The 26 game losing streak was finally snapped for the Broadmoor Buccaneers last week when the program won a defensive struggle in a 14-0 win against the Tara Trojans. First year head coach Yasin Sarah agrees that it was a huge win for the program, but for him, the program has a lot of more goals than to just get this monkey off their backs.
“In the short term picture, it was a big win for us to get that feel for winning. We won the jamboree and we got a little taste of it, but it wasn’t the real thing so for us to have a plan and being able to execute it, and come away with a win is a big short term goal, but in the long term goal, we have more to accomplish.”
Broadmoor Head Coach Yasin Sarah
Coach Sarah was on the staff last year as the offensive line coach when the Buccaneers went 0-10 so he knows how much this program needed a win. There are a lot of sophomores and even three freshmen that are starting for this young team, but knowing that the young players now have the mindset that they can win has helped change the culture at Broadmoor.
“Since I took over in April, we’ve been in there working in the weight room all summer. We’ve had kids stay two to three hours after practice. For them to see us actually compete this year and to see that we got the victory shows them personally their growth and the hard work they put in. That’s good to see them have a benchmark and that they now understand if they keep on doing what they are doing and trusting in what we tell them, then, they are going to see the results of their hard work.”
Broadmoor Head Coach Yasin Sarah
The old saying goes is that defense wins championships. Well, in this case, defense helps teams overcome hurdles as it was the Buccaneers defense that was the key in the team’s 14-0 victory forcing seven Tara turnovers and only giving up 97 total yards of offense. For defensive coordinator James Spellings, he knows that his defense is not the biggest in the world, but for him, his philosophy is all about not being afraid and embracing the challenge.
“Understanding that we are undersized, my philosophy is if you come block me, I am not going to be there. We want to attack. That is my mentality. Our biggest thing is that we want to be us to the fullest. We don’t care what anyone else has to say. We just want to keep building and be relentless. In practice, the only part of the field that we practice on is the red zone because I want my guys to know that when your backs are against the wall, you are the only person that’s going to make that play.”
Broadmoor Defensive Coordinator James Spellings
Coach Spellings has acknowledged Coach Sarah for being a huge part in the re-shifting of the culture at Broadmoor. Instead of avoiding the big elephant in the room regarding the losing streak, the coaching staff decided to drill it in their players’ heads as it was going to be the only way for the team to finally break the streak. The coaches wanted their players to approach adversity at full speed and to not run away from it.
“Coach Sarah and I wanted something better for our players. He’s followed on that vision and has given our kids purpose. I think sometimes we expect them to go play and not know what they are playing for. It’s bigger than just football. It’s about life. It’s about those lessons of persevering when it gets hard. One thing that he always says to our kids is if the only thing that I taught you is football, then, I have failed you as your coach. He’s our leader and we believe in him. As a team, he believes in us.”
“The message while we were going through this losing streak is raw honesty. We’re not a good team. We didn’t play sound ball. Some of that was coaching. Some of that was effort on players. So what we had to do as coaches and as players is we did something called the circle in which we scouted everything out. What went wrong last year and how do we change that? We don’t want to be the same old Broadmoor. We want to be us. We want to be something of our own.”
Broadmoor Defensive Coordinator James Spellings
Coach Spellings continued to talk about the mental makeup of this team and why this 2022 version was the perfect team to overcome that hump.
“We had sophomores that made it through all of last season 0-10, and they still showed up every spring and every summer workout so it was one of those things that they wanted it just as badly as we wanted it for them. Everything just fell in place and hopefully, we can continue that with a win over Istrouma. However, win, lose, or draw, we know that we are not the same old Broadmoor and that’s what we want to show everybody.”
Broadmoor Defensive Coordinator James Spellings
Coach Sarah reiterated that this is only a short term goal for this program and that there are greater, brighter things ahead for the next couple of years. Building off the positive momentum of last week, the Buccaneers will look to start a winning streak of their own against the Istrouma Indians tonight.
“Istrouma looks better and bigger on film. We just got to play our game. We have to win every snap and every rep. They look good on offense and they try to give number five the football however way they can whether it is on speed, quick screens, and they have a big running back so we have to focus on our undersized guys bringing him down. On defense, they got that outside linebacker number 15. If you can’t block him, then don’t block him. You run midline and you run reads on him so that’s maybe our philosophy going into the game tonight. We’ll see how that works out and seeing some of those things on film that we can take advantage of those.”
“I just want us to compete for four quarters, but tonight, I would like to see us cut down on those mistakes. We have to be discipline, trust in each other, and focus on not making similar mistakes.”
Broadmoor head coach Yasin Sarah
The Broadmoor Buccaneers were able to snap the losing streak thanks to the effort of some of their talented players. Here are a couple of young players for you to keep an eye on.
WR/SS Derrick Goldman (Class of 2025):
“Derrick Goldman is going to give 100 percent physicality, and that’s who he is. He’s not running away from any contact. He’s going to cover and whatever is asked of him, he is going to do. On special teams, he is going to force turnovers. He is going to hit. He’s going to do all of those things.”
Broadmoor Defensive Coordinator James Spellings
QB/LB Naim Morehouse (Class of 2023):
“Naim brings leadership. If he has to carry the football 20 times for us to win, he will carry it. If he has to have 10-15 tackles, he will have it. If he has to line up at outside linebacker or rush the passer, he will do it. He’s that guy that holds everything together. He’s our unapologetic leader and we go as he goes.”
Broadmoor Defensive Coordinator James Spellings
LB Mark Terrio (Class of 2024):
“Mark is relentless. He wants it. Having him at mike linebacker and Ty Searles at outside linebacker, they work great with each other. They push each other and both of them want to be good individuals, but they know that they push our defense to be great collectively.”
Broadmoor Defensive Coordinator James Spellings
DL Willie Williams (Class of 2026):
“Willie’s a great kid. He doesn’t do a lot of talking and isn’t a ra ra type of guy. He’s all about his business. If you triple team him, he is going to fight it. If you beat him, he is going to get back up and line up again. Anything that he brings is infectious. To be so young and to be able to lead by doing, that makes him special. It’s a blessing to have him for the next three years after this year.”
Broadmoor Defensive Coordinator James Spellings
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