High School Football Thread 2012-13

[flere-imsaho]

Oh wow, that's terrible news.

[BYU 14]

Sad irony this post got bumped, as I found out this morning on my way home from the gym that a former player was shot and killed yesterday at the age of 20. Copying below my FB post R.I.P Cinco, this is just so damn hard to wrap my head around and it never gets easier to deal with.

I received so much joy and so many blessings from coaching high school football for 3 plus decades, but with that occasionally comes heartbreak and sorrow and this is one of the worst!

This young man lost his life to a senseless act of violence yesterday at the age of 20. He played for us at Carl Hayden and when he arrived in 2020 it was immediately clear he was built different. He was mature, spoke like you don’t hear a lot of freshmen speak and had goals. He started on varsity as a freshman which is a rarity and I can only think of 1 other time I saw that over 36 seasons. He went on to be an integral piece in Carl Hayden winning their first region title in school history in 2022 as RB1.

He had a hopeful future ahead of him and endless possibilities and while he had his ups and downs along the way, he fought to stay on track and keep achieving and there are very few that I have rooted for harder than him to succeed. I last spoke to him last year as he was preparing to head to California to college as he continued to pursue his dream in the text you see here, which you never think will be the last one. I will never fully understand why things like this happen and wonder what could have been done to avoid it. This fucking hurts a lot and it is devastating to see a young life taken this soon. Rest in power Kendre, you will be missed and know you will never be forgotten.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Teddy Bridgewater suspended from Miami Northwestern coaching job - ESPN

I'm honestly not sure if he was trying to get in trouble or if he's legit just this stupid.

But posting on Facebook soliciting donations to cover things you paid for out of pocket yourself last season -- all of which would be violation of state rules -- is some first rate halfwittery.

[RainMaker]

Weird story. The guy made $65 million in his NFL career plus whatever he made in endorsements (he was doing a lot of local stuff in Minnesota back in the day). Why are you even asking for donations on Facebook for some Uber rides?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Weird story. The guy made $65 million in his NFL career plus whatever he made in endorsements (he was doing a lot of local stuff in Minnesota back in the day). Why are you even asking for donations on Facebook for some Uber rides?

Local media in Miami also mention a $14,000 camp he said on FB that he paid for.

To give you something for comparison, the last school caught doing Uber Rides got a $36k fine and a 2-year postseason ban.

Bridgewater is apparently either insanely arrogant or incredibly stupid. Hell of a thing to do to a program you just won a state title
with.

edit to add: Feels like the question now is going to be a couple things 1) did he really write the checks? Or was he just blowing smoke trying to look like a big shot? 2) If he wrote them, will the state title be stripped?

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Teddy Bridgewater suspended from Miami Northwestern coaching job - ESPN

I'm honestly not sure if he was trying to get in trouble or if he's legit just this stupid.

But posting on Facebook soliciting donations to cover things you paid for out of pocket yourself last season -- all of which would be violation of state rules -- is some first rate halfwittery.

TBH it is not the fact that he paid for stuff for his player out of pocket, it's the soliciting donations. That is what you have a booster club for and if you are at a school that is not capable of having one, then you talk to businesses in the area, do a fundraiser or spend your money and take the deduction up to allowed amounts, which is not much, at least in AZ and move on.

I spent hundreds of dollars each year out of my stipend on stuff for kids I coached, cleats, snacks when there only meal was their free school lunch and at the last place I coached, an inner city school in a very poor neighborhood, we had Mom's that would coupon shop to make the team meal and when they couldn't do it, we paid for the team meal ourselves as coaches. It's a fact of life that you do this when you coach at some schools because nobody else is going to take care of your players. I don't hate or judge him for that. Just take the loss as part of the privilege of developing and mentoring men that need someone to care, provide discipline and give them hope.

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Local media in Miami also mention a $14,000 camp he said on FB that he paid for.

To give you something for comparison, the last school caught doing Uber Rides got a $36k fine and a 2-year postseason ban.

If he wrote them, will the state title be stripped?

What is the context of this, shipping in kids that live out of area or making sure a kid got home safely? Big difference for sure and if he paid that much for the camp, it should have been as a donation, not something he would try to recover, that is going to piss people off.

I don't know why you would strip a state title, unless the Uber rides were out of boundary players that should not have been on the team, that didn't help them win games, like recruiting or falsifying player info would. Definite strip in those cases.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by BYU 14

What is the context of this, shipping in kids that live out of area or making sure a kid got home safely? Big difference for sure and if he paid that much for the camp, it should have been as a donation, not something he would try to recover, that is going to piss people off.

