High School Football thread 2015/2016

[cartman]

We've got the thread detailing the seedier side of high school football, let's have one to focus on the better side.

Here's an article about the recent improvements for the field at my alma mater. I've mentioned it before, but my old high school was founded in 1961, but didn't play a home game until my sophomore year. We have had some alumni become filthy rich, and they have donated quite a bit of money over the past few years. I'll get to check out the new improvements next month for (what must be a mistake, I'm not THAT old) our 25th reunion.

Nolan Catholic completes football vision at last | The Star-Telegram

[JonInMiddleGA]

For us, the season thus far has been a tale of redemption, especially for our seniors.

As freshman they were part of an 11-1 season that was followed by a disappointing 6-4 campaign, missing the playoffs for the first time since 1997. Last year was, well, somewhere between a clusterf*** and a disaster. HC fired after 23 years (194-72-1) not because of anything football but rather because he ran afoul of particularly powerful parent of a non-player. (Same prick also got the AD reassigned because his precious snowflake daughter didn't much like him either apparently). This happened just a couple of weeks before the season began, leaving an distinctly unwilling (and as it turned out, incapable) long-time assistant to spend a year in interim purgatory. 0-3 vs rivals, two losses to abysmal programs and a 4-5 record for the year.

And then we hire a rising star, OC from last year's Class 6A runner-up. My kid describes him as "quite likely the single best person on the campus", truly everything you'd look for in a new hire. And the kids bought in, a grueling off-season of conditioning AND learning an entirely new system.

At the moment we sit 4-0, two of those rivalry losses already avenged, including the one described in the article below. Since the link doesn't show headline I'll paste it here, along with the lead.

Athens Academy earns validating victory over perennial power Commerce

Coaches, players, cheerleaders and parents wouldn’t leave the field some 30 minutes after the buzzer sounded.

Athens Academy supporters snapped pictures and talked proudly on Friday night, soaking up the Spartans fourth straight victory to start Josh Alexander’s coaching career.

Buses slowly moving back to Commerce pulled up the hill in the distance, carrying a talented group that last season reached the Class A Public state semifinals.

http://onlineathens.com/mobile/2015-...power-commerce

As the choked up mom of our QB (and my son's best friend) said as the clock ticked down "This means they did it. They brought us back ... and nobody will ever take that away from them"

I couldn't answer, because I knew she was right, and it was dusty in those bleachers. Just speechlessly proud of those guys, I know what hell they endured last year & I know the effort they poured into making sure it didn't happen again.

We're a senior led bunch but with freshmen & sophomores contributing heavily every single week. Through four games, 3 different leading rushers, 4 different leading receivers, 3 different leading tacklers.

And having my son's senior buddies sort of ... invent the opportunity for my son to take over as statistician so he could spend their last year together on the sidelines with them, yeah that makes it all the more special to me.

The job isn't done by any means. An off week, then a perennial bottom-feeder and then that third arch-rival that we owe (currently ranked #2 in the state in our classification) awaits, with a region title and a guaranteed playoff spot almost certainly on the line.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Should roll over an outmanned opponent tonight (we're 13-0 lifetime against Towns Co, with 7 shutouts ... they haven't scored a point in two weeks) but we'll do so in some awfully wet field conditions. With a huge game coming up next week, the field scares me more than the opponent tonight.

[JonInMiddleGA]

#1 ranked Prince Avenue (6-0) hosting Athens Academy (5-0). A short trip across town with a region title and playoff seeding hanging in the balance. It's the Backyard Brawl. And it's time to get hyped. ‪#‎GoSpartans‬

[JonInMiddleGA]

A 45-14 blowout loss that was -- odd as it sounds -- much closer than that for most of the night. We fumbled the opening kickoff, held them to a field goal from our 7. Trailed 10-0 at the half as their star RB broke loose for a 75 yarder, with the stretchiest jersey I've ever seen. Funny looking play, he had a DB attached his shirtail but he was on the ground a full five yards behind him.

