Q&A With Coach Goshe

Looking Back - Playoff Game Against Tinley Park

Patch.com: When Devon Osburn and Vince Smith went down in the first half against Tinley Park that really seemed to negatively affect the offense. This had to make it difficult with your second and third options limited.

Coach Goshe: Well, our second option (after Joey Valdivia) is Ray Beckman. He needs weapons. We can only formation Joey so many ways and throw him the ball before the defenses take that away. With Jimmy Molitor being out, we had to go to Devon and Vince, and when they went down, we had to go to Jon Gurchak.

It’s our defensive philosophy to make the other team beat us left-handed. Sometimes it’s through what they’re doing; sometimes it’s through injury, but … sometimes you have to do what you can and beat them left-handed. That’s a hard way to win, and that’s where we found ourselves against Tinley Park. We just came up short. The kids went out there and came out with their boots on. We tell the kids we’re proud of them and try to move on.

Patch.com: All three of your losses this season were away games.

Coach Goshe: They were and we had to travel at least an hour away and that’s nothing to be ashamed of. We were undefeated at home this year. They won homecoming, they beat North and they won a conference title. There’s a lot of schools that would have loved to be in our position with a chance to win on the road.

Patch.com: Joey did a great job especially in the second half.

Coach Goshe: They controlled the first half.

Patch.com: Their offensive line was massive.

Coach Goshe: Yes, but not as big as we’ve seen — not like Crystal Lake South. They controlled the ball in terms of converting their third and longs. They threw the ball up to their guys on the ends and made big plays in tough spots.

Patch.com: Their receivers could really go up and get the ball.

Coach Goshe: Yeah, No. 18 is their all-conference stud and No. 1 is not far behind. You just have to tip your hats to them for making the plays. We felt that if we could get their offense to that point of throwing the ball up, we would be OK. They progressed like we wanted them to do with options A, B, C, D and E, and E worked for them. Our guys got fatigued fighting from behind, and at the end we couldn’t stop them.

Patch.com: It seemed that their offensive line did a great job sealing things off for their running back to pop outside and use his speed.

Coach Goshe: Their system is really good because it put our kids in a tough spot because they have to read it. They’re 8-2 and there’s a reason they are successful.

Patch.com: We only had one turnover (an interception late in the fourth quarter), so mistakes were kept to a bare minimum.

Coach Goshe: We only had eight turnovers the whole season. Seven interceptions and one fumble in 10 games. That’s pretty impressive when you know that some teams get four, five in a game.

Patch.com: It was quite an impressive season for the Rams.

Coach Goshe: It’s a great place to teach and coach. It’s a great place for these kids to be with all of the community support and parent support they get. When you look at the last three years where this program has made the turn, we’ve had 13 losses and every one of those has been to a playoff team. I’m sure that the vast majority of those have been on the road. Now we’re beating some of those teams. We beat Grant and Crystal Lake Central. Look at where Grant is now and how they’re doing.

Patch.com: What was the plan behind the first-half kickoffs by us? The opening kickoff looked like an onside kick attempt.

Coach Goshe: We just didn’t want to kick to their deep kids. They have "housed" (scored) three or four games on their return game that we knew of. Their kids were just too dangerous and we didn’t want them to field the ball. So the plan was to kick the ball to their front two levels and get the ball to around the 35-yard line. We kept pooching the ball out of bounds so it was a matter of us not executing and that hurt us. But it also pulled them in, and in the second half, we were able to kick it over their heads and Jon nailed a couple of touchbacks.

Patch.com: You really came back in the third quarter to take the lead 22-21.

Coach Goshe: Once we were able to pin them deep, it helped shift the momentum for us. They had to march 80 yards. We’ve always said that is very difficult for most high school teams to do without turning the ball over or having to punt. Every coach that we had talked to said, ‘Do not kick off to them. Do not punt to them.’ So were even angling our punts. Their guy had even housed punts.

Patch.com: Jon Gurchak struggled with extra points in the first half. Was that a holding issue or a kicking issue?

Coach Goshe: One of them was a new holder and the other wasn’t. Jon just wasn’t sharp. Once he kicked his field goal, he settled in nicely. We needed Jon as a wide receiver with the injuries and he had to take some of the focus off of his kicking game. It’s very difficult for a kid to make that mental adjustment.

Looking Ahead

Patch.com: What’s next for the coaching staff now that the season is ended?

Coach Goshe: We have to finish off with the kids and bring closure to the season. We will set expectations for the underclassmen for next year.

I have to do my end-of-season evaluation with the athletic director, Tom Kim, and talk about what we have to do to move to the next level.

Patch.com: In the offseason what do you have planned?

Coach Goshe: Lifting and playing other sports. That’s what we want our kids to do. Coach Cat moves on to wrestling. Coach Pitt and I will run some of the offseason stuff for any of the kids (not just football players) who want to work out and get better. Then Coach Pitt does track in the spring. We have a lot of coaches that have taken off time from work to help out and now must give that time back to their jobs.

Patch.com: I imagine your family is anxious to have you back home more often.

Coach Goshe: It is very time-consuming to coach football that requires it to develop the expertise. My 3-year-old daughter Lillian has been very clingy and I also have a 3-month-old son Tate. My wife is very understanding. She is an Ohio girl, so she knew what she married, but now it’s time to go back and be a dad.

Patch.com: Who’s going to compete for quarterback now that Ray Beckman is graduating?

Coach Goshe: Every year we lose great players. That’s high school football. It’s going to be wide open. Last year we lost nine starters on defense. We lost Vinnie Culhane at running back and C.J. Stempeck at tight end who is starting this year at Colgate. Our sophomores were 5-4 with some close losses. As freshmen, they were 1-8. They are going to step in and play.

Patch.com: Which seniors-to-be do you expect to step up next season and play big for you?

Coach Goshe: Teddy McGraw and Connor Daly and Vince Smith are the kind of kids to build around. They have to come through with us this year. Cam Hosimer played both ways for us this year. Just like we built around Jake Paust, Kristian Meehan, Joey Valdiva, Ray Beckman and Jimmy Molitor, we have to do the same thing with Cam Hosimer. Last year we had Kevin Hein and Cam Neely at safety and in came Dylan Hay and Stephen Burgess. We lost Will Reed and B.J. Jennings at corners to graduation and in comes B.J.’s little brother Davonte and Nathan Malinski and Devon Osburn.

Patch.com: What will you focus on to improve next year?

Coach Goshe: We lost three games on the road with over an hour drive to the fields. That is something that we have to address and figure out how to get the kids ready to play in that situation and come home with the "W."