Dublin Coffman Rocks 2020

Have to say, I'm watching the Hoban-St Eds stream right now, and AJ Kirk is unbelievable. He looks like he could play at OSU right now.
 
Yes AJ has been missed the last two years at Coffman . He was a stud in the scrimmage season last year and then didn't play again. Started at Corner as a Frosh and safety two years ago . Big time player . He is a punishing tackler and a smart defender. Coffman would be at a different level with a guy like that back at safety. But the theme at Coffman the last few years is never having all the big time on the field at the same time for various reasons. He will be a productive college player wherever he goes.

I Rock , gave a summation of the game , some of which I saw the footage of , heard from a few sources who were there [Unfortunately I couldn't go , but will be at the two in person vs. Orange and Davidson.

The game had a similar feel to it as the 2014 game later in the year at Liberty when the winner was going to win the league title. 17-17 at the half also . Now neither team got up by 2 touchdowns but it went back and forth in a very similar way. Liberty scored on a long pass to the big tight end Rossi in that one as he outfought two defenders ,much like Magistrale did on the second TD last night to make it 14-0 . Coffman went up and Liberty came back with Brendon White getting loose. Rocks went back ahead and like last night Liberty had a late half drive to tie it with a FG and almost scored a TD like they did last night . Rocks cruised in the second half of that one bludgeoning the Patriots wining 52-24.


Last night I thought the Rocks would win by two scores. They fell short of that but played a good second half . First TD drive the Rocks played a little tentatively sitting back in a softer zone reminiscent of the 2018 Regional final where Liberty fit balls into the seams of the zone multiple times for portions of the night. 7-0 . The Rocks best player Threats then caught a screen pass turned up field and took a hit he didn't see and coughed up the rock. Liberty capitalized with a 25 yard pass to Magistrale who as I said out maneuvered two Rock defenders to make it 14-0 .

Rocks Moved the ball down and scored a short Threats run . Got the ball back and drove again settling for a short FG . Defense started getting some stops and then the Rocks took the lead for the first time when the Patriots bit on a play action motion with Mathews hitting Threats with a pass over the middle and he easily pulled away from the defenders. Mathews throws a more catchable ball this year with better touch. He looks calmer and more confident and in control of the offense. Rocks gave up some chunks of yards to close the half but stiffened and held the Patriots out of the end zone and it was a 17-17 tie.


As I Rock said Liberty has a nice stable of receivers and a big tight end Brecht who is a handful . Fields is smart , a good athlete and is accurate. Has a good grasp of the offense. Put some balls where they needed to be . Rocks played with more urgency in the second half and gave up some yards but no points{ A 30 something yard FG missed and stopped a 4th down play later { Threats on the scene} and ran out the clock getting a few first downs.


Threats is as good an all around player as there is in CO . Sawyer is not playing. I really like Powers as a player and he has more stars and is only a Junior , but he doesn't do as many things as Threats does. Powers is going to be a very good college LB and is worthy of his ranking, BUT if there is a more dynamic more valuable player who can do as many of the things Threats can do you're going to have to make a great case . Styles at PC is a great receiver and can play defense of course and is also higher ranked but I am not sure if he is as versatile a player.

Phipps really helps off-set the loss of Kirk not returning . Totally different players of course , Phipps is smaller{ 5-9 170} and quicker and is more slot /corner and Kirk brings the lumber at safety at 205 pounds . But in terms of making winning plays on the football field he is a great addition. With Threats and Mathews kind of grinding on the Patriots defense , Another play action motion play resulted in Phipps getting behind the Patriots defense who was creeping up and they got singed again by a long TD pass with Mathews putting it on him in stride on the button. Liberty had to use a ton of energy defending Threats and the Rocks run game and it took a bit of a toll eventually.

