Josh Roberts knows the power of first impressions.
His first game in his first head coaching position was set in motion earlier this year when he was the first to interview for the Signal Mountain high school football job.
Friday night, Roberts made a strong, if not successful debut.
"We've got to learn how to win," Roberts said after his team was on the wrong side of a 36-31 decision against East Hamilton.
"That's a good team we played, and we played with them to the end."
The visiting Hurricanes landed the opener's first blow and the knockout punch with the same play. Quarterback Jared Price found Will Harris down the middle of the field for touchdowns of 69 and 81 yards. The former was the first score of the game; the latter was the decisive one.
In between, Signal moved the ball and delivered big plays - both positively and negatively - that showed the promise of Roberts' rebuilding process as well as the lengths still left to cover.
Signal built a 28-19 halftime lead despite four first-half turnovers from the young, energetic and opportunistic East Hamilton defense.
The Eagles - 50-plus-strong on a revamped roster - generated more than 400 yards of offense and scored on plays of 40, 51 and 58 yards. The last two of those came from junior receiver Drew Lowry, who had more than 200 total yards on just 13 touches, including kick returns.
Signal's offense centered on a spread set that challenged the perimeters. It allowed Lowry to score on a jet sweep and a long pass from quarterback Tom Vatter. It also allowed Collin Farr to exploited the edge on an 18-yard sweep and Vetter to find Travion Williams for a 40-yard score on a fourth-and-10.
Vatter finished with 247 passing yards and the two scores.
But as explosive as Signal looked at times, an aggressive Hurricanes defense forced some implosions, too. Signal lost two fumbles and threw two picks, and two of those turnovers came inside the Signal 20. A mishandled snap on a Signal punt set up a Price-to-Sam Randolph touchdown pass.
Price finished with 221 passing yards on 11 completions and three touchdowns to lead the Hurricanes offense. The East Hamilton defense that returned only two starters was led by linebacker Adam Caudle, who had two sacks and corralled Sam Gault in the end zone in the final half-minute to seal the win.
"That's what we're looking for," coach Ted Gatewood said of his sophomore linebacker. "We talked to them about responding in the second half, and they fought through the tough spots."
For Roberts and Signal, the positives and negatives were clear. The offense featured the big plays and had 10 offensive players touch the ball.
On the other side there were the turnovers as well as the three fumbles that were not lost and the 10 penalties, many of them presnap violations.
"It's about the process," Roberts said. "You have the good and the bad, but the most important thing is how you respond.
"That's what we have to keep working on every day."
But the "process" Roberts talked to his team about after the game
"I told him that it's obvious how much they have done and how far they have come," Gatewood said after the game. "You can see it."
Contact Jay Greeson at sports@timesfreepress.com