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Kessinger: Time on Busters side
Published 9/23/2009 in Sports
It was two days before the Garden City Community College football team was to play Fort Scott and Lucas Aslin couldn't help but yawn every once in a while as I interviewed him for the game.
The third-year Broncbusters' head coach quite frankly looked as if he had not gotten much sleep in preparation for the No. 8 Greyhounds. In fact, he even appeared to be a little under the weather. It is of course, certainly not unheard of for those to be symptoms a coach can go through, especially when they're trying to avoid a three-game losing streak.
Yes, I said, a losing streak of more than two games. Obviously, it's not something you will hear very often if it involves the GCCC football program. But the Busters were facing that dilemma and after a 45-35 setback to Fort Scott on Saturday made it a reality -- Garden City is 1-3.
Within a program that has prided itself with exceptional teams through the years, this one has struggled. It's not that the three losses have come in an embarrassing manner. The streak started with a non-conference road loss to Air Force Prep by seven, then extended to being shutout by two-time defending NJCAA national champion Butler 17-0 at Cessna Stadium in Wichita. Saturday's loss was just another tough one to swallow for the Busters. Take away an interception and fumble return for touchdowns and who knows what the outcome might have been. The discouraging part for Aslin, though, is that it is his fourth loss to Fort Scott, meaning he has yet to beat the Greyhounds or Butler.
Granted, the Busters had to face two Top 10 teams in back-to-back weeks, an incredibly hard challenge for any team to have to go up against. At the same time, it is what it is, and like any team the Busters aren't going to use that as much of an excuse. Aslin certainly never has. The fact is, the Busters are in a funk.
No one likes to be in it, but it's the way of life in athletics. One day you're on top, the next day you're not (if I may steal that from Heidi Klum for a second). The Garden City football program oncae was the one on top of the Jayhawk Conference, but the last 10 years haven't been so kind in allowing them to be up there with the bully Butler constantly in that spot. So it's important to point out that this movement down out of even the top two spots in the conference started well before Aslin taking over in 2007.
The fact of the matter is, the GCCC football team is trying to find its identity. There is plenty of time to salvage this season and make it into something special. It's just a matter of the Busters winning now if they are to accomplish that. Hutchinson was the in the same spot a year ago at 1-3, and the Blue Dragons turned it all around and went undefeated before falling to Butler in the conference playoff championship game.
What lies ahead is a schedule of teams predicted to finish below the Busters in the preseason, with Hutchinson being the exception.
It's now for this team to realize that, and when they face Hutchinson on the road Oct. 31, maybe they can turn the table on the Dragons from last year's loss.
Assistant Sports Editor Mike Kessinger can be reached at mkessinger@gctelegram.com
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