By: Christian Goeckel

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

When he gathered his team in front of the student section after Thursday night’s win over Camden, Rocky Hidalgo had a clear message for his troops. This performance was better. Better, but not good enough. “This is what great teams do!” Hidalgo yelled to his team, “They continuously get better!”.

That was not the feeling a week ago when Glynn fell to Richmond Hill in what Hidalgo described as “The worst game I’ve ever been a part of”. Missed defensive assignments, crucial false starts, multiple pass interferences, and nine bad snaps. While separately they are obstacles that can be overcome, combined they proved fatal against Richmond Hill.

It was a shocking sight to see a team that seemed to be on the right track, after three straight wins, fall due to so many self-inflicted mistakes.

So, what do you do? Well if you’re a Glynn Academy player, you go in and get ripped while watching film. You get treatment for any nagging injuries, and then you get ripped some more. After you’re done having your rear end handed to you, you go to practice on Monday and go to work.

The Terrors must’ve taken that formula to heart, as they looked like a completely different team on Thursday night.

The triple option, which is this teams heart and soul, was crisp and devastating. All night it seemed like the Wildcats had Randon Jernigan contained, only to watch him deftly pitch the ball to his option back for a fifteen-yard gain.

The passing game also had one of its best performances of the year, with senior tight end Andrew Delaney frequently finding open pockets in Camden’s secondary for huge gains. This will be crucial for Glynn moving forward.

Defensively, the Terrors held their opponent to 14 points or less for the third straight game. Apart from Cameron McClellan, who’s done for the year, this unit is almost to full strength, and they seem to be gelling at exactly the right time.

They smothered Camden for much of the night, with the Wildcats only big plays on offense coming from a growing star in Jakaree Gadsden.

The Terror’s performance should have been even more dominant as they dropped a couple of easy interceptions.

Special teams were solid for most of the night. Jack Podlesny consistently booted the ball through the endzone on kick-offs.

The only gaff, which led to a short field for Camden, was on punt coverage. A booming Terror punt was muffed by the return man which froze everyone for a split second, just long enough for the return man to recover it and zip down the sideline to Glynn’s 15.

Overall, it was a dominating 35-14 performance from Glynn Academy. Camden never seemed like they had a chance, which is what Glynn aims for.

What’s even more encouraging is that this wasn’t anywhere near a flawless game for the Terrors. Snaps continue to roll back to the quarterback, and terribly timed penalties continue opponents drives.

If Glynn can put the Richmond Hill game in their rearview mirror and instead focus on a 4-1 record in their past 5 games they’ll be fine.

Bradwell Institute looms as the final region and regular season game.

If Glynn defeats Bradwell and Brunswick takes down Richmond Hill, there will be a three way tie at the top of the region.

But don’t make the mistake of asking coach Hidalgo about tie breakers, as one reporter (me) found out rather harshly (I’m fine, but I won’t make that mistake again). The only thing he cares about is winning this next game and getting these Terrors ready for the playoffs.