Defense was the name of the game on Friday night at the Fremont Firebirds’ first home game of their 2018 campaign.
Unfortunately for the Sunnyvale Firebirds, they did not play enough defense required to beat the Leland Chargers of San Jose. Missed tackles by the defense and huge offensive plays by Leland doomed the Firebirds all night, leading to a productive night for the Chargers to the tune of 46 points compared to Fremont’s seven points.
Fremont Coach Adam Herald was disappointed in his team’s performance on the defensive side of the ball.
“I mean plain and simple. We weren’t tackling. A lot of missed tackles in the backfield, outside, you name it,” Coach Herald said.
Chargers quarterback, Carson Yates dissected the Firebirds defense for three touchdowns, completing 10-of-13 passes for 225 yards. He also carried the ball three times for 76 yards.
It is an issue that needs to be figured out, according to Coach Herald.
“Again, it was the missed tackles,” he said.
One of the bright spots for the Firebirds was quarterback Bryand Arcia. Arcia threw the Firebirds’ lone touchdown of the game after speeding through the Leland defense down to the two-yard line the play before. The junior quarterback gained many yards on several plays by keeping the football and weaving his way through the Leland defense.
Another bright spot for Fremont was the interception by senior middle linebacker Elijah Echevarria on Leland quarterback Yates’s intended pass with 3:16 left in the first quarter.
Coach Herald sees room for improvement for the defense in a variety of aspects for their next game.
“We got to make sure we’re watching film, doing the mental part and understand a lot better who we’re playing against,” said Coach Herald.
It was a difficult pill to swallow for the Firebirds in their home opener, but there are plenty of games left in the season to right the ship and make it a successful 2018 campaign.
The Firebirds play at San Jose High School next Friday in another non-conference tilt.