I don't know why you would strip a state title, unless the Uber rides were out of boundary players that should not have been on the team, that didn't help them win games, like recruiting or falsifying player info would. Definite strip in those cases.

If even one of those uber kids (his claim is that he spent $700/wk on Ubers) was a transfer, recent precedent says that forfeits could result. That's what hung The First Academy, who were paying for ubers and food for as many as 30 transfers. That's an impermissible benefit (as "enticement"). The school got a 2-yr post-season ban, the HC and OC both banned from coaching in FL for one year, not even allowed to attend a HS athletic event.

There is also talk that one generically ineligible player (unclear yet whether that's grades or dwelling issue) at MNW as well, which is part of the investigation.

The general thinking is that the school suspended Bridgewater in hopes of saving either the title, future post-season(s), or both.

[GrantDawg]

I didn't know where to put this. Quincy Carter was just named the Head Coach of a local high school (Heritage in Conyers). It sounds like he was he was working with school as a community coach.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

I didn't know where to put this. Quincy Carter was just named the Head Coach of a local high school (Heritage in Conyers). It sounds like he was he was working with school as a community coach.

Yeah, let's see how that works out for 'em.

I've seen it reported(? suggested?) that he actually did most of the coaching this past season while an interim held the title ... as they went 1-9.

He'll be their 6th different HC in seven years, and they've pretty much tried a variety of different lanes for HC, none of which have worked. Unlikely to do any real damage though as long as he's legit sober now (and can stay that way).

[Ghost Econ]

This is a weird ending to a high school championship in Louisiana.

- YouTube

If you don't feel like watching:
St. Charles scores a TD, misses the XP and are down 21-20 with less than a minute and 2 TOs.

Shaw recovers the onside kick at the 46.

1st down - Shaw kneels from the shotgun to run out the clock. Shaw OL throws his helmet to celebrate. 15 yard penalty in addition to the 5 yards from the kneel down. Clock stopped.

2nd down - Shaw again shotgun kneels, 5 yard loss, Time Out.

3rd down - Shaw again shotgun kneels, 5 yard loss, Time Out.

4th down, Shaw punts with their punter standing on their own 11 yard line. Shanks it to their own 32 yard line. 15 seconds left.

1st down - St. Charles throws to the sideline, barely gets out at the 27.

2nd down - TO to ice the kicker who just missed the tieing PAT. High snap, kicker hits a career long 44 yard FG to win the game.

[HerRealName]

That QB was taking those kneel downs waaay too fast. The lack of awareness by that team was pretty stunning, really. It was cool that the kicker was able to bounce back like that though.

My son's HS is playing for a state title next weekend following an amazing comeback against a state power.

They were down 21 in the 3rd and people around us started leaving. The kids from the other school were chanting "beat the traffic". It felt OVER. The lead was 17 with 8 minutes left in the game and then 10 with 3 minutes left in the game with the ball at the 1 yard line. It only took about a minute to go those 99 yards, and then recover the onside kick. The winning TD was scored with 30 seconds left.

It was probably the best HS game that I've attended and I've been to a lot of them. The QB is only a Sophomore and he has 1200 total yards in the last 2 games alone. He looks like Bryce Young Jr to me but I guess we'll see how he develops.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Ghost Econ

This is a weird ending to a high school championship in Louisiana.

- YouTube

If you don't feel like watching:
St. Charles scores a TD, misses the XP and are down 21-20 with less than a minute and 2 TOs.

Shaw recovers the onside kick at the 46.

1st down - Shaw kneels from the shotgun to run out the clock. Shaw OL throws his helmet to celebrate. 15 yard penalty in addition to the 5 yards from the kneel down. Clock stopped.

2nd down - Shaw again shotgun kneels, 5 yard loss, Time Out.

3rd down - Shaw again shotgun kneels, 5 yard loss, Time Out.

4th down, Shaw punts with their punter standing on their own 11 yard line. Shanks it to their own 32 yard line. 15 seconds left.

1st down - St. Charles throws to the sideline, barely gets out at the 27.

2nd down - TO to ice the kicker who just missed the tieing PAT. High snap, kicker hits a career long 44 yard FG to win the game.

Another detail from this -- perhaps the wackiest in a week that had quite a few crazy/fantastic finishes around the country -- is on that first kneel St. Charles called timeout but got it back due to the penalty. That was apparently lost to the Shaw coaching staff who were reportedly not expecting that timeout after 3rd down, they thought St. C was out of timeouts.

