This week’s Q&A Springfield’s Sean Guerriero

In his seventh year as head coach of Springfield, Sean Guerriero came into the season with a record of 27-34, including an 8-2 campaign two years ago that included a playoff appearance. The Tigers, 6-2, have an outside shot at another playoff berth but face their rival, unbeaten South Range, this week.

Q. In this age of high-scoring offenses your team has been able to hold your opponent to 14 points or fewer in all six of your wins. What are the keys to your defenses’ success?

A. I have to give credit to our defensive coordinator. Coach (Adam) Slopek does a lot of work in practice and he puts the kids in positions to succeed. He is definitely a person who might go unnoticed in what he’s doing but he has the kids running to the football and we are tackling well this year. The key is he has the kids moving and flying to the football. My hat’s off to him, he continually harps on the kids to make sure they are doing the right thjings.

The kids have seen some success and that makes it easier to get them to buy in. They are running around and doing the right things and that makes it easy to coach. With the effort the kids put in it means we are coaching little things instead of coaching effort.

Another thing that has helped is the depth we have this year. For every two positions, like two tackles, two linebackers, we want to have three kids. Three kids for two spots. That is helping because the kids have a chance to take a break, get a couple plays off. That depth puts us in a good situation.

Q. What were your team’s goals headed into the season?

A. For us our team goals are to win the ITCL and make the playoffs. But with the league we are in and our schedule, we have to prepare for every game. We have to take it game-by-game and put the kids in the best situation to win that week. From our losses, we learned that we had some situations when we didn’t perform well. We are starting to be able to coach to our weak spots, pushing the kids, and they have accepted this and are willing to be coached and to work hard.

Q. You lost quarterback Hunter Snyder, maybe your best player, to injury earlier in the season. What is his status and how have you been able to overcome his loss?

A. Hunter was hurt in week four, he had a high ankle sprain. He is healthy now and has been playing on defense the last couple weeks and we’ve worked him into the offense a little bit. Sophomore Graham Mincher has done a good job stepping in and we’ve also had to rely more on the line. People have been loading the box and Graham has been able to hit some receivers downfield so we are starting to stretch the field. It’s the best of both worlds with Hunter healthy and Graham able to step up and do some positive things.

Q. What about your opponent this week, South Range?

A. On defense they fly to the football and they try to get their offense back on the field as much as they can. When they get 3-and-outs it can be dangerous because their offense can put points on the board. They don’t have a huge offensive line but they fire off the ball. Like us, it starts with the line and they push people off the ball. Their backs hit the hole hard and they are very dangerous. If you make a mistake they make you pay.

Interview by Vindicator sports writer Doug Chapin. Email him at dchapin@vindy.com.