The Cumberland County Jets, under the guidance of first year coach Mark Wattenbarger, closed out their football season Friday night on the road at Whites Creek.
The Jets, who have made steady progression through out the season, battled back and forth with WCHS before falling in a 40-0 decision.
“Whites Creek was just bigger than us, faster than us and stronger than us,” said Cumberland County Coach Mark Wattenbarger. “Their get off [initial burst at the snap] up front defensively was causing us problems in moving the ball.
“We had a chance to get a couple of first downs the first time we had the ball, got stopped on a fourth down and short, which for our game would have kept the clock running. Once they got the ball back, their speed was just too much.”
The loss drops the Jets to 0-10 on the season. Whites Creek moves to 8-1 overall.
“The only thing they did is they walked some linebackers up and put a face in every gap,” said Cumberland County Coach Mark Wattenbarger. “Our down blocking scheme should be able to handle that. It is just the quickness.”
Whites Creek scored six times in the first half of Friday’s game. A couple of missed extra points provided the final 40-0 margin.
“By the time we got to them, they were two steps into their get off, and we were one step into our get off,” Wattenbarger said. “We were sliding behind them. They were getting penetration on us, which caused this problem.
“You’re asking young kids to adjust their angle, adjust their steps. Our gaps are pretty narrow because we close our splits down, and they just gave us a hard time with their speed and quickness.”
After the game, Wattenbarger said he spoke to his team about the progress the Jets made this season and what the future of the program looks like.
“We talked about how it was a hard season, but we also talked about all the progress we made.” the coach said. “Three or four weeks into the season, just getting through a practice was difficult because we were fumbling every third or fourth snap.
“Now, we’re running three personnel groupings. We’re switching flawlessly, fumbling no snaps, fumbling no exchanges. You can go through a practice and get a lot more done because of the efficiency you’re doing it with.”
Wattenbarger said he and his staff have a plan for the offseason and, after a few days off, the Jets will be getting back to work.
“Having a great offseason,” he said, “is going to be huge for us.”