Once again this football season, pngfootball.com will interview an assistant coach off the PN-G staff. The assistant coach works very hard week in and week out to prepare the Indians to play on Friday nights. Their hard work and intense preparation are important to PN-G's success. Many times they are the ones who develop close relationships with their football pupils, and their coaching duties put them on the front lines in game preparation.

October 29, 2000

This week's featured assistant coach:

     Ken Cummings, Defensive Coordinator

Coach Cummings' Background

     We've had a pretty good year defensively. We had one week vs. TJ when we didn't play well. We've played pretty well for seven weeks. We're real pleased with the effort. We have a bunch of kids on defense who played 16 games last year.

On  the Lincoln Game

     We kind of re-grouped. We challenged our kids to take it back to the level they're accustomed to playing. They even took it up a notch. Lincoln is scary every time they touch the ball. Their kids can flay. We played real physical and ran to the ball exceptionally well. We kept them from making big plays, plus got some turnovers.

     In the second half our offense helped us by controlling the ball. It really helped our defense. We moved the ball and took time off the clock, and scored some points too.

On LC-M

     They give you a lot of problems. They're an option team with good kids and are extremely well coached. They do a great job teaching technique and are disciplined. They have 2-3 skill kids that can run. They get in tons of formations, so we have lots of things to work on.

     We've been in the playoff each week we've been out. One more loss, and our post season chances are over. I know our kids will rise to the challenge. If we play like we did the second half vs. Lincoln, I know we'll be fine. We don't need anyone to help us make the playoffs. That's where we want to be.

On the Defensive Backs

     Our free safety is Troy Cooley. He's done a great job this year. He had some big shoes to fill, Chris Gohlke, and three year starter. He's done that. He can run. He's one of the 2-3 fastest on the team. Against Lincoln, he made 2-3 great plays on passes. He also made 2-3 big hits. He's a real consistent player.

     Cornerback Keegan Swann has done a great job. He's very athletic. He has good size. He has 4-5 interceptions, two the other night against Lincoln. He also had two big returns. One interception he caught in the end zone, and ran it out to the 50. On another one, he intercepted on the goalline and ran it out 20-30 yards.