Week 15 Cont.
A 'Good" game last night that really had the potential top be a '" GREAT" game but fizzled into a display of jet sweeps that were never adjusted to or when they were the kids simply couldn't tackle anyone . I was imploring the wide guys to at least make the kid cut back instead of giving the outside when standing flatfooted waiting and then swiping at the shoes that just skirted by them .
Over and over and over again , it never really ceased and you need to give the O-Line of LaSalle credit they continually gave the eel like Houdini Lancer QB just enough room { They are really good at holding I mean REALLY good at it by not extending the arms much hence not being called much at all subtle and nuanced is key and they are masters} . That being said al admiration aside they kicked their butts up front fair and square , just beat them . Their guys were just better than the Tigers on the line of scrimmage .
The other thing was the Tigers ground game was so predictable and mundane that it was fairly easily defended despite really good backs. Keyes had little to on room all night long . The zone read exclusively being your run game only works well when the QB is a very good runner , I had seen this movie with the Coffman offense until this year when they ONLY used the same play zone read scheme when they ran the ball.. This year they ran outside , more jet sweeps , and while it helped to have a stud RB emerge in Threats it would have prospered better the previous few seasons if instituted . UNLESS YOUR QB ACTUALLY SCARES THE DEFENSE AS A RUN THREAT THE ZONE READ ONLY RUN GAME WHEN GOING AGAINST GOOD TOUIGH WELL COACHED DEFESNES WON'T WORK THAT WELL. Massillon I suppose found that out but why limit yourself?
QB has a pretty big arm , had some ridiculous throws , dropped some dimes , had a great look off the safety drop it in the seam long TD pass and a perfect drop in the bucket win a big stuffed Giraffe at the county fair throw at the pylon as well. So Run game lacking and the turnovers were KEY to LaSalle getting a margin . Turnovers are a problem , BUT not getting any yourself is also a problem . I think the game is in the balance in the last 4-5 minutes without the fumbles , and may be this heavyweight tilt becomes more of an instant classic , but make no mistake the better team won the ballgame . Tackling is getting worse at al levels of football , so why are you making it easier by only running between the tackles with a fake zone read with a lesser running threat at QB ? Make kids tackle in space against good athletes and if they can tackle you change course.
Announcers made a great point about the vast cushion the Lancers Db's were giving the talented Tiger receivers. Unfortunately they didn't stay patient and take what was clearly given to them , opting to make longer throws that were more miss than hit in the final analysis . Many teams have problems corralling a slick running QB , and the Tigers were no exception, i am surprised that more drastic adjustments weren't made to almost force Lasalle to beat you in the deep passing game . LaSalle had a better plan , some really good nifty quick fast savvy players to execute it and a good enough offensive line going against this defense to execute it almost perfectly . Bottom line was LaSalle was a bit more patient disciplined , executed better and had better and superior schemes .
They didn't have to tackle in space much , weren't made to pay for laying off receivers , and despite this STILL got beat DEEP a few times which is a testament to Massillon's ability , but while their offense hit a few long tape measure homeruns , they didn't get on base quite enough , left too many guys on base , and had some key errors in the field making it easier for their opponent to score . We all talk about getting the ball to your athletes in space and make the opponent make tackles one on one in space , one team made the other team do that over and over again and the other one didn't . The other difference was one team had a QB that could slice and dice the defense with his feet and a natural ability to make guys miss as if he was Floyd Mayweather using g the shoulder roll on the ropes and only catching glancing blows .
Lastly one play stuck out to me that while real unimportant in the grand scheme summed up a big difference in the game. Massillon finally realizing that this zone read only scheme wasn't really working especially when behind most of the way , tried a swing pass in the flat to Keyes to change things up and make the defense tackle a talented back ion space . Well that's great , except for the fact that they got it out to him with ZERO blockers out there as three LaSalle defenders closed in making the easy stop behind the line of scrimmage . When you are out of answers sometimes you flail . Massillon is the quintessential 'Wait til next year" program where hope is sometimes stronger than reality . I thought this was the year and I suppose it could have been , but the schemes and adjustments along with execution and making a couple more mistakes wouldn't allow it .
Anna - 6 New Middletown Springfield - CP Anna 40-21
Largest difference between all the LP vs. CP lines . 10.00 AM. start , not exactly Friday night lights . Early morning games have that scrimmage feel to them initially no matter how important? Some states play Thanksgiving day games . I have played on Thanksgiving , it's early , it' cold this time of year usually , may be some snow { We were throwing snowballs at each other going out to practice the day before the game one year and I can still hear the burly young assistant to the assistant Defensive Coordinator just out of college bellowing " Hey sheetheads what are you 'STUUUUUUUPPPPID " Cool guy who went on to be a really good wrestling head coach at another school . }
Logistics and schedule makes some play at this early hour as the kids paly may be the most important game of their lives to this point or in many cases the last game THEY EVER put the pads on for. Seems like a class difference. First off Anna is a member of the prestigious MAC, we all know that means that some battles have bene participated in . Anna played the 5th toughest schedule in D-6 whereas NMS played the 48th most arduous slate. In a two month stretch NMS was a mid 20's point favorite on average as they crushed teams with ease.
This isn't to say that Anna didn't crush their fair share of blowout wins , they have ,but it seems to be more of a case of being the real deal and just really good . NMS is a good club obviously also but their schedule and competition was weaker so the large margins were less impressive.
Beating Minster by 26 Archbold by 35 and Coldwater by 40 shows that strength and class difference. Looking at a one point win vs. Trimble is telling to me . Anna probably beat that club by 3-4 scores ? A three point loss to Marion Local is the only blemish and that is less than a small paper cut . Real spread is probably 14-15 points which might make you think for a bit. 6 point Louie Line is a no brainer and if he took action using this number he would eventually have to raise it multiple points creating a 'Middle " type situation that would have him scrambling to Cousin Sal trying to lay off the largesse .
Kick is less than an hour out , kids will be burping their breakfast early , wiping away the last crust of eye crud , and getting that last few yawns out of the way as they play for a state championship .
Anna 38 NMS 20