It kinda went downhill from there in the second half, the officials ramped up their efforts to call as bad a game as humanly possible. Seriously, the worst crew I've seen in years. I've seen at least part of that crew before, one bastard in particular, the one who casually joked -- out loud -- to a crew mate that "we're getting paid by the flag tonight don't forget".

My favorite was probably the illegal block in the back on the kicking team (us) (shades of this replacement ref in the NFL a few years ago). When they marched it off against us our coach asked who the flag was on. They repeatedly insisted #17.

We don't HAVE a #17 ... but our opponent does, and he was blocking on the return. #smdh


edit to add: We were -4 turnover on the night, they would have beaten us quite likely 27-14, give or take without the inept officiating. That those bastards are allowed to work anywhere is an utter mystery.

edit to also add: Ouch, just made a discovery that I didn't realize. The 45 points allowed this week is the most an Athens Academy team has given up since October 5, 1990, a 51-27 loss to Dacula (Dacula is now a 6A school, 25 years ago they were a Class A final four team).

[JonInMiddleGA]

Another fun moment from the sidelines tonight was an unsportsmanlike call against one of our guys that was called on the far (opposite ) sideline.

Our guy was surrounded by 6 players, three bench players shoving him after he crashed into their sideline on a routine play, three of their on-field players shoving him back into their sideline. Flag flies against our guy when he basically puts his head down & pushes his way through the trio to try to get back on the field. Our coach points out that "pushing your way out of six guys shoving you isn't unsportsmanlike conduct, it's responding to bullying"

[JonInMiddleGA]

We go to 6-1 win a 41-10 homecoming victory over Lakeview Academy.
It wasn't all that pretty despite outgaining them 525-98, the team combined for 24 penalties for 198 yards (12 apiece, 128 yds on us), 3 turnovers each. A 20-0 lead midway thru q2 was only 20-10 at halftime after two turnovers set them up nicely. Still in all we came away healthy afaik and played fine aside from that second quarter malaise -- big lead, homecoming night, shit happens.

All the usual homecoming festivities including the crowning of a Queen ... a young lady who just happens to be my son's date for the dance tomorrow night

[rjolley]

Nice to hear Athens Academy is still doing well. Have you heard where Eric Williams ended up? I haven't seen much about him in the last year or so.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by rjolley

Nice to hear Athens Academy is still doing well. Have you heard where Eric Williams ended up? I haven't seen much about him in the last year or so.

I'm drawing a blank atm, I'll have to ask my son. I'm to the point where I can't keep track of who went where about 99% of the time.

[rjolley]

Last I heard, he was getting looks from some small schools, but I hadn't heard where he decided to go.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by rjolley

Last I heard, he was getting looks from some small schools, but I hadn't heard where he decided to go.

Per my son (who wasn't 100% certain himself), currently at a small CC in the midwest somewhere (he's thinking it's Kansas somewhere) with hopes of parlaying that into a year at a better JUCO, with hope of that leading to something else.

I hate to use the word "sad" but, from what looked like might have been a few years ago, it really didn't pan out.

My own hindsight (which nobody has ever asked for so {shrug} ) is that playing football was a mistake, and that the lack of enough really viable options offensively on the basketball team last season kinda sunk things.
He was forced to be all-everything too many nights, often leading us in points, rebounds, steals and blocks but that took him out of being able to be a more pure PG.

[rjolley]

Yeah, I can see that. I don't know if football was a mistake, and I don't have a problem with him playing as it made him used to contact a bit. His problem that I always saw was that for the talent that he has, he was not aggressive enough which I think stemmed from his confidence. In AAU, he was one of the smaller players on the team, but had the talent to be a major factor. You only saw it in flashes, though.

If he would've been consistent on the AAU teams he was on, he most likely would've gotten looks at larger schools. His teammates from back then are at various sized D-I schools. We thought that if he played more confidently, he would be there with them. Maybe after being at a good CC, he can realize that some of that ability.

Anytime you get a kid that size who can shoot the 3 and get to the basket and finish, sometimes with a dunk, he at least has the athletic ability to play in a high D-II/low D-I. He would never work hard on his handles though, and that might be his eventual downfall along with confidence.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Just a quirky little thing that I thought I'd share, largely due to the unusual (IMO) nature of it.

