EQT Regional High School Football Tour - The Rising

Ringgold's Matt Humbert has begun his high school head coaching career in style. The Rams enter Friday night's game against section foe Franklin Regional with a perfect 7-0 record, including a 5-0 Keystone Conference mark.

"In terms of wins and losses, I guess we couldn't have gotten off to a better start this season," Humbert said. "It's been a smooth transition and a credit to the assistant coaches we put in place. We have a nice mix of high energy and experience."

The Franklin Regional Panthers also enter the game with a 5-0 conference record; the Panthers are 6-1 overall. Humbert expects them to be a formidable challenge.

"Franklin Regional is an established, first class program that has won a WPIAL championship. They are well-coached and fundamentally sound," Humbert said. "We'll need to do our homework before-hand and play focused the entire game because they aren't going to beat themselves."

He looks forward to the game as being a showcase in many areas.

"There's a lot on the line this game," Humbert said. "I think it's good for both communities, the conference, and the WPIAL in general to have two quality teams fighting it out with conference title implications."

He also feels the AAA Keystone Conference does not get as much respect as it should.

"There might be a stigma surrounding the Keystone Conference as being a weaker conference but I don't put any stock in that," Humbert said. "In any given game, any given year, any team can beat any team, so I think our conference is extremely competitive."

Last season, Humbert was the Rams' offensive coordinator so he still calls the plays on offense this year. He played quarterback at California University before coaching, which helped him groom this year's junior quarterback Percy "Quad" Law, who was thrown into the starting role at the last minute due to an injury.

"He has great athletic ability and is very shifty and elusive. Even though we're basically a run-oriented offense, he also has the strength to throw the ball when needed," Humbert said of Law. "We had to throw him in there during camp and he really responded well. Since he's only a junior, we'll be lucky to have him back next year."

Senior running back Derrick Fiore is one of the team captains and gives Law several options.

"Derrick has been our workhorse this season. He's a sound athletic weapon at any position," Humbert said. "If he's hot, then we're hot as an offense."

Junior corner Alfon Cook also plays slot receiver and is another valuable target when needed.

"He's a smart kid who's really come into his own this year on the football field and has advanced way above our expectations," Humpbert said. "He understands what we're trying to do. He's not just athletic. He's very savvy and a good football player."

Along with Fiore, the other team captains are fullback/strong side linebacker Demond Goggins, center/defensive end Nick Depalma, and outside linebacker/fullback Neil Rands, who is the team's leading tackler.

Humbert credits the entire team for molding together so well this year.

"We don't have the big figure-head people, but the entire team collectively has made up a good end-product," Humbert said. "Our senior class as a whole unit has led the team."

Although Humbert singled out the Rams linebackers as having excelled this year, he feels the entire defense has played well.

"We think our linebackers are among the best in our conference. Our secondary has been very strong for us too. We're an even-front team and our linemen have been key for us too, so I can't point out one area of our defense that has stood out," Humbert said. "The entire defense has gelled and has really come together as a unit this year. We like to hang our hats on our defense."

In last week's 45-7 win over Derry Area, Humbert credited the Rams' defense for saving the day.

"'Defense wins championships' is a little bit of a cliché' but its true a lot of the time," Humberts said. "Last week we weren't moving the ball and just weren't clicking on all cylinders with our offense but our defense played sound enough to keep us in good position until we were able to make some adjustments."

The Rams' defense has averaged giving up only 11 points per game this season including only a single touchdown in each of the last four games. Humbert credits defensive coordinator Don Burns' experience as being invaluable to the team.

"He coached in college and is very experienced," Humbert said. "When we decided to get him to come here, we were very happy."

Burns' defense also fits Humbert's overall style of coaching, which is to take one week at a time, one game at a time, and not over-complicate the game.

"We focus on playing our brand of football every week and we worry about ourselves," Humbert said. "We take what is given to us and try to be fundamentally-oriented and with our offensive and defensive packages."

The Rams' season goals are just as basic which are to improve each day and never look too far ahead.

"From day one, we never said we're going to win this many games or achieve all these goals, but obviously, we want to make the playoffs. Every team has that goal no matter what they say," Humbert said. "What I preach constantly and the attitude we take is to focus on one game at a time, one day at a time, so we have one goal in front of us which is the next game."

Ringgold finishes the regular season next week at Uniontown. Humbert wants to lead the Rams to a successful season for the players and the community at large.

"I know the people in our community are excited that Ringgold is doing well this year because I hear feedback about it," Humbert said. "It's also good for the kids that are part of our program because they've been through some adversity and coaching turnover in the past and bought into our system by responding very well."