Rocks up 24-17 had a couple chances with the ball after the defense stopped the Patriots again to put the game away but couldn't do it. Some poor execution and penalty's put the Rocks into long down and distance situations and they had to punt . Mathews had a good night punting , really high kicks averaging 41 yards. Rocks defense continued to hold tough , but they didn't catch a couple punts and one of them cost them as they started at their 4 yard line{ 60 + yard punt } Patriots had a TD run called back on a hold and missed a 30 something yard FG . Rocks held on a 4th down after moving the ball a bit on their last drive. Rocks then properly chewed up the last few minutes with Threats and Mathews churning out the yards against a then worn down Patriots defense.


400 yards of offense , with Mathews playing a very solid if not excellent game going 13-17 for 238 and running for 80 yards on 17 carries. Threats only ran it 10 times for 70 yards and had 5 catches for another 108 . Phipps checked in with 5 catches for 88 yards. Hedderley had 2 catches for 36 including a nifty shake and spin on a short pass in the flat for a nice chunk of yardage. Phipps added 55 return yards. Rocks defense started slow and did a really nice job against a good team. Kenley is really quick and shifty and was a handful . Rocks made multiple big stops on Kenley including a few for losses. Fields showed good escapability and accuracy throwing the football and their O-line was solid.

Some really interesting games last night. Beginning of the season is always tough , but especially this year. Had a good grip on some and a few that were hard to figure really. Only wrote up the OCC games , and they were a mixed bag but I had a good grip on the Catholic teams as I had solid feelings and source saying that Watterson was capable of playing with Hartley this year after getting crushed last year, and it was pretty obvious that Mansfield was going to be down a couple levels from last year and DeSales crushed them . TE/ DE Alijah Grose transferred from Coffman after his Soph. year to go to Mansfield{ graduated this year} and play with his cousins. I knew they had a loaded Senior class last year and lost a ton of talent.

Been looking at some of the coverage and footage of the games and will post some thoughts tomorrow. Biggest surprises to me were Bradley still not scoring much { 6 points in two games??} and being 0-2 , Darby scoring 31 and winning vs M-Ville who came back to earth a bit in a really close game especially defensively { Bradley looks even worse ??} GPM winning wasn't surprising , BUT the kicking was a bit surprising . GPM for real? I think so . In the many think is surprising but really isn't category? PN beating West C I had it close with WC winning BUT not that surprising as WC has trouble getting over the hump in these types of games.
 
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Iroquois said:
Coffman was down 14-0 in the 1st qt, and it wasn't looking good. The Rocks also had a lost fumble in the 1st qt, but they buckled down and outscored Liberty 24-3 the last three quarters.

Liberty is tough, the QB and TB are very good and they have a really good group of senior WR's and a big OL. Coffman missed double digit tackles in the 1st half and made big time half time adjustments to cut that total down by a lot in the 2nd half.

Both teams had TD's called back, Coffman a very long kickoff return right before half (Block in the back 35 yds away)Liberty had a hold on a OL that called back a long TD run by Kenley.

For Coffman to Hold Kenley and the Liberty team to under 100 yards rushing is huge (93 Total yards Rushing).Just like last week when they held Jerome Everhart/Miller down also.

Threats, Phipps, and Matthews are playing really well on offense, and have showed some big strike capability in the first two weeks. The Defense has bent at times but it has done a good job of finding ways to get off the field. An interesting stat - Jerome and Liberty have both scored on the opening possession of the game the past two weeks. Jerome and Liberty are both really good well coached teams who will win a lot of games this year for sure. I thought last nights game felt like a week 12 playoff game.
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Good report, how will the playoffs work for Coffman? When would they face Pick Central?
 
