessed to be in the position we are in, but we are looking for more," Lotz said. 

This week is Homecoming for the Clovers, something Lotz remembers fondly from his time as a player, and he is looking for a win.

"As a player, I loved it. As a coach, it is a distraction. As a player, being able to do Homecoming volleyball against the teachers and stuff like that. You always remember things, but we have challenged our kids to keep the main thing the main thing. Without the football game, there is no Homecoming. Enjoy things, and it is one of those things you have to be smart about. If you are on the injury list, I don't want to see you playing Homecoming volleyball," Lotz said. 

Six weeks in, Cloverdale has been healthy and will get players back this week. 

"We've been pretty lucky not to have anything crazy. We had a kid, who is a senior and never played football before. I asked him if he ever thought about playing football and on the second practice, he breaks his collarbone. As a coach, I felt bad about that. He is trying to come back before the the end of the season. We have some nicks and bruises, but we will be alright," Lotz said. 

As for Eastern Greene, the veteran coach knows his Cloverdale team has to be ready for all challenges the Thunderbirds may bring into Friday night. The Thunderbirds are 2-3, 0-3 and lost to Eastern (Pekin) 17-6 last week. 

"I think one of those weeks where they will challenge us with their offense. They run some triple option stuff and will make us make sure we are on our cues. The main focus has to be us, and that is how it should be all the time. We need to focus on us and play the ball we can play," Lotz said. 

In addition to getting off to a fast start, Lotz said his team has to take care of the ball, create takeaways on defense, limit big plays and have a few big plays of their own for his team secure a victory. 

"It's the same story every week and it is one of those we have been up and down. We are going to continue to work on it and get better. It is week six, but we still have things to improve on and things to accomplish," Lotz said.