Building a culture at Jefferson starts with effort

CEDAR RAPIDS - Every high school football program in the country wants to build a culture of winning.

That's obvious. Why compete at all if that's not the case, right?

The Cedar Rapids Jefferson football team hasn't had that culture in a while, and more recently it's come down to belief. Too often the players haven't believed it was possible to win.

But this year - at least so far - that's changing. Even after a rivalry loss to Cedar Rapids Washington, the belief is there, and it's starting to show.

'I think this is the first summer where we had a big group of kids in, working hard, every day trying to get better as a team,” said senior lineman Kelly May. 'I've been on varsity since my sophomore year, and in practice, the excitement levels - it's as if people want to be here. That's when we start to get better, when people want to be here and want to do the things it takes to get better.”

It makes sense for kids to lack motivation when they feel defeated before they strap on pads.

For several reasons, that feeling is being stamped out - dedicated senior leaders, a quarterback 'as talented as I've ever coached,” in Jesse Furrow, said Coach Brian Webb and a shift in schedule that gives them opportunities outside the meat grinder that is the Mississippi Valley Conference.

The coaches and players have had a few days to digest the 43-26 loss to the Warriors, a game in which the J-Hawks competed well. The growing pains of the culture change showed up, with dropped passes and a running game that couldn't quite get rolling. But what Webb saw in the days following the game was different from in the past.

Heads weren't down, rather up and focused on Cedar Rapids Prairie, which comes to Kingston Stadium on Friday night. The commitment to the team has stayed steadfast, where it might not have in the past.

'We just kept coming after (Washington) and coming after them. Our kids never quit,” Webb said. 'I think this is the first time, talking to Coach (Fred) Northern, that we haven't had a varsity player quit (to this point), and he's been here 15-20 years. We haven't had a single varsity player quit, haven't had a single varsity player ineligible. Those are the strides you have to make off the field, the commitment level to be successful. Bottom line is, we need to translate that into wins, but I think we're headed in the right direction.”

The team was encouraged by its performance against the Warriors, but definitely not satisfied.

A second straight game with great meaning historically and emotionally has obviously aided that focus and commitment to preparing for the Hawks. When asked about the game Friday, May shot a look of intense determination.

'I've been wanting this for four years,” May said. When asked why, he said, 'I haven't beaten them in four years, jeeze. It's Prairie, no one wants to lose to them.”

To do so, Webb said it'll take 'being able to control” Prairie quarterback Trey Beckman on the defensive side, and getting the offense running smoother, the run game especially. The J-Hawks had 136 yards on the ground as a team against Washington, 50 of which came in one run from Many Olutunde.

The passing game, too, had its ups and downs, with quarterback Jesse Furrow finishing 9 of 23 for 187 yards, one interception and no touchdowns. A dropped pass on a 50-yard bomb to Mason Furnish could've made those numbers look a little better, but the execution overall, physical toughness and effort needs to improve, Webb said.

'Winning is No. 1, obviously, but I just want to see progress,” Webb said. 'The one thing I've told them all week is, ‘The good Lord has given each one of you different abilities he gave you both athletically and academically and just in your life. Some of you He gave incredible athletic ability, some maybe he didn't. The one thing he gave all of us was the ability to control our own effort. And nobody - your parents, your grandparents, your aunts and uncles, your coaches, your teachers - nobody can control that. Nobody can take that away from you. So, regardless of your skill level, that's something you always can control in every facet of your life.' And we've just tried to get that to bleed over to our philosophies. Effort in everything you do.”

It seems simple, but it's not. Not when you're told by classmates or rivals from across town your team never wins and won't ever win. After a certain amount of time being told something, you start to believe it.

So when coaches say they're trying to build a culture of winning in a place that hasn't seen it in a while, that's the battle. It's one Webb and his coaching staff are trying their hardest to fight.

If that means a win Friday against the Hawks, great. But if not, as long as what they've seen to this point this year continues, they'll know something is sinking in.

'I've been feeling it since the summer. I've been feeling it for a while now,” May said. 'Whereas maybe in past years people were getting up in the morning and dragging themselves to practice, this year people have a little jump in their step on the way down the hill. You can feel it. Just the energy and overall mind-set of the people down here, it's as if we know we can do something. Not, ‘Oh, we're Jeff,' and can't do it.”

l Comments: (319) 368-8884; jeremiah.davis@thegazette.com