Strong finish to season has Connor, Creek excited for future
Trending
WINTERSVILLE -- Veteran Indian Creek coach Andrew Connor could not be happier with how his team finished the season. His only disappointment is they're not preparing for a playoff game this week.
After starting the season 1-2, Creek rattled off six wins in its last seven games, including winning its final five-straight, to close the season at 7-3.
Unfortunately, however, when the numbers were crunched on Friday night, they came a little more than a single percentage point shy of earning a playoff spot in Division IV, Region 15.
Despite not making the top-12, the way Creek kept battling after the tough start and got themselves back into the thick of the race to play meaningful football in the final weeks makes the veteran coach proud.
"The sad thing is, we were playing so well right now over the last few weeks of the year," Connor said. "We did what we had to do to give us a chance, and the kids did their job, it just didn't work out in our favor, but they really worked hard.
"I'm proud of them. I thought we got better both offensively and defensively and with our special teams, and I'm just proud of our kids for their effort."
Creek's efforts were led by senior tailback/linebacker Bruce Mazar.
He ran for 1,456 yards and 20 touchdowns, averaging nearly 150 yards per game and over 7.5 yards per carry. He also was the team's leading receiver with 18 catches for another 263 yards and three scores, averging over 14.6 yards per catch.
On defense, Mazar had a team-high 113 tackles, 16 for loss, two sacks, a forced fumble and three interceptions.
Fellow senior Ethan Starr guided the offense well at QB throwing for 1,017 yards and nine touchdowns and rushing for 573 yards and five scores for a 1,500-total yard season.
Also in the senior class were kicker Franco Barcalow, WR/DB Jorden Hines, RB/LB Lukas McVicker, FB Bo Paulman, DE/TE Mason Salazar and DE/TE Adam Gaschler.
"They're a great group of kids and we're really going to miss them," Connor said. "It's always hard to say goodbye to seniors. We were very happy to be able to get them a win on senior night in their last game in Red and Gold."
Creek, though, got a lot of underclassmen on the field in big roles this season and a lot of them got experience in big games, making Connor very optimistic about the future.
"We overcame our youth and an abundancy of injury early," Connor said. "We really got hit hard with injuries, especially in our offensive line. It took us a while to get on our footing, but we didn't panic. We got better. Our juniors and sophomores came a long way and I'm very, very proud of their efforts.
"We feel good about the foundation we laid this year, and we're excited about the offseason and getting in the weight room and really working hard towards getting a chance to get back in the playoffs next year. There's a lot of good feelings in the locker room after the way we ended the season."