So many mistakes here, starting with gifting field position by kneeling from the shotgun.

[HerRealName]

Originally Posted by Ghost Econ

This is a weird ending to a high school championship in Louisiana.

- YouTube

If you don't feel like watching:
St. Charles scores a TD, misses the XP and are down 21-20 with less than a minute and 2 TOs.

Shaw recovers the onside kick at the 46.

1st down - Shaw kneels from the shotgun to run out the clock. Shaw OL throws his helmet to celebrate. 15 yard penalty in addition to the 5 yards from the kneel down. Clock stopped.

2nd down - Shaw again shotgun kneels, 5 yard loss, Time Out.

3rd down - Shaw again shotgun kneels, 5 yard loss, Time Out.

4th down, Shaw punts with their punter standing on their own 11 yard line. Shanks it to their own 32 yard line. 15 seconds left.

1st down - St. Charles throws to the sideline, barely gets out at the 27.

2nd down - TO to ice the kicker who just missed the tieing PAT. High snap, kicker hits a career long 44 yard FG to win the game.

I forgot to mention, check out #13's knee when he makes the catch. It's down in-bounds which means the clock shouldn't have stopped. That game winner probably doesn't have time to take place if the ref doesn't mess up the end of the game too.

[albionmoonlight]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

So many mistakes here, starting with gifting field position by kneeling from the shotgun.

I get that this QB/center probably never practice under center exchanges.

But . . . maybe practice them? For this exact situation?

Seems very short sighted to not even give yourself the option of being able to go under center.

[cuervo72]

Similarly, the play last night in MIN/DAL where the Vikings were running plays before the FG attempt and lost four yards on a run had me yelling at the TV. (Though yes, they can take a snap under center.)

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

I get that this QB/center probably never practice under center exchanges.

But . . . maybe practice them? For this exact situation?

Seems very short sighted to not even give yourself the option of being able to go under center.

Can't you just run forward for a yard and dive? Or just make it a QB draw? They have to have some play in the playbook where the QB just goes forward.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

I get that this QB/center probably never practice under center exchanges.

But . . . maybe practice them? For this exact situation?

Seems very short sighted to not even give yourself the option of being able to go under center.

That drives me batty under all circumstances to begin with. That it played a factor in determining a state title just emphasizes the point.

The team I see most is one of those, 4th & an inch and they don't go under center, makes me wanna scream.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Buford outlasts Carrolton 28-21 in the Georgia Class 6A final, a heavyweight fight that lived up to its billing. Tied at 21, the best player on the field breaks off an 82 yard TD run that decides it with under three minutes to go. Tyriq Green is a UGA commit ... that is expected to play safety in college.

The best defensive player on the field on this night? Yeah, he's a UGA commit too ... and is listed as a center.

It's the 15th state title for Buford but their first ever in the highest classification.

It's likely to deliver their first ever national title, which would be the first consensus #1 from Georgia in over 30 years.

[HerRealName]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

They're in 4A (currently the state's 5th largest of 7 classifications)

VERY loosely speaking, the best team in Georgia is usually going to be in one of the top two classes, but that tier Creekside is in can have a best team be riiiiight up there near 'em now & then.

That's a record-setting Creekside team, went 15-0 and won the 4A title this week, scoring a state record 845 points this season. Boosted by a 91-0 point performance over a winless team that saw them score (IIRC) six defensive TDs in the second half. They scored 91 that night without running a single offensive play (they were taking knees) for the final two quarters played with a running clock.

They won the title on Monday in a 42-39 decision over Benedictine, recovering an onside kick attempt in the final minute to seal it, after trailing 24-21 at the half. Funny thing about that game: the biggest name recruits don't play for the offensive juggernaut, they play for the military school in Savannah. Benedictine QB and top defender (an edge guy IIRC) are both heading to Texas Tech, their top WR to Notre Dame. Creekside biggest names are a pair of junior linebackers that are committed to SIU and picking between UAB/Memphis.

*for those unfamiliar, last year Creekside went to DeSoto and lost 70-0. This year they dominated DeSoto 70-28

edit to add: for a bit more perspective, that Benedictine team that played Creekside down to the final minute also faced Buford (in that new $62m stadium) in week two this season. Was close for a while before the numbers wore 'em down, Buford won that game 42-14. Buford, as mentioned in the other thread, just won the state 6A title and probably several national titles last night.

