It feels great. The kids made some big plays at the end.

I'm happy with the kids' effort. We played with emotion and purpose. We want to win, but we can live with this. I feel this is the first time (this season) we've taken a step forward. We walk away disappointed with the loss, but we're not distraught. We'll have plenty of opportunities the rest of the way to keep getting better.

Defensively, we played with a purpose in the first half. Our kids took advantage of what Eminence gave us in the first half. Our seniors were focused on this game and getting the Powder Keg back.

The kids came out and were ready to play. That's one thing you can say. The kids made plays tonight.

They are very athletic kids who make it pretty easy to coach. But I didn't have any big kids for over 15 years, so I was overdue.

Every back in the NFL feels he can be an every-down back,