Mental state on gridiron key for fall season

The physicality of Indian River’s varsity football team seems to be showing improvement as the team nears its 2010 season debut, but head coach Jim Bunting is hoping that the mental aspect of the game peaks in time for the season’s start, as well. The Indians have been able to push past Cape Henlopen in the past two season’s openers – last year by a 24-point margin – but with a challenging schedule ahead of them, there’s no room for errors.

“This year’s team is pushing hard through the preseason,” said Bunting, “and they’re putting a lot into practices. But it’s one thing to get your team into shape lifting plows all morning – and I’m a big advocate of making sure your team has the physical aspect it needs – but the big challenge is the mental state. The attitude is there in regard to what we saw last year, but it still isn’t quite where I want it to be. Fortunately, we’ve already put some things into motion.”

According to Bunting, the team’s mental toughness will come by way of their ability to work together – something he said was lacking last year.

“I really like what our guys are doing this year,” Bunting said. “This season is all about equality. In years before, guys would have that ‘I’m untouchable and unapproachable because I’m a senior’ attitude. This year, we have leaders, but they do their job by showing it, rather than bringing the arrogance we saw before. Our guys know our leaders, and there’s respect all the way around. No one is big-headed, and there’s no undermining like we saw last year. I want it to grow from this year and really take off.”

Third-year quarterback Jamie Jarmon and senior fullback Devon Showell have both exhibited a leadership acknowledged by peers and Indian River’s coaching staff.

“Jamie has this way of rallying everyone together,” said Bunting. “At a practice last week, he noticed that some of the guys weren’t putting everything they had out there, so he came out and whipped them into shape.”

The coaching staff has implemented a personal improvement program this year, too, to help keep the focus on track.

“Our guys are really starting to take the game seriously,” said Bunting, “and I hope by the time we head to Cape, we’ll be taking that next step.”

The Indians began their preseason this year at Caesar Rodney and continued last week with a practice game against Parkside.

“We looked a little rough against CR,” Bunting admitted, “but when we were up against Parkside, we did very well. I wasn’t sure if we were just that good, offensively, or if they weren’t that strong, defensively, but we’re still a ways away from getting our offense and defense on the same level. The defense is lacking a bit, and we just have to bring it up.”

After the first three weeks of the season, in which the Indians will face Cape, Caravel Academy and Dover, they will have to endure blow after blow from conference contenders, who all stand a chance at making a run for the Henlopen South title.

“The South is the best it’s been in years,” noted Bunting. “You can’t afford to blink in those games. We play a tough schedule – and one misstep, and you’re digging yourself out of a hole.”

Last year, both in- and out-of-conference play tripped up the Indians, as they suffered losses to Caravel and Sussex Central, and to the South’s Delmar, Lake Forest and Laurel, leveling their regular season record to 5-5.

This past Thursday, Sept. 2, bumped ahead from Friday, Sept. 3, due to the forecast for Hurricane Earl, Indian River was set to face Milford in a play day, gearing the green-and-gold up for their bout against Cape Henlopen on Sept. 10.

“Our rhythm’s good,” said Bunting mid-week, “but we can’t afford to be second-guessing ourselves on Thursday. We’ve got to be as close to form as we can get.

“There are a lot of rumors flying around, with Cape getting another new head coach,” Bunting noted. “The thing is, we usually face Cape when they’re at their best, so we know they’re probably going to coach up and bring a string game. They’ve brought us their toughest, and we still got it done. Our guys know the importance of this first game, and some of them know they’ve got some things to prove. The game against Cape should forecast how we’ll do this year.”