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CADIZ -- Harrison Central's quest for that elusive first playoff win can begin anew next fall.
The Huskies traveled to Creston last Friday to face Norwayne and returned home after a humbling 71-7 defeat.
Turnovers and injuries beset the visitors early and by the time HC finally got on the scoreboard in the second quarter, the visitors were already down 33-7.
Five turnovers total coupled with freshman forced into roles on a state that may not have been quite ready for didn't provide for an ideal situation.
"Obviously, all credit to them, they are an extremely good team," Harrison Central head coach Anthony Hayes said. "We knew that going in. We were a little banged up and had a couple of inexperienced kids, including a freshman at quarterback, and honestly, they did the best they could. I'm proud of those two players who stepped in and did an outstanding job.
"When you are in the postseason, you obviously want to be playing on all cylinders and have everyone healthy. But they are a very good football team. Once they got up on us, there was no slowing down.
They stayed on the gas pedal."
The Huskies finish 6-5, their most wins since finishing 7-3 in 2016 which is also the best finish during Hayes' five-years as head coach in Cadiz.
Hayes took over in 2018 and saw back-to-back 4-6 seasons before finishing 5-4 during the COVID season in 2020. That year, Harrison lost to South Range in the postseason after a game against
Rootstown (3-5) was canceled because of COVID.
In 2021, injuries plagued the Huskies and forced a number of youngsters into starting roles. The result was a 4-6 regular season and first-round loss to Division V runner-up Kirtland in Round 1.
There's been a steady progression of improvement, and while a playoff victory is still the next major goal to obtain, Hayes is encouraged by where things are headed.
"I think the biggest thing is we've started to focus on us, what our goals are," Hayes said. "We've really focused on ourselves and getting better every day and I know that sounds like coachspeak, but since we've taken that approach, each individual player has gotten better, we've coached better as coaches,
and that's our message eaded into the offseason."
The team will lose some talent, experienced seniors. But, the majority of the starters on both side of the ball return, many for what will be there third season in the starting lineup.
Players like quarterback Hunter Cassidy, receiver Parker Hutton, linemen Hunter Boals and Lucas Thomas. Then there's juniors to be like linebacker Clayton Vermillion and running back Mykel Quito, all of whom made an impact, and all of whom will return for 2023.
And they aren't alone.
"The juniors, seniors to be, they have played in three straight playoffs and they have the experience of what it takes to get there," Hayes said. "Obviously, they look at us coaches for guidance, but they will have to take that leadership role upon themselves and I think they are ready for that."
Those players have seen first hand what is required to take that next step in playing teams like Norwayne and Kirtland the year before.
These teams don't just show up to the field and automatically become good. These are programs in the truest sense of the word, with rosters full of players bought into the system, putting the work in during the preseason and offseason with one goal in mind.
That's the mindset Hayes and company are trying to install out in Cadiz. He's starting to see glimpses of it already.
"We've had better buy-in this past season than we've ever had," Hayes said. "And it's real simple when it comes down to it, it doesn't take lot to figure out what it takes to be good. When you play a team like Norwayne, they don't waste opportunities to execute. They are strong, fast, big, they do all the the little things right and it doesn't happen by accident.
"We are heading in the right direction, and I'm proud of our kids and coaches."
It's time for to relax for a moment and let the minds reset. Then it's off to whatever sport the players are involved in next, or it's back to the grindstone and get ready for next season.
The mindset is slowly changing in Cadiz. It's a process that requires a lot of work and, at times, patience, but Hayes can see the wheels turning.
"The last few years, we've really tried to ge ta hold of our younger kids and work to build that blueprint and plan for what we want so that it becomes an expectation, instead of a hope," Hayes said. "It's not I hope we're okay, or I hope or think we could be good, but we want it to become an expectation, a standard that we've set in all that we do.
"We're starting to see the rewards of that with this junior class, and now it'll be the sophomores and freshman. If everybody is buying into the process mentally, those results will start to show up."