Boston Head Coach Sam Hobbs rounded out the preseason with some interesting game planning against Long Beach. How does 54 rushing plays, 9 passing plays sound to you? Sounds good to Boston, who won the game 20-13. And the kicker? Boston did it without star RB William Sheehan, who has been rested all of preseason.
"We intend to focus on the run a lot this year, and so I wanted to use the last preseason game to really put the team into a run-first mentality" said Hobbs. "I'm very happy with the results."
All three running backs got into the action, with FA pickup Johnnie Valenzuela getting 95 yards on 24 carries, veteran Daniel Green getting 89 yards on 19 carries, and rookie Kennedy Irwin picking up 36 yards and a TD on 7 carries. Since it's unlikely all three will find a final place on the roster with star Sheehan and key backup Jason Robinson, it is expected one or two of these three will be playing for other CFL teams this season.
"Frankly, it was all about the O-Line", said Valenzuela. "You look at Jaime [Barnard], and he was out there all day, making blocks [Barnard had 6 key run blocks]".
Reaction from the Front Office was also good. "Though it was a bit unorthodox, this organization has a lot of confidence in Coach Hobbs and the team" said GM flere-imsaho. When asked about what owner Cheetham's squirrel though, GM imsaho said the squirrel had been pleased. Also, a fax received by the Boston Globe purporting to be from Cheetham read "I don't care how they do it as long as they don't go 8-8. Where's that mai tai... no don't write that down...."
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