It's been seven years since Walker Valley head football coach Drew Akins has been to Ooltewah High school. Friday night, Akins will return to the home of the Owls, only this time it will be as a head coach on the opposite sideline across the field from where he began his coaching career as an Owls assistant coach.
“This is my first time going back to Ooltewah as a coach on the visitor's sideline.
That's going to be an emotional thing for me,” said Akins, who was hired by legendary coach Benny Monroe. “I learned a lot while I was there. So much of who I am today as a coach I learned there. I learned so much about hard work and planning.
Akins still maintains friendly relationships today with many of the coaches he coached with as an assistant at Ooltewah.
“When I stand on that visitor's sideline and look across I'm going to have to take a deep breath and not let those emotions get the best of me. There are going to be a lot of memories that flood back in of the great times I experienced and the lot I learned during that time,” Akins said. “But, I've got to give our players today what they deserve out of me and that's going to be something I'm very mindful of right before kickoff.”
Akins will also be mindful off the effort put forth by the Mustangs in a heartbreaking 22-21 loss to Bradley Central last week. He gave praise to team leadership and reiterated the fact the Mustangs took nothing back to the locker room after the game.
“Our leadership is so good. I was so proud of the way we played. We were obviously disappointed in the outcome, but I'm not disappointed in our players at all. It's weird dichotomy of being disappointed we lost, but I'm in no way disappointed in our players and the effort they gave. They laid it on the line every single snap. They gave everything they had. They had nothing left at the end of that game,” said the Mustangs' coach. “I got four or five text messages from our (team) leaders saying they wouldn't want any other team
The coach also said the Mustangs have the ability to understand the moment, live in the moment yet understand the bigger picture of what the team is trying to do and what can be accomplished.
That kind of attitude will be very important at the Mustangs (1-1) open Region 4-5A football Friday against Ooltewah (0-2). It will be the last of three consecutive road games to open the season for Walker Valley.
“We wanted to win that game (against Bradley). But, when it comes down to what really matters for the season, Ooltewah is a much more important game for our program because of it being a region game,” Akins acknowledged.
A win obviously would give the Mustangs a solid 1-0 start in region play and if they can find a way to win one against Rhea County or McMinn County the playoffs would be eve closer. A win against both would allow the Mustangs to host an opening round game.
“Our kids understand that while that game meant a lot to us emotionally, it doesn't necessarily make it something that makes or breaks our season,” Akins emphasized. “I think our leadership has done a great job of coming back off that and realizing the importance of this game.
Akins is very familiar with the Ooltewah football program as the first seven years of his coaching career were spent with the Owls. Ooltewah head coach James “Goose” Manning was the first quarterback pupil guided by Akins. The Walker Valley leader is also very familiar with Ooltewah defensive coordinator JD Dunbar who also started coaching at the same time as Akins.
“I know their scheme. I kind of understand what they are trying to do. I think JD does a great job taking what personnel he has and fitting a scheme around them. He's done a great job of that this year,” Akins lauded.
Akins explained the Owls have also moved around a bit offensively after being a spread offense the last few years and now are beginning to use Y-backs and a tight end in an effort to establish more of a running game to try and eliminate opposition possessions.
“They just weren't able to score against Red Bank. Red Bank's defense was just dominant up front,” stated Akins. “They struggled to score, but their idea of shortening the game is sort of an idea you saw out of us last week. We tried to shorten the game against and lessen their possessions.
The Mustangs are expecting the Owls to play a run heavy game over the course of four quarters.
Mustangs' quarterback Evan Schwarzl smacked Bradley with three touchdown passes, all off run action. Akins said the run action will again be an important part of this week's offensive scheme.
“Running the ball on first down and timing the play-action passes off that was really good to us last week. We are going to have to develop it more this week to get more explosive plays,” said the coach.
Akins reiterated how pleased he was with the effort of the Mustangs last week and said of they will continue to play that hard and give it their all for four quarters every game the chances of ending the season with a solid record is considerably likely.
“I opened our meeting Monday by telling our guys if they play like they did against Bradley everybody on the schedule is going to have a hard time with them. I'm not saying they are going to go out and win every game because we played really hard against Bradley and we lost. I'm not guaranteeing if they play that hard they win, but I guarantee every team on our schedule is going to have a hard time,” related Akins. “When you play with that much effort and that much energy it's hard to match. Our kids laid it on the line. If we can replicate it I like our chances the rest of the year.”
Akins emphasized, however, if the effort was a “One Hit Wonder” there is the possibility the Mustangs could ride through another roller coaster season.
“That's got to be our culture, to play that hard and then look up and see what happened,” he said. “But, I think if they go and play that hard they will be rewarded. I think the game rewards people who play that hard. I think we will be rewarded if we can match that effort.”