At any level of football, a successful extra point or field goal doesn’t just take a good kick through the uprights.
There’s a process, of course.
Snap. Catch. Hold. Then kick.
And if you’d currently ask two of Butler County’s best, they’d tell you that putting together a successful high school football program doesn’t just start with X’s and O’s.
Well, it first starts with a winning attitude.
“There’s no doubt that we’re happy with the way things have been going for us,” Fairfield coach Jason Krause said. “We felt like this was going to be a good team. It’s been a fun ride so far, and we’re really enjoying it.
“I’m sure the same can be said over there at New Miami,” Krause added. “It’s been kind of cool to see. I bet it’s been cool for (New Miami coach) Jessie Hubbard and his team to be enjoying the same type of success at this point.”
Both Krause and Hubbard will notate that playing high school football had its impacts. You would have been able to see that on the gridiron at Edgewood in the late 1980s.
“The extra point and field goal team couldn’t have been any better if you ask me,” Hubbard said.
Krause, a 1990 Edgewood graduate, started things off as the snapper. Hubbard, who graduated from Edgewood in 1989, was the holder.
“I was the short snapper, and he was the holder on PATs and field goals,” Hubbard said.
“Yeah, I think we did that for three years,” Krause chipped in. “I snapped to Jessie. It was a good combination.”
That coaching combination this season has produced two of Butler County’s best high school football programs.
Fairfield (9-1), which finished ranked 7th in the final Division I state poll, hosts Hamilton in a first round contest at Fairfield Alumni Stadium tonight.
No. 5 ranked New Miami (10-0) plays host to New Bremen in the Vikings’ first-ever Division VII playoff home game in The Village on Saturday.
“I’ve seen what Jessie and them have been doing over there at New Miami,” said Krause, whose father Doug was an iconic coach for the Vikings back in the 70s and 80s. “My dad’s whole side of the family graduated from New Miami. My uncle Mike does the PA during games. So there’s a lot of intertwining there with just keeping an eye on what they’re doing.
“They’re bringing life back to The Village,” Krause added.
“For what he’s done over there,” Hubbard said of Krause and the Indians, “he’s built an empire. It’s pretty incredible.”
Hubbard said his Vikings have been playing well in 2019. There’s no question.
But there’s one instance before a practice in Week 6 that has since been labeled as a defining moment for the Vikings, Hubbard explained.
“Doug, Jason’s dad, came over and talked to our boys unannounced before a practice,” Hubbard said. “It was really cool. The kids knew who he was and were simply star-struck. You could have heard a pin drop.
“I told the boys, ‘You just had greatness in front of you,'” Hubbard added. “They practiced with a little different pep in their step after that, that’s for sure. They didn’t want to let Doug down because Doug hung around for a little bit and watched them practice.
“Doug just knew what the New Miami thing is all about,” Hubbard continued. “He was very motivational and he was very challenging to the kids. From that point on, it was time to start playing New Miami football.
“Doug looked at me after his talk with our boys and said, ‘I don’t know about you, but right now I think I’m undefeated at Fairfield and New Miami.”
Doug roams the Fairfield sidelines with his son on Friday nights.
“That’s pretty cool,” Jason Krause said. “I didn’t know dad did that. Dad knows how to do it. He’s always been supportive — anywhere he goes. He always makes an impact.
“Dad is enjoying this football season from all sides, there’s no question,” Jason Krause added. “It’s been pretty special for Fairfield and New Miami, no doubt about that.”
