Don Patterson Quotations

We're going to have our work cut out for us (today). Of course, this will be the first game of the day for both of us.

We're really blessed to have this height. The thing that's good about these girls is not only do they have height advantages over most of our opponents, they're also very talented.

We know what Chad Walker can do. We want to give some more playing time to the others, to see what they can do.

There are some players that have a quiet confidence in what they can do. I believe Alex has that confidence. ... He believes in himself. He knows he has paid the price to properly prepare for the opportunity.

We have people who can score and it was good to see everyone score (Friday).

When they were effective with running the ball, it meant that they could be effective with the play action pass. We obviously didn't defend very well against either the run or the pass.

I would have to say I was more pleased with the defense today. They did a great job of not staying blocked very long, of flying around and making plays. On the offensive side of things, we ran the ball very well in long yardage situations.

(Former Iowa coach) Hayden Fry said (in spring games) he never wanted his ones to get beat. I want to see how our ones on offense do against our ones on defense. I think that will make a more competitive game.

There aren't many breaks in the Gateway, that's for sure. We recognize that all the opponents in the conference are dangerous and they're all capable of beating you.

I think a change of scenery will be good for us. We've had disappointment the last two weeks at home. It'll be something different (from) the routine we've had lately.

I think they underestimated his speed a little bit tonight. We try to get the ball into our playmakers hands and he's one of them.

I think there is a need and I don't think there would be an easy way to recoup any money.

Some of them play well on the practice field, but in front of a crowd ... it can be a different story. If you lay an egg on Saturday ... it's not a good thing.

Lionel hurt him. . . . We just couldn't finish him. People know who he is now.

I was hoping this scoring system would make for a competitive day. Based on (Saturday's) score, I'd say it's a pretty fair system.

It feels really good to be able to cut down the net on Senior Night. We were ready to play and the girls felt like they had something to prove. We played hard all season and winning a share of the district crown is one of the rewards for that.

I think it will be a lot different than recent years. Last season, about at the midway point, I could see the lights go on in a lot of players. They understood the defensive schemes we wanted to use. Now, with this spring practice, they aren't going to have to learn anything new.

I think Marco is poised to have a big season.

I would hope that by the time the spring is over, we'll have a lot of questions answered.

We played great basketball (Wednesday). I was really proud of our effort and the fact that we played such good team basketball.

Usually, you see if people are going to behave.

We were frustrated with a few of the calls that were made. But we understand that when you go on the road that's part of the game.

We didn't even know if we would have Kristen for the second half. She was working with about half an ankle, but she did a great job setting the tone early in the third quarter.

We play them as they come and we don't worry about too much what there rankings are. We weren't ranked and we almost played a really good game against Southern. We realize that if we play up to our potential we can play with anyone and we proved that last Saturday night. I would expect that we will prove it all over again on Saturday afternoon.

We said going in that we hoped the scoring system would make for a competitive day. It did that. ... Maybe it's a fair system, who knows what's for sure fair and what isn't. ... But, based on the score, I would say it's a pretty fair system.

The only thing I know about Coronado is what I read on the scouting reports. From what I read or heard, they're real quick and shoot the ball very well.

We've been playing good defense as of late. We're holding teams to single digit scoring during periods.

We knew he had good speed, but coming out of high school we didn't know how good he would be. The truth of it is, he runs good routes already. He's worked his way into the lineup.

We lost two starting linebackers and (Miller) has an impressive rŽsumŽ'. He earned a lot of accolades from his high school and junior college days. It was not a difficult decision for us that we should recruit him and, thankfully, he's here now and off to a good start.

We're usually good at bouncing back from a sub-par game. Facing Carroll's press will help prepare us for Bowie. Bowie's very similar to Carroll, but they have more athletes.

Coronado made their shots and Summit didn't. When you get to this stage, you have to be ready to play. As long as we move the ball and play good defense, we'll do fine.

There's no doubt that we're going to get it done. We're getting better on a daily basis. We're playing a lot of young players and they are learning on a good pace now.

There's no way we could have had as smooth of a transition at defensive line.

The thing that made me feel positive in many ways was the way our defense played in the early stages when the game was in doubt. They ran an interception back and had the ball after the punt block. At that point it would have been in a lot of peoples minds that Toledo would knock it in, but they had to kick it. There was another red-zone stand that left them with a field-goal attempt.

Sometimes you get a little rusty after not playing for more than a week, but our girls are mature and they know what's at stake. They'll be mentally prepared and ready to play.

Some do it without their parents, and they can really get caught up in the moment. Everywhere we went, we took a video camera and a still camera. When the educators are talking about the degree process, we have all that on tape. We're going over pictures and the tapes to make sure the right decision is there.

That's his background. He was expected to go to college regardless of whether or not he played football.

This game does mean a lot to me. Having grown up in the state of Texas, I'll have a lot of family and friends at the game. I think the whole town will be there. I've only had one opportunity as a head coach to coach a game in Texas, and that one didn't work out so well against a good Sam Houston State team in 2001.

They (Marcus) held the ball most of the night. They controlled the game for the most part because of that, but at least we left with a win.

This is unbelievable. I'm ecstatic about this and it's still soaking in right now. It's a very surreal moment.

As we spent time trying to play catch up, it was even harder trying to establish the run. We still had some plays that we thought we could be effective in running and we were disappointed that they didn't work better.

It'll be like old times. We go way back with Rockwall. Just two years ago, we were in the same district.

They (Waxahachie) just outplayed us in the second half. We ran into foul trouble and turnovers and they took advantage.

Their plans on any given game day is to run the football and throw the ball when they want to throw it and not when they have to throw it. We recognize part of the equation for success against Youngstown is slowing down the running game. Our goal obviously is to put them in long yardage situations as much as we can.

I like the attitude of this team. They don't like what's happened the last two years. They're hungry.

I think our fans have a lot to do with it. We have our bench area on the east side over there to identify with the student body. I'm sure the travel aspect is a little bit of an issue.

The kicking game is key. Last week our mistakes in kicking had everything to do with the outcome of the game. I'd like to think at the end of the game this week that our kicking game has the edge.

Alex just goes about his business. He's just a very solid football player.

Alex has made a real statement this spring and this past winter that that's the job he would like to have, that's the job he plans to have. Alex does recognize there is going to be a lot of competition, but that's the way it is for any top-notch program.

You can see that Alex is a very shifty runner. And Herb is just a load out there.