Change in attitude gets Middies going

Bitter taste of letting a playoff berth slip away  in 2008 has motivated  the team this season.

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By Skip Weaver, Staff Writer 1:16 AM Tuesday, November 3, 2009

MIDDLETOWN — At this time last year, the Middletown High School football players were turning in uniforms and preparing for a long offseason.

What a difference a year makes.

The majority of the players spent a long, hard offseason looking in the mirror after letting a potential playoff appearance slip away last year.

The Middies made a huge playoff push when they upset Colerain — the state’s then No. 1-ranked team in Division I — in a Week 7 contest at Barnitz Stadium, only to have back-to-back losses to Lakota West and Hamilton the following two weeks spoil the opportunity.

This year, players remembered that feeling and changed their attitude.

“Last year, we were just so happy to beat Colerain, we didn’t worry about the next couple of weeks,” senior wide receiver and defensive back Kevin Watts said on Monday, Nov. 2. “This year has been more of a take-care-of-business attitude. We’ve played every game like it was our last.”

Second-year Middies coach Jason Krause pointed to a season-ending win over Princeton last year as a difference maker.

“Two things happened last year,” Krause said. “There was the bitterness we had from losing those two games after beating Colerain, and then we recovered from those setbacks to beat Princeton in the last week which propelled us into the offseason.

“If we had not beat Princeton and instead lost three in a row to end the season, the attitude would not have been the same during the offseason,” he continued. “The kids’ attitude was to get better each day. It made a huge difference.”

Watts said he and his teammates were very determined during the offseason.

“We talked all summer about winning the Greater Miami Conference,” Watts said. “Even though we didn’t do that, we still made the playoffs. That feels great.

“But we don’t want to just be a team that was lucky to get in,” he continued. “We want to make some noise.”

Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2852 or sweaver@coxohio.com.