Through 7 games we've had 7 different leading receivers, I don't think I've ever noticed that happening at any level, much less high school.

It's a different hero every night, such is the balance of our offense (no matter whether it's clicking full steam or struggling, there's still been balance most nights)

And here are the numbers for those 7 receivers on the year

Sr SE #3 -- 16 for 204, 1 TD
Sr FL #25 -- 16 for 198, 2 TD
Jr SE #4 -- 13 for 188, 1 TD (missed 1 game with injury)
Jr FL #21 -- 6 for 158, 1 TD (missed 1 game with injury)
Sr RB #8 -- 13 for 144, 1 TD (missed 1 game on offense w/ injury)
Jr FL #7 - 4 for 101, 1 TD
Sr WR #11 - 6 for 86, 0 TD

Just strikes me as an unusual situation to see the number balance like that.
It's been that kind of year.

Our starting RB has not led the team in total rushing yards all season, having trailed his backup all year (two blowouts to start the season, backup had big numbers in the second half) and then when that backup went down for the year the QB went off this week and took over the team rushing lead.

And our three leading tacklers for the year are separated by a half-tackle.

Just ... odd to me {shrug}

[JonInMiddleGA]

We go to 7-1 with a 42-7 win over Providence Christian, one of the more lackluster wins of that size I can recall. Scoreless after one quarter, 21-0 but give up a TD before the half to at least arguably the worst team in the state (MaxPreps ranks them 472 of 477, behind all but one GHSA team and four GISA teams). Two quick scores early in the third put the game on ice, especially after their starting RB (and backup/passing QB) was ejected for throwing a punch & missing with a kick to the head in a random pile.

Yes, that's the second time in two weeks we've had someone try to kick one of our players in the head in full view of the refs. That ejection cost them even more when their do-everything QB went down with a leg injury & they had to go to their #3 quarterback. Still, we played mostly like crap for much of the night, only outgaining them 325-195. (one TD was a scoop & score fumble return)

Penalties were again ridiculous
8/65 on us, 15/145 on them.
We had one personal foul -- legit, big hit late although the whistle was late too -- and an offsetting pair on the play right after that one.

That's a total of 27 penalties for 273 yards by our opponents in the past two games, the bulk of that coming on personal fouls & unsportsmanlikes. And that's just what is getting called, never mind some pretty blatant no-calls in previous weeks.

Not the first time we've seen it either. Here's the previous 7.
12/70 vs 12/128 (Lakeview 41-10)
11/95 vs 9/65 (Prince Ave 14-45)
4/35 vs 6/35 (Towns 36-7)
6/40 vs 4/25 (Commerce 14-7 )
8/75 vs 13/140 (Oglethorpe Co 55-14)
10/80 vs 9/75 (ACS 13-6)
4/30 vs 6/50 (Glascock Co 49-0)

Is it really any surprise that the three most penalized teams are a combined 3-22 this season and in the lifetime of the current players (not career, literally since they were born) are 1-16 against us?

Senior night next week vs Hebron Christian (who upset George Walton 29-26 after GWA lost their kicker to injury & missed 2 PAT's and Hebron converted on a 2 point try) and then the regular season finale against George Walton on the road. Right now we look like we'll end up seeded somewhere in the 8/9/10 range (of 16 playoff teams), needing a good bit of help & breaks to be any higher.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Oh, and we're also now 8 weeks for 8 in having at least one penalty marked off incorrectly. (3 tonight, including the first one that's been corrected all season) It's like we're in the Pac 10 or something

[JonInMiddleGA]

42-12 win on senior night over Hebron Christian (6-3), much closer than the score. One of those nights where things broke our way time & again, evidenced by a fumble on their goalline where one of our OL basically rolled onto the ball by accident & we get the recovery and the TD to ice what was a two possession game at that point.

