Cavemen focus on downs in 2016

CARLSBAD — The Carlsbad football team accumulated too many unsuccessful third and fourth down conversions in 2015, costing them some winnable games.

Players dropped passes or failed to muster that extra couple yards to convert on downs and keep drives alive.

Convinced this will enable them to sustain drives longer and put pressure on opposing defenses, the Cavemen intend to change that in 2016.

“It’s something we’re working on this year to get better, just converting on fourth down and converting in big moments in the game,” senior quarterback Jonah Leyva said. “We cannot go three-and-out this year, that’s our biggest thing. We had a lot of those last year, and we need to control the ball a lot more.”

Although Carlsbad went 1-9 last year, five of those losses were by eight points or less.

Coach Gary Bradley said the primary problem in 2015 was that his squad often held on to the ball too long and didn’t protect it enough.

Bradley said Carlsbad was right there battling it out toward the end of games, but the Cavemen struggled to protect the ball and things didn’t work out in their favor once it got to third and fourth down.

“We work on third down a lot because it’s a crucial down. You don’t want to put yourself in too many third-and-longs. That’s when the defense pins their ears back and comes after you,” Bradley said. “We just had a tough time competing in tough situations.”

Bradley said seven of Carlsbad’s nine losses in 2015 were close games and boiled down to turning the ball over, particularly on third and fourth down. Bradley’s also convinced if Carlsbad starts rectifying those conversion woes, good things will follow.

“When you convert on a big fourth down, it breeds a lot of confidence on the sideline and out on the field,” Bradley said. “The more conversions you succeed at, you’re probably going to be OK on the scoreboard.”

Leyva said it begins with more productive first and second downs so that Carlsbad won’t get into those third-and-long situations.

“That’s not something we want to be in. You’ve got to get positive yards every single play. If it comes down to third-and-long, you’ve got to be determined to get it,” Leyva said. “We’ll be on the field a lot longer, give our defense some rest. It’ll be easier on us.”

On third and fourth down, Leyva said good blocking and timing will help on pass plays while mixing up different plays to be more effective on run plays. To accomplish both feats, Leyva said the offense must have a better concept of the play and must be more aware of their surroundings on the field.

“We just need to study more film and know what the defense is going to do in certain situations,” Leyva said. “Every play, someone should be somewhere at a certain time.”

Leyva said it’ll also come down to skill players identifying the open gaps sooner so the offensive line won’t have to worry about holding its blocks for too long.

Entering 2016, Leyva said Carlsbad cannot let mistakes like last year’s third and fourth down conversions happen again facing teams in the new district – including Las Cruces, Mayfield and Centennial.

Meanwhile, Bradley said it also helps the players know the system “a heck of a lot better” entering this fall. Bradley said he expects the offense will be more aggressive and confident to convert on downs more effectively.