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Buffs enter crucial stretch
Published 10/13/2007 in Sports : GCCC By Tony Adame
Lucas Aslin isn't taking any chances.
At 5-1 and riding a four-game winning streak, he's been here before and it's just not going to happen.
Not when last year, as Garden City Community College's defensive coordinator, he watched as the Broncbusters lost three of their last four games, culminating in a 42-7 drubbing at the hands of Butler Community College in the Region VI playoffs.
So, throw caution to the wind, Aslin isn't playing around in his first year as head coach on the No. 17 team in the nation.
And, with his team's first overnight trip of the season this weekend -- a match up with Air Force Prep (3-3) in Colorado Springs today -- he's a little nervous.
"Shoot, I'm a nervous wreck," Aslin said. "But, I think our players get it. They understand where they're at and what they have the shot to do."
Last season, Garden City defeated Air Force Prep 26-9 before the disastrous end of the season run.
This season, Aslin has the Busters locked in on the final stretch starting with today's game, going so far as to practice at 10 a.m. on Thursday in order to acclimate his team to putting the pads on and hitting early in the day.
Makes sense, considering today's 1 p.m. (12 p.m. MST) kickoff.
The Broncbusters also saw the crack of dawn Friday, traveling to Colorado Springs with a stop in Fountain, Colo., for an afternoon practice before heading to their hotel. Then it's another early wake-up call Saturday before kickoff.
"I just want them used to running around and hitting early in the day," Aslin said. "We want to prepare for the situations we're going to be playing in."
Garden City can count a former Falcon among its key defensive players this season in outside linebacker Dustin Caine.
Caine played for Air Force Prep in 2006 and is fourth on the Busters in tackles this season with 45, and leads the team with six tackles for loss.
"I just felt more comfortable with the coaches at Garden City," Caine said this summer. "It was a better fit for me."
Preparing for a time is one thing, trying to scout the Falcons has been another.
Air Force Academy does not have a web site, nor does it's prep school.
That means no rosters, no two-deeps, and, in some cases, no names. Fortunately, all six of the Falcons games have been against Jayhawk Conference opponents.
Air Force Prep beat Hutchinson in its season opener, and also topped Highland.
A loss to Independence in the second week of the year turned into a win after the Pirates were forced to forfeit several early-season wins because of using an ineligible player.
"They've got some good players, and one thing you know for sure is they're going to play hard the whole game," Aslin said. "It's been difficult to scout them, but we're preparing for a tough-fought game."
One thing the Busters can count on is that, lately, Air Force has been giving up a ton of yards on the ground.
And, Garden City is the fourth straight ranked opponent the Falcons will face after losses to Coffeyville, Butler and Fort Scott. In those three losses, Air Force is giving up an average of 268 yards rushing.
Last week, Garden City ran for 174 yards in a 34-13 win over Independence, but 80 of that came on a fake punt run for a touchdown by Cameron Kenney on the Busters' first series.
Kenney was a bright spot for the Busters in the win over the Pirates, racking up almost 200 yards of total offense while scoring 25 of his team's points with two touchdowns, two field goals and all of the extra point conversions, including a two-point run.
"I didn't think we played great against Independence, and some parts of the game were just downright terrible," Aslin said. "But we've addressed that this week and I think we're back on track."
Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.CST and the game can be heard on 1240 & 1310 AM and 94.5 FM.
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