I Rock stated that Coffman didn't tackle real well at times in the first half and that can be the bane of many football teams on a given night. Saw a nice hour or so long Doc that was basically Nick Saban and Bill Belichick's history of coaching together and their own personal coaching arcs and them just talking football {On Netflix recommend it } We all know what that looks like obviously . Their attention to detail and their teaching ability is at the highest level of course and Belichick made a very simple but smart observation. Flying back home after a loss a few assistants were going over some of the X's and O's in detail of scheme, alignments and assignments and what went wrong. Belichick listening to this , said , 'It wasn't about any complex crap and schemes , 'We couldn't tackle anyone ". They lost because they simply weren't getting people to the ground. Rocks certainly picked up that part of their game as time went on and played well enough to win including a key stop late with a solid tackle on 4th down that had the Patriots come up less than a yard short of a first down . Ballgame . Yes football is a more complex game than it was a couple generations perhaps but it is always going to come down to blocking and tackling to a large degree.
 
Thanks for the Berlin Tangy summation Kramer. Bears are as prolific a passing team as we have seen in while. As I said before the game their QB has some polish to his game , three year guy and it shows. Stands tall , keeps eyes downfield , throws a very catchable football and is accurate. The offense knows what it wants to do and they have athletes. Tangy has the guys to have a really nice passing attack as well but that's not what they will do this year it appears. QB can run it and the team is more mature and physical than it was last year . They couldn't run it at all against Coffman last year. They did have some nice receivers , a Senior Coleman who made a few plays and Gossett and Middleton who are both Seniors now. It seems that instead of being the big pass catchers this year , these guys will be as valuable on defense . Berlin may finish 2-4 ? But be a handful in the play-offs in D-2 and upset someone at some point. Tangy will be a higher seed and definitely a tough out for many folks.

The Bears Bennett Lawrence had himself a night most guys would think was a good two weeks work . 8 catches for 222 yards? 860 yards passing in two games for Moeller ? Tangy ran for 340 ? Not their usual modus operandi.


Offensive wizard and HOF coach Steve Trivisonno of Mentor came down to be the OC of Hilliard Bradley this season. It was a late move , sometime in June it was announced he was in the fold . Now that isn't optimal under normal conditions. Throw in a once in a century epidemic? Very difficult. First game vs. Marysville resulted in a shut out . 218 yards and zero points. Coach Loparo suggested that the kids weren't understanding the new offense which resulted in stalling in the red zone. Fair enough . First game , a fired up Marysville team who by all accounts had a relatively smooth off-season considering and were in great condition. Blip . Well fast forward this week and while I figured the 14 points was a joke and Bradley easily covered that nut , THEY AGAIN struggled to score points. In fact they went 7 straight quarters to start the season not scoring a single point .

Now Triv is an obvious offensive sage. His record speaks for itself , but in as big a head scratcher as I can remember in a while. The Jags with a very athletic returning QB and TWO D-1 targets , Pugh at TE heading to Wisky , and Junior WR Mayfield who is a great athlete and sure fire Power five guy. HOF offensive football coach who had made Mentor into an offensive juggernaut on a yearly basis and has been as good a big public school program in the state of Ohio as anyone is added to the mix and the scoring output GOES DOWN . Markedly . 295 Yards of offense and 6 points . 513 total yards for the season and ONE score ? Missed the XP and lost 7-6 . Good news is that Bradley seems to have a solid defense and should do well on that side of the ball when they get Davidson this week which had trouble moving the ball much at all vs. Orange in a 17-7 loss .

Speaking of Upper Arlington even with new HC Buttermore who is more a spread guy they seem to be sticking with the run heavy game they adopted for a year under HD coach Scally as if it was a foreign exchange student . Carson Gresock is a workhorse. He was impressive last year as a Soph and has continued to improve . 200 pounder with power and has a knack for getting some extra yards. He toted the rock 30 times for a productive 160 yards. Bradley should get a couple scores this week and beat Davidson . Defense has been solid and it should only take 13-17 to win . May be less but they should get a couple TD's this week.