** And for even a bit more insight, Buford looked like dogshit offensively most of the game last night. Younger bro QB Raiola ain't him either, let's just say that. Nicer kid I think, completely different dynamic with the program but not a future star IMO. Half of Buford's rushing yards for game on the game winning 82 yard sprint and they won 28-21 despite having only 8 first downs all night, their longest possession was only 2:23. 157 of their 306 total yards came on that run + a 75 yard pass.

I posted in the wrong thread. I think that's twice in a week.

Thanks for the info. For even more context, DeSoto is in Div 6 II. That's the second largest Texas division. They just beat Southlake Carroll who was widely considered the best team in the Nation before that loss. SLC played a pretty easy schedule and paid for it. DeSoto is probably considered the favorite to win the state title on Saturday. That's a major boost for Georgia HS football (as if they need it).

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by HerRealName

That's a major boost for Georgia HS football (as if they need it).

There's no shortage of people who would tell you that Thomas County Central who won the state 5A title to wrap up the year in Georgia is actually the best team in the state. Some of that is a bit wishful thinking/jealousy/etc but I won't sit here & tell you that they couldn't beat Carrolton _or_ Buford either. Most likely be a helluva game against either.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Just a personal sidenote of sorts.

I've been lucky to see a few pretty good HS ballers over the years, I mean not just "see" them but see all/most of their HS career up close week after week.

It was one thing to watch guys who got a few big time offers and assorted smaller ones, like the local WR who ended up at Notre Dame or the LB who ended up at Tennesse.

It feels quite a bit different to be watching a kid (just finished his junior season) that basically has offers from the entire who's who of CFB right (Georgia, Texas, Ohio State, Bama, you name it they've probably offered him in the past few months)

Just kinda boggles my mind a little for some reason.

(for the curious, 3* WR/CB Keyon Standifer, who recently decommitted from GT to reopen his recruiting)

[Ghost Econ]

My daughter has done 3 years of high school swim. She's at her 2nd high school and next year will be her fourth different division. First two years her school was 1A, then 3A. She transfered and this year she was 5A, then they move to 4A next year. I get they want to make things fair, but shifting divisions every 2 years seems excessive.

That being said, it's weird seeing where I went to high school keep getting smaller. When I started we were 4A and it only went up to 4A. We eventually dropped to 3A by the time I graduated. They are currently the 2nd smallest school in 2A. Meanwhile, 2 schools that were 1A that were basically considered backwoods schools are now 5A because I guess the Charlotte suburbs have extended to that area of South Carolina.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Ghost Econ

My daughter has done 3 years of high school swim. She's at her 2nd high school and next year will be her fourth different division. First two years her school was 1A, then 3A. She transfered and this year she was 5A, then they move to 4A next year. I get they want to make things fair, but shifting divisions every 2 years seems excessive.

That being said, it's weird seeing where I went to high school keep getting smaller. When I started we were 4A and it only went up to 4A. We eventually dropped to 3A by the time I graduated. They are currently the 2nd smallest school in 2A. Meanwhile, 2 schools that were 1A that were basically considered backwoods schools are now 5A because I guess the Charlotte suburbs have extended to that area of South Carolina.

fwiw, Georgia has always reclassified every two years best I can recall. Definitely the rule in the current century, and I'm pretty sure true back to at least the 80s. It's varied between 4 and 7 classifications in my lifetime.

Re: going 1A to 5A ... that's part of the Buford (GA) dynasty story. They just won the 6A title, 25 years after winning the 1A title. In their case it wasn't just population growth, it was meticulously managed attendance boundaries via corresponding annexation of willing areas outside the earlier city limits. The most controlled growth imaginable, I'm told right down to certain people making sure to own/control land that might someday add additional housing but holding off development until the school gave the okay.

[albionmoonlight]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Just a personal sidenote of sorts.

I've been lucky to see a few pretty good HS ballers over the years, I mean not just "see" them but see all/most of their HS career up close week after week.

It was one thing to watch guys who got a few big time offers and assorted smaller ones, like the local WR who ended up at Notre Dame or the LB who ended up at Tennesse.

It feels quite a bit different to be watching a kid (just finished his junior season) that basically has offers from the entire who's who of CFB right (Georgia, Texas, Ohio State, Bama, you name it they've probably offered him in the past few months)

Just kinda boggles my mind a little for some reason.

(for the curious, 3* WR/CB Keyon Standifer, who recently decommitted from GT to reopen his recruiting)

Does he look obviously better to your eye than the other top guys you’ve watched? Or does he look as good to you and for whatever reason the Scouts see something extra in him?

[miami_fan]

A Florida bill would allow coaches to pay for players' food and travel | WFSU News

AKA The Teddy Bridgewater Bill.

