{"id":88094,"date":"2023-08-29T13:18:50","date_gmt":"2023-08-29T13:18:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/?p=88094"},"modified":"2023-08-29T13:18:50","modified_gmt":"2023-08-29T13:18:50","slug":"st-new-beginnings-by-mel-thomas-jr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/st-new-beginnings-by-mel-thomas-jr\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cNEW BEGINNINGS\u201d by Mel Thomas Jr."},"content":{"rendered":"

This past weekend I had the privilege of attending a Friday night football game for the first time <\/span>in quite a while. The game did not disappoint. It was the Whitehall Head Coach Andy Marino\u2019s <\/span>first game in a head-to-head match with the William Allen first year head coach Joel Rupp Jr\u2019s <\/span>first game.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To my surprise the atmosphere was absolutely electric in Whitehall. I noticed <\/span>their fans and the student body really provided a lot of energy and presented an exciting start to <\/span>the season.<\/span><\/p>\n

At kick-off it was noticeable also that both of these new high school head coaches seemed <\/span>anxious as they would kick-off their new programs. The game started fast as Allen kicked off to <\/span>Whitehall. The initial play resulted in an offside penalty by Allen. Perhaps it was just the first <\/span>game jitters. Allen had to re-kick the opening play and just like that, Whitehall was able to <\/span>capitalize and scored their first touchdown of the year on their opening kick-off, down the right <\/span>sideline. This would be an indication of how the game would progress for the rest of the night. <\/span>Whitehall had control of the game from the first whistle to the last. Their defense only allowed <\/span>one first down the entire first half, while their offense was able to take advantage of an Allen <\/span>defense that had young players in some key spots.<\/span><\/p>\n

I think it\u2019s important to talk about what happened that night by shining a light on these two<\/span>coaches. I saw a Whitehall football team that seemed disciplined and well coached. I observed a coaching staff that engaged the kids with intensity and passion. I saw a team that had the <\/span>ability to really do good things this season under the leadership of Coach Marino.<\/span><\/p>\n

On the other hand, I observed from William Allen a team that had a tremendous amount of <\/span>fight but lacked the experience of the Friday Night Lights. I observed a coaching staff that <\/span>hustled to keep their athletes engaged and focused. I was proud mostly of Coach Joel Rupp, <\/span>whom I observed coaching and teaching from the first whistle to the last. He was consistent <\/span>despite the 53-0 outcome. There appears to be some growth happening at William Allen.<\/span><\/p>\n

Whitehall High School thank you for an amazing experience last Friday night. Coach Marino <\/span>keep up the good work and keep grinding. Coach Rupp, the sky’s the limit and I am looking forward to your program growing and your athletes having success.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ok folks, this is my first attempt at blogging.\u00a0 I look forward to your feedback. Until next time\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

Football is Life!<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

Check back to the \u201cSportsTalk Shop\u201d throughout the high school fall football season for more commentary and observations from Mel Thomas Jr and feel free to post a comment or greeting below.<\/span><\/p>\n

The views expressed in this blog are<\/span><\/i> those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Astound Broadband or any other agency, organization, employer or company.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This past weekend I had the privilege of attending a Friday night football game for the first time in quite a while. The game did not disappoint. It was the Whitehall Head Coach Andy Marino\u2019s first game in a head-to-head match with the William Allen first year head coach Joel Rupp Jr\u2019s first game.\u00a0 To…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-88094","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports","category-the-sportstalk-shop"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n\u201cNEW BEGINNINGS\u201d by Mel Thomas Jr. - ATVN<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.astound.com\/atvn\/st-new-beginnings-by-mel-thomas-jr\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u201cNEW BEGINNINGS\u201d by Mel Thomas Jr. - ATVN\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This past weekend I had the privilege of attending a Friday night football game for the first time in quite a while. 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