CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — A team is driving downfield. Victory is in sight. All that’s needed is a short burst over the goal line.
But as the star running back nears the end zone, a defender’s arm reaches out, and floop! Onto the ground the ball bounces, into a defender’s hands. Drive over. Perhaps game over.
Few things in high school football can make a coach pull his hair out more than turnovers.
"It’s on everybody’s mind, as it should be," said coach Tim Pujol of nine-time DODDS-Japan Football League champion Yokota. "They can be big momentum-swingers. They can determine the outcome of a game."
His Panthers (4-1) lost the ball four times inside the opponents’ 20-yard line in their past two games, an 18-14 loss at Kubasaki and a 24-14 home victory over American School In Japan.
"We’ve grown accustomed to coming away with points in that situation," Pujol said. "You work that hard and come away with nothing. It’s a real boost for the opponent and a real letdown for our offense."
Five-time DODDS-Korea Football League and 2006 Class AA champion Seoul American has three victories in three games. But the third one very nearly didn’t happen — the Falcons gave up the ball six times in a 16-14 comeback victory Saturday at Daegu American.
Youth and inexperience are largely to blame, coach Julian Harden said. "With developing players, you’re going to see that. Once they become more experienced, you won’t see that," he said.
Kubasaki (1-2) had two turnovers in that four-point comeback victory over Yokota. But in their two losses to Okinawa Activities Council rival Kadena, the 2005 Class AA champion Dragons have suffered 11 turnovers.
"You coach for ball security," Kubasaki coach Fred Bales said. "We coach for it, we emphasize (it). … We’re not a good ball security team, but we’re working on it."
Protecting the ball is taking on more of a sense of urgency for each program as the Nov. 1 Class AA semifinals approach. Yokota will likely host Seoul American in one semifinal; Kubasaki needs to beat Kadena three times — Friday, Oct. 10 and Oct. 24 — to host the other vs. Guam High.
So how do you put the turnovers behind?
Pujol calls it a "practice-performance" thing. Learning to cover the ball when a defender has a ball carrier wrapped up. His team has put in team penalties this week for turnovers in practice. "Just saying hold on to the ball and don’t fumble, that’s not enough," Pujol said.
Coaches must resist the temptation to make wholesale changes, even if key players are committing the lion’s share of gaffes, Bales said.
"You don’t panic. You don’t throw away everything and start over," he said. "I’ve never had a kid make a mistake on purpose."
That takes longer with a young team, Harden said. They might work on tackling better for one game, reducing penalties for the next, then mental toughness the one after.
"We have to go through those growing pains. It’s easier said than done," he said.