Getting back to the Rocks , what made this such a nice win aside from coming back from a 14 point deficit and the quality of opponent , was the fact that they won a close game. Last year they finished at 10-3 and the three losses were by a combined 7 points . not the AVERAGE margin . the total margin of the the three games. They really could have won all of them . They had a few breaks and bounces go against them to be sure and in one game a few key guys didn't play, BUT they had chances to win all of them and none of the teams were just better than they were . All of the wins were either blowouts or they were either somewhat to very comfortable by say mid third quarter. In other words it came down to making a play or not making it , executing the play or something being just a tad off . Friday was a situation where they had to make plays to stop the opponent later in the game and they did it . Should help them down the road . Down 14-0 against Liberty who is so solid mentally and so well coached and outscoring them 24-3 the rest of the way should give them confidence and was impressive.


Defense needs to not give up an opening drive TD this week , tackle better and play with more intensity from the get go . First home game which has a muted dynamic for everyone but is still something to get them going a bit this week vs Orange. The Pioneers aren't as good offensively as either Jerome or Liberty so they should be looking to limit them early on . Pioneers do look solid defensively and will challenge them. Offensive line has three starters back but is still a work in progress as it is for most teams. They can improve their execution and it seems at times that the ability of Threats to make something out of nothing is bailing them out a bit too much. Needs to get better. Passing game needs to improve and do things on straight drops with receivers getting open better and if they can add to their solid play action off motion and screen game? Defense can certainly improve playing the ball in the air and not giving up such a high completion percentage . Now both Jerome and Liberty have solid passing schemes adn some guys who always catch the ball and QB's that are accurate and athletic , BUT an over 70 percent completion percentage on Friday is something that has to be improved upon.
 
Harrycrane said:
GPM winning wasn't surprising , BUT the kicking was a bit surprising . GPM for real? I think so . In the many think is surprising but really isn't category?
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I know GPM returns most of their skill guys and offensive weapons from last year and a lot of people were predicting they’d be good.

But.... I thought what made them special last year was their D-line. They had the best D-line Pick Central faced all season (including playoffs). Their front four was dominant, but all seniors. Their main LB was also a senior.

I guess I thought that with the loss the bulk of their front 7 and head coach, they’d take a step back...still be tough but not regional championship contender tough. However that was a statement win over the Burg.
 
Walt said:
I know GPM returns most of their skill guys and offensive weapons from last year and a lot of people were predicting they’d be good.

But.... I thought what made them special last year was their D-line. They had the best D-line Pick Central faced all season (including playoffs). Their front four was dominant, but all seniors. Their main LB was also a senior.

I guess I thought that with the loss the bulk of their front 7 and head coach, they’d take a step back...still be tough but not regional championship contender tough. However that was a statement win over the Burg.
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Burg is young and not physical enough on defense this year to deal with what GPM had coming at them . Yes GPM had a special front 4 last year, but they aren't there this year so I figured Burg may be able to keep up a bit better offensively. Figured two plus scores may be , not that blitzkrieg
 
Walt said:
I know GPM returns most of their skill guys and offensive weapons from last year and a lot of people were predicting they’d be good.

But.... I thought what made them special last year was their D-line. They had the best D-line Pick Central faced all season (including playoffs). Their front four was dominant, but all seniors. Their main LB was also a senior.

I guess I thought that with the loss the bulk of their front 7 and head coach, they’d take a step back...still be tough but not regional championship contender tough. However that was a statement win over the Burg.
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You guys won't be pushed much if at all until say the third play-off game may be? That league is not good enough to hold PC really and won't be for sometime IMO. But what it does do is enable PC to play their usual tough non conference slate with less stress. PC has been the best or right there as the best in CO in other years but the gap wasn't as big , and those non league games if lost caused stress later on when some folks were in the same realm as they were. NOT SO THIS YEAR . Everyone will have trouble scoring vs this team .
 
Walt said:
I know GPM returns most of their skill guys and offensive weapons from last year and a lot of people were predicting they’d be good.

But.... I thought what made them special last year was their D-line. They had the best D-line Pick Central faced all season (including playoffs). Their front four was dominant, but all seniors. Their main LB was also a senior.

