After a winless first season as the head coach for the Richard Montgomery football team, Neal Owens quickly started to get ready for the 2011 season.
“We had a big core group that came here every day starting on Dec. 1, and lifted,” Owens said. “They're committed to the team, and when you're trying to build a program and you have a core group that's willing to do whatever it takes to turn around, that's huge.”
The Rockets will look to take another step toward that turnaround at 6:30 tonight at home against Wheaton.
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The hard work has paid off early this season. The team has two wins in their first five games, including a win over Kennedy at the end of September that was their first at home in two seasons.
“When I got here, the program was a mess and we had a lot of cleaning up to do,” Owens said. “This year was all focused on winning games, and not just one. We just talked about it, we're one game out of the playoffs right now ... for the rest of the year, our motto is 'Why not us?'”
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Owens and the coaching staff have put last season behind them, and that's where it's staying, Owens said. But some returning players use the 2010 season as motivation to succeed this season.
“We still have the 0-10 season from last year in the back of your minds,” senior Leslie Amarte said. “We play a lot of the same teams we lost to this season. So all those games become a revenge game to me.”
Senior Alfred Beatty has noticed a big change in the mental state of the team from last year.
“We don't put our heads down when another team scores a touchdown now,” Beatty said. “We just get ready to go out and put another touchdown on the scoreboard.”
Owens understands how important tonight's game is to the Rockets' chances of reaching their goals.
“[Thursday's] game is huge,” Owens said. “It puts us at 3-3, and lets us take the next step. We get by Wheaton, and we're where we thought we could be at this point in the season. Wheaton is a very deceptive team ... They are a pain to get ready for in one week, especially a short week, but we think we did a good job of being prepared this week, and we think we're ready.”
Thursday's game will also be Legends Night, where members of past RM teams, including the 1981 state championship team, will attend the game and be honored.
“It inspires me a lot,” Beatty said. “Those guys are legends at this school. It's a big thing having them watch us, and we want to show them what we got. It's a big day.”
