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Friday, Sep. 18, 2009

James Burns: Chowchilla's John Henson hungry for titles, chicken

John Henson sat down at his kitchen table, torn between two loves.

Me and a home-cooked meal

In one hand was a fork, waiting to stab into a slab of meat growing colder by the moment.

In the other, a phone, the reason for the rumble in his belly.

The Burn List won't shy away from any interview, even if it means standing in between a bear of a man and his meal.

And if you're reading this now, it means the TBL has lived to talk about his Q&A with Chowchilla football's leading man.

Here's what Henson said, licking his chops.

TBL: Speaking of food, say you've had a rough practice or lost a close game, what's your comfort food?

JH: Oh, boy. If I'm coming home from a tough practice, I know just what I'd want. My wife has a wonderful fried chicken-mashed potato dinner with gravy. She makes it from scratch.

Pair it with vegetables from our garden at home and that's a hard meal to beat right there, brother.

My wife is a good cook. My size is a testament to that. If you couldn't tell, I'm not a light person.

TBL: You've got an even heavier handshake. What's with the iron grip?

JH: That cracks me up. I gave (Sun-Star reporter Shawn Jansen) a bunch of junk about this earlier in the week. I'm pretty ticked off no one showed up to work our game and I didn't get to crush anyone's hand.

It's important to portray to the other person that I mean business. That's not an intimidation thing. More like a "happy to see you." It's a sign of a good man when you can put a firm grip behind a deal.

I'm looking forward to seeing you guys, so I can put a little extra elbow grease behind it.

TBL: Congrats on last week's victory, but was it more a representation of your football team or Coalinga's?

JH: I know (Coalinga coach Mack Earls) pretty well. We talked and discussed some things. They made some changes on both sides of the ball, and I'm not entirely sure they had everything set. I think they were still working out the bugs.

On the other hand, we played a really clean game defensively. Three interceptions, two or three sacks, good pursuit and swarming to the ball.

So I think it was a combination. We made some plays and Coalinga had some things to work out.

TBL: Four section final appearances in five season. Two Valley championships. How do you continue to reinvent a winner?

JH: The way we approach that is week by week. Le Grand is the No. 1 threat to us winning the Valley again. Our focus is them right now.

Second to that, the expectation is no letdown. No drop-offs from one year to the next, from the first defense to the second, the first offense to the second offense. It doesn't matter. No drop-offs.

It's easier for the kids to buy into it when you've had success in the past. It's easier to stand in front of the players and say we've won Valley or we've been there. As a coach, I'm fortunate to be able to pull that statement out and use it in practice. Not many coaches can say they've been to four of five Valley championship games and won two. Without that kind of credibility, it would be a much harder sell.

TBL: You've become a powerhouse in this pocket of the Valley, and I know your goals are always to win league and section. Ever talk much about a CIF State Bowl game or a state championship?

JH: As long as I'm here, we'll continue to strive to be the best in everything we do. But a state championship is out of our hands, if that makes any sense. I believe the high school state championship is very similar to the NCAA Bowl Championship Series. It's all politics. I don't have a lot of input into it.

I'll schedule the games that I think are good, and we'll let things fall where they may. I'm not a big fan of the state bowl game, because it politicizes the sport for high school kids.

So I guess the best way to summarize this is that a state championship would be great, but we don't have a whole lot of control over that.

James Burns is sports editor of the Sun-Star. He can be reached at jburns@mercedsun-star.com.