I guess I thought that with the loss the bulk of their front 7 and head coach, they’d take a step back...still be tough but not regional championship contender tough. However that was a statement win over the Burg.
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Groveport is the real deal, they have one of the best RBs in the state. Losing their whole d line the strength of the defense now is their secondary.
 
Harrycrane said:
The Bears Bennett Lawrence had himself a night most guys would think was a good two weeks work . 8 catches for 222 yards? 860 yards passing in two games for Moeller ? Tangy ran for 340 ? Not their usual modus operandi.
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Yeah, and keep in mind he also caught 10 balls for 219 vs Liberty, so he's at 18 and nearly 450 for the season, and they aren't playing tomato cans. And led the team in tackles both games on D, has 19 for the season. There may be a few better athletes out there in terms of raw features, but there isn't anyone I'm aware of who has been more productive.
 
Week 2 in the books and there are a few interesting match-ups this week that will tell us a bit more as teams start to look a little sharper and we can see what they can do and what they can't do.

PN surprised a bit as they played a run heavy physical game with two runners Lawrence a three year vet and a breakout runner Green both going for 138 yards . Westy Central was inefficient in the passing game as the Panthers did a nice job on Holtzclaw who had a nice article in the dispatch Friday. Centennial transfers already paying dividends with Gilbert breaking off a nice 56 yard run .Green had a bunch of TD's and the Panthers grinded out the win by hanging on and getting a pick six for the final score . Holtzclaw was 21-42 for only 205 yards . Low yards per attempt and the completion percentage was not where you want it I think this is another indication of just how strong PC is . WC seems to lose these types of games and are not playing to their potential against better opponents. WC had the ball with a chance to tie but threw the Pick 6 and that ended the game.

Davidson had only 150 yards offense , but it seems that Orange has a nice defense that held Olentangy down a bit also losing 7-3 . 14 points given up for the season is pretty impressive. Orange only had 225 yards themselves but it was enough to get 20 points and get the two score win [20-7} . Davidson who was 6-7 for about 80 yards last week through the air which ended up being a big difference maker in the slugfest with Darby , was back to a more characteristic 1-6 for 3 yards . Both teams struggled on third down but were a combined 5 for 5 on 4th down . Orange punting game was outstanding as they averaged 48 yards on 4 kicks. Davidson had a less impressive 33 yard average on 6 kicks . Orange had 70 yards of penalties and Davidson played clean yet again having only 20 for the evening. Bradley and Davidson play this week and suffice to say Bradley needs this game like blood . Davidson doesn't want to go to 1-2 with Coffman up after that. Orange defense will get their biggest test this week vs. Coffman. Rocks will be a bit more versatile than Olentangy and Davidson were . Tangy has a different personality this year and they are more mature and have clearly done some good work in the strength department from last year.
 
He won't win because offensive numbers are the key , but it was nice to see Hammond Russell be nominated for CO player of the week as he was a beast for the second straight week. 9 tackles a couple for losses and a sack , the bigger stronger Russell is playing at a different level this year. The West Virginia commit has put in a lot of work and will be a handful for any team the Rocks play as I opined pre-season. Was big last week and added an interception on a screen pass where he leaped high to snag it and ran it back showing good speed on a 265 pound frame.

The other DE Jr. Buckley had a few nice plays a key play on Fields on a key down, and did his job staying home and carrying out his assignments. Rocks have been a defensive team in the last few years especially { Crager has done a very good job for along while now with the defense and has done great work with the strength and conditioning program as well } made some nice adjustments in the second half and shut teams down. As a unit they are on long streak of not giving up 30+ points in any game and they haven't given up a point in the second half of either game.

One of the surprising results from week one was Marysville shutting out Bradley. Well they came back down from the clouds this past week vs. Darby. The Monarchs did fine offensively racking up 365 yards with a solid running game { 48- 274 } and were 5 - 6 for 90 yards though the air outgaining HD , by 76 yards. Game was pretty even overall [ Turnovers even , first downs even, } as both were not good on third down and the game went back and forth .

Is this another sign of just how dysfunctional the Bradley