The greatest thing is, it gives you a barometer of where your season will shake out. That first week will show you where you stand . . . We always love playing in the Showdown.

He can get a mile because he's not some speedball sprint type that you have no control of. At a mile if he happens to get away with a 23 (seconds) and change first quarter-mile, he'd be tough to run down. He'd have a pretty big edge on them turning for home. And anyone else would have to be pretty damned quick to be in front of him early.

Against a team like that, and against a triple option, just one mistake and it's now a tie game. That was a big stop for us.

It was a big win for us. Our No. 1 goal was to win the first game of the year, and we accomplished that goal.

Darius is important in what we do. He's a special talent, but very humble. He's learning from Chris about work ethic.

This is so much better than them all just sitting out in a parking lot somewhere. There's also everything to do here at Silver Springs.

Our defensive coaches did one heck of a job against their triple option. The defense remained disciplined. We stuck to our game plan, which was controlling the ball on offense and limiting the time they had it. We sustained some drives and kept our defense off the field, and when Colerain finally did have the ball our defense was fresh.

Brad brings a lot to the table that Robby didn't bring, and vice versa. Robby was an excellent athlete for his size. Brad gives you an added dimension.

We have to establish the run early and play all four quarters. We have to finish strong.

We are just glad to be at home instead of traveling.