Our QB goes off on the ground, 30 carries for 223 and 2 TDs, career high rushing for him I think. The downside to the win is probably that they gave teams a blueprint on how to beat us: run the ball right up the middle over & over, we don't have the dominant MLB or interior line to stop that against any team that will do it consistently. We've been lucky in that hardly anyone has done it against us consistently. Come playoff time that could change in a hurry. But that's three weeks away.

Next up: regular season finale at George Walton, not an easy place to play but they're beat up physically & looking at missing the playoffs (and might not be able to squeak in even if they pulled the upset).

Latest projections, prior to tonight, have us as a #7 seed.

[JonInMiddleGA]

We win an odd season finale 21-13 on the road, finishing the regular season 9-1.

Wing-T opponent (3-7) drives the field to open up, leading 6-0. We answer with a scoring drive (12 yd TD pass) of our own in just 2:11, take a 7-6 lead. That's how we go to the half after we missed a 37 yd FG just before the break.

We open the third quarter with our prettiest drive of the season to date, 9 plays/63 yards in 3:11, 26 yd TD and it's 14-6. We force 'em three & out, answer a good punt with a 1 play / 85 scoring drive. Flanker slips a tackle on a screen pass and takes it all the way down the sideline for a 21-6 lead. They answer right back with 8 plays/77 yards and it's 21-13.

Late q3/early q4 we go 15 plays/60 yards ... but come up empty when a flailing tackle attempt knocks the ball from that same receiver inches from the goal line, the ball flies out of bounds through the side of the end zone & they get it at their own 20. They get to our 18 over the next 14 plays and nearly 7 minutes only to throw an interception to our senior linebacker with 38.7 seconds left and we kneel it out.

We were flat as hell the entire first half, played some of our best ball to date for most of the third quarter and then the fourth got all weird & scary & stuff.

But we're 9-1 and projected to be the #6 seed when playoff brackets are announced mid-week. Things got shuffled a lot tonight when upstart Pinecrest shocked #1 ranked Mount Paran. That should move our arch-rival Prince to #1, leap Pinecrest to #2 and drop Mount Paran all the down to a very angry #5. Projections & chalk would mean a 2nd round trip to Augusta to play at Aquinas.

But did I mention we're 9-1? that's after a dismal 4-5 season last year (the worst in a decade, second worst in 25 years). So proud of these guys, especially the senior leadership that has embraced a new coach & new system and really gave it everything they have to right the ship. No matter what the post-season holds I'll never forget the effort & dedication of this group of young men, they've been a joy to watch on the basis of work ethic alone.

edit to add: I referred to this game feeling odd. First time all year we've thrown for more than we've rushed. First game with zero rushing touchdowns. First multiple TD game by any receiver. We played the entire regular season without seeing a single made field goal, none tonight either. Going back through the stats & play log tonight we had only 3 solo tackles all evening (1 of those on special teams) until they reached our 30 on the final drive. Of their last 7 plays, unassisted tackles by four different players on 5 different plays & the INT on another. We went from gang tackling to individual efforts almost like a switch was flipped for one player at a time.

[JonInMiddleGA]

And it all comes to an end with a 22-14 loss at home in the opening round of the playoffs.

We had our chances but in the end when they needed a play they made one and when we needed one or two more plays we just ... didn't.

A very similar passing option attack to our own, they dominated the first half in a way I haven't seen since losing at Commerce six years ago. We haven't reconciled the stats yet but I believe time of possession in the first two quarters was 20+ minutes for them to under 4 for us. And yet we only trailed 7-0 thanks to a clutch field goal block just before the half. We had one good drive (only two real possessions in the half) but a receiver got stripped and that drive came to nothing.

We drove the field with ease to start the half, they block the PAT.

We get a stop and go to work on a nice 10 play 89 yard drive for the lead.

On the 2 point conversion our QB pulls a Manziel/Houdini escape to stay alive, a receiver breaks off his route and comes back for the catch & we're up 14-7.

They drive right back at us in just two plays, a 65 yard run ... but missed the PAT wide left.