[flere-imsaho]

Or, hear me out, Florida (and many other states) could adequately fund public education.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by flere-imsaho

Or, hear me out, Florida (and many other states) could adequately fund public education.

I can't say I've ever heard of players personal travel to/from practice nor meals outside of school hours being covered by state funds.

Booster clubs (or local businesses) do often provide gameday pregame meals but that's about it.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

A Florida bill would allow coaches to pay for players' food and travel | WFSU News

AKA The Teddy Bridgewater Bill.

So go find yourselves a deep-pocketed donor to provide a financial advantage over the programs who don't have one I guess. (just be sure to call them "coaches")

[flere-imsaho]

More state funds to core educational services frees up more local funds with which you have more leeway.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by flere-imsaho

More state funds to core educational services frees up more local funds with which you have more leeway.

Still asking for something that's pretty out of the ordinary. And I mean anywhere.

The closest I can think of to taxpayer funded version of what Cheatwater was doing would be busing students from school to an off-campus practice location.

But that's still just campus to practice & back to campus. It's not door to door bus service.

Do that for football and you have a helluva time not doing it for every extracurricular, athletic and non-athletic. At which point you're running a bus service, not a school system nor even a school transportation system.

You wanna argue for money to go into the budget, that's your business ... please just don't pretend that it would remotely address this particular situation.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

So go find yourselves a deep-pocketed donor to provide a financial advantage over the programs who don't have one I guess. (just be sure to call them "coaches")

The funny thing about this is he did what coaches have done forever and have had Disney movies made about them. Hell, even I have bought food, uniform items, and filled in whatever was left to make sure kids got pictures or some other memento for a successful season. Now I could only afford one meal
(fast food) maybe, a extra shirt or two and actually had to drive kids home from practice because of the neighborhood they lived in or the parent who drove was deployed or something else instead of sending them home in an Uber. Teddy Bridgewater has significantly larger pockets financially that I do so he could be a bit more extravagant than I could. This is not to say that I am not aware of the corruption that could take place in this type of situation. I most certainly am.

As far as finding a deep pocket donor, well Teddy is no longer the coach so maybe?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Cleaning out filing cabinets & such, doing a lot of paper shredding and as I was about to feed yet another sheet in something caught my eye.

Somehow, mixed in with a bunch of ancient work junk was one of my old HS football stat sheets, the ones I used back in my radio days. (I always kept my own stats while doing p-b-p, I felt like it kept me connected to what was happening)

It was from 1997, Griffin at Lowndes County, 1st round of the state playoffs. A so-so Bears team (6-5) put up a pretty good fight against the AP #1 team in AAAA (then the state's highest classification), losing 36-20. The Vikings had 3 first-team all-state players and 4 honorable mentions, though they were upset the following week by Northside-Warner Robins

And little did I know that night that I was watching a future first round NFL draft pick AND a future a 4-time Pro Bowler.

Some stars were obvious.

WR C.J. Lofton would go on to star at Valdosta State ... but as a tight end (officially). He's the Blazers only 3x All-American, finding success in Chris Hatcher's wide-open offense, catching passes from Harlan Hill Trophy winner Dusty Bonner (his former rival from Valdosta HS) and then later Buster Faulkner.

Griffin didn't lack for talent either, then sophomore DL Jonathan Sullivan would go on to star at UGA and then be drafted 6th overall by the New Orleans Saints.

But the biggest star in that game ended up being a player who didn't even play his professional position yet. A young Lowndes TE caught a pair of TDs in the win over Griffin, and eventually headed off to the SEC as a tight end. It took Auburn a season to make a position switch, turning the TE into a DL ... which led Jay Ratliff to 4x Pro Bowl selections for the Dallas Cowboys and an 11 year NFL career.

Ya just never know.

[flere-imsaho]

Wow!!!

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by flere-imsaho

Wow!!!

That was my first season doing pbp for Griffin, and it was quite a leap in talent levels compared to the north Georgia mountains and even north metro I'd done previously.

In addition to the guys in that one game, that season also included

Dantonio Burnette -- associate AD & strength coach at his alma mater NC State. 4 yr letterman and team captain for the Wolfpack.

Bruce Thornton -- primarily a running back at the time, he would eventually switch to CB while at UGA and spend 2 seasons on NFL rosters after being drafted in the 4th round by Dallas

QB J.R. Revere -- 2 time all-american at Ga Southern, guided them to back to back national championships in three title game appearances

Various OL signees to South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama

The next year down the stretch I got future FSU star (and Steelers 3rd round pick) Willie Reid.