We drive, stall. They drive, stall, We punt again. They drive inside the 15 but we force the FG which is good, down 16-14 getting into the fourth quarter. We drive but turn it over on downs. And then things got weird.

3rd & 7 they complete a pass for the first down but we strip the receiver clean, a LB standing there holding the ball ... ref rules him down :/ Said LB spikes the ball for a good 15 yards in elevation, gets flagged. We get flagged again in response to that flag & they're suddenly at our 11 with under three minutes.

We let them score on the next play, as in let them, just ole' defense at the line. Down 8 we block the PAT, just like we drew it up.

We hit a couple passes but end up 4th & 7 around midfield and we go to the double pass (we have two former/backup QBs at WR) ... and the receiver who had the best game of his career tonight ... dropped the lateral. First time all season (we've run the play about a dozen times). Their 305 DL falls on it and they run it out.

edit to add: The final numbers were pretty ugly, but reflect a lot of the game. They dominated the first quarter and the fourth, we dominated the second & third. But they did more dominating.

Outgained 467 to 306
minus 3 turnovers
They were 10/18 on 3rd down and 1/1 on 4th ... we were 3/6 and 0/1
Yards per play? Even 6.8 to 6.7 ... but they ran 69 plays to our 46

[JonInMiddleGA]

And for those who are not part of my Facebook, I'll share my status update from tonight.

There are few places I've been in my 48 years with more anguish than a football field after a season-ending loss but if you're going to rejoice with them and celebrate with them then you also grieve with them. While the 2015 Spartans had a lot of youth contribute week after week, my heart is with the group of seniors that I've been watching since they were in sixth grade. 

I'd sure love for them all to be playing next week but they've already proven themselves. Not just proven themselves capable but also willing. Willing to work, to sweat, to bleed, to give every ounce they have and then to dig down for a little more. And they were willing to believe. In each other, in a new coach and a new system, in putting in the work to reap a reward. I'd have loved another win or four, of course, but I couldn't be any prouder of them than I already am.

I'll have football memories of every one of those boys for the rest of my life.
I love 'em and I'm privileged to have been a witness to what they've endured and what they've achieved. And to have watched those boys grow into men. 

[JonInMiddleGA]

Kinda interesting article this week on coaching salaries in Georgia. At least 19 coaches have topped the $100k mark officially (the article doesn't seem to account for some of the side deals that occur), led by Jess Simpson at Buford who made $173k this year.

http://www.daltondailycitizen.com/ne...f147958a9.html

edit to add: One of the more interesting notes was Leroy Ryals (formerly at a local school in Athens) going 1-9 at Thomasville who lured him with a nice round $100k annual salary. That tends to get you future endeavored pretty quickly, will be interesting to see if he hangs on.

[MizzouCowboy]

The Missouri state championships have been going on this Friday and today, with two local teams going for their 5th and 6th titles in a row.

Lamar, Mo. easily won their 5th straight Class 2A championship with a 37-0 win over Malden. Lamar was up 31-0 at half and apparently just cruised through the 2nd half.

Webb City. 13 state titles since 1989. 5 straight championships. 83 wins in a row against Missouri teams. 43 wins in a row. 87 straight conference wins...the wins seems to never stop.

Yesterday, trailing 14-17 with around 3 minutes to go, Webb gets the ball back and has to drive 80 yards for the win. They convert a 4th and 13 at midfield to keep hopes alive. With 15 seconds remaining, on 2nd and goal from the 1, they try a quick hitter up the gut that the RB never really controls, and Kearney recovers in the endzone to secure the win. This was Webb City's 2nd fumble of the game inside the 1 yard line, and both were recovered by Kearney.

Really would have loved to watch this and all the playoff games this weekend, but apparently the MSHSAA and Fox couldn't agree to televising terms. Hopefully next season.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by MizzouCowboy

Webb City. 13 state titles since 1989. 5 straight championships. 83 wins in a row against Missouri teams. 43 wins in a row. 87 straight conference wins...the wins seems to never stop.

Yesterday, trailing 14-17 with around 3 minutes to go, Webb gets the ball back and has to drive 80 yards for the win. They convert a 4th and 13 at midfield to keep hopes alive. With 15 seconds remaining, on 2nd and goal from the 1, they try a quick hitter up the gut that the RB never really controls, and Kearney recovers in the endzone to secure the win. This was Webb City's 2nd fumble of the game inside the 1 yard line, and both were recovered by Kearney.

That sort of run made me curious so I did a little Googling.

The last team to beat Webb in a state championship game?
Kearney, in 2009.


Between those two programs they've won the last 8 titles in that class, and 9 of the last 10, and 13 of the last 16. Kind of odd to notice that they've only met in the finals twice in that span with Kearney winning both times.

And poor Helias, kind of the Buffalo Bills/Atlanta Braves of Missour 4A football I guess. They've been the bridesmaid 4x in the last 8 seasons.


edit to add: I was trying to come up with a similar run for one team or a pair of teams in Georgia, I don't think there's been one of this length. There's Buford -- a dynasty that's become so imposing that the state makes rule changes designed to hamper them -- with 10 titles in the last 14 years, across four different classifications (they keep moving up as the school grows). Back in the 80s Lincoln Co (5) and Clinch Co (2) had a seven years stranglehold on the Class A

[MizzouCowboy]

Webb City was really lucky to even get out of the first round this season. Carl Junction, which more or less connects with Webb City, had them beat 7-6 with less than 2 minutes to play and fumbled the ball away when all they really needed to do was kneel on the ball. Of course Webb takes advantage.

For an undefeated team, I think everyone around here knew that they were not as dominant as usual. Sure they beat (again) 6A KC Rockhurst, one of the legendary programs in Missouri, and 7A Springdale, Ark. Har-Ber (again), who are playing in the state championship game next weekend, but most of their games weren't over in the first quarter/half as they usually are.

The endzone where the fumbles occurred has not been kind to Webb City. In 2004 against Clayton, down 26-27, they went for two in OT?? and missed it by inches. Clayton was the far superior team that season and Webb knew they had to win it in that moment.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Well here's an odd story for you, just developing locally today.

Clarke Central HS (Athens, GA) has announced the hiring of a new head football coach ... former UGA BASEBALL head coach David Perno.

He's an alum of the school & played football there a few decades back. Yep, sounds qualified to me.

edit to add: Oh, I should probably point out that perennial state/national powerhouse Buford will be in the same region as Central for the next four years. I suspect this is pretty much a move based in part on the notion that "we ain't winning nothing for a while anyway"

[BishopMVP]

Was there any talk down there about the Rush Probst headbutt? Or was that just considered a complete non-story to people in the Georgia football scene?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by BishopMVP

Was there any talk down there about the Rush Probst headbutt? Or was that just considered a complete non-story to people in the Georgia football scene?

Mercifully it seemed to play itself out over the weekend. Some sheltered soccer moms got all bent on one of the TV station social media accounts, otherwise I didn't see much mention of it beyond the immediate 24 hours or so.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

edit to add: One of the more interesting notes was Leroy Ryals (formerly at a local school in Athens) going 1-9 at Thomasville who lured him with a nice round $100k annual salary. That tends to get you future endeavored pretty quickly, will be interesting to see if he hangs on.

At the risk of quoting myself ... I saw earlier this week where Ryals tendered his resignation.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Incredible finish in the Georgia Class AAA championship game. Westminster scores twice in the 4th quarter, including one play after recovering an onside kick, to force overtime with Blessed Trinity. OT here is similar to college but starting from the 15.

Westminster scores on their possession (bad call, knee was down but typical poor officiating gives him the TD on the reach over), BT gets a first down, gives it to the running back who has 37 carries for 253 yards on the day ... and he fumbles into the end zone trying to stretch it over from just outside the one. Westminster recovers, touchback, game over.

No real rooting interest for me in this one but can you imagine? You gotta feel for that kid, that's just brutal.

[MrBug708]

An old story, but #1 ranked St. John Bosco was absolutely boatraced by #2 Corona Centennial last week in the Southern CIF championship game. It was the first game all year that Bosco didn't have a running clock during the game

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

An old story, but #1 ranked St. John Bosco was absolutely boatraced by #2 Corona Centennial last week in the Southern CIF championship game. It was the first game all year that Bosco didn't have a running clock during the game

55-31 at halftime in a borderline state final between assumedly good teams? I'm not saying I'm against it, and I'm not sure it's a bad thing, but I don't even recognize HS football compared to even 12 years ago when I was in HS. It'll be interesting to see how much this offensive explosion at the HS level can affect the NFL mid-term, or if that's the level where they can practice enough to equal things out for the most part.

PS - boatraced is a new one.

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Mercifully it seemed to play itself out over the weekend. Some sheltered soccer moms got all bent on one of the TV station social media accounts, otherwise I didn't see much mention of it beyond the immediate 24 hours or so.

Good. We (a.k.a. mainly the head coach who I played under those 12-15 years ago before coming back and coaching with the last 5+ years) have a good reputation in town and an AD who has our back, but we still walk on some eggshells and do everything we can to keep "fans" (parents) away from earshot of our bench during games.

It's why I like coaching club/AAU so much - those parents are insane, but tend towards the opposite side. I was coaching 6th graders in a real early morning game my first summer with dew still on the grass, and in lacrosse there are offensive/defensive subs on the fly in transition that can get confusing, so one kid tries running on the field late. Instinctively, I grabbed the back of his jersey, his feet slip out on the wet grass, and he goes down HARD on his back. If I wasn't doing what I could to hold him up or kept my arm there I swear he would've gotten a concussion from cracking the back of his head on the ground. Anyway, he knows what happened and the whole team is laughing about it at the next timeout, but as soon as the game ends I see his dad (a certain ex-NFL All-Pro Guard) making a beeline for me. I take a deep breath, steel myself as I see him point at me, and hear him say "I don't know why you did that to my son... but you should do it more! Really woke him up and he played great afterwards!"

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by BishopMVP

I'm not saying I'm against it, and I'm not sure it's a bad thing, but I don't even recognize HS football compared to even 12 years ago when I was in HS.

Amen.

Even the smallest / least sophisticated programs here are going to some form of the spread option.

[MrBug708]

Originally Posted by BishopMVP

55-31 at halftime in a borderline state final between assumedly good teams? I'm not saying I'm against it, and I'm not sure it's a bad thing, but I don't even recognize HS football compared to even 12 years ago when I was in HS. It'll be interesting to see how much this offensive explosion at the HS level can affect the NFL mid-term, or if that's the level where they can practice enough to equal things out for the most part.

PS - boatraced is a new one.

Bosco probably has the most talent on their team. Coaching has been slightly suspect, especially on the defensive end. Centennial has an incredible offensive output. Bosco did lost their starting QB early on to injury, but that wasn't responsible for the blowout

[JonInMiddleGA]

And down goes Buford, 10-0 loss to Cartersville. That ends the Buford quest to become the first team in state history to win four straight titles more than once (only they and West Rome have done it).

#1 vs #2, the game everyone expected all season, heavyweight title fight kind of game that lived up to its billing. Cartersville does it with a perfect defensive game plan that stifled the Buford run all night and with a rising star in sophomore QB Trevor Lawrence, considered by many to be the #1 prospect in the country for 2018.

He's not what you might expect out of northwest Georgia. He looks a lot like he just stepped off a surfboard onto the field (or climbed out of Spicoli's car right before kickoff)

edit to add: No official word from young Lawrence on his leanings but he does cite Peyton Manning as his role model. He's getting close to two dozen offers already, with Tennessee thought to be among the favorites.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

At the risk of quoting myself ... I saw earlier this week where Ryals tendered his resignation.

And at the risk of quoting myself AGAIN, today's local rag informs me that Ryals has just been hired as the new head coach at ... Cedar Shoals. For those who don't know the area, that would be the crosstown rival of Clarke Central, the team he left for the aforementioned $100k job.

(Yep, same school systems, same board doing the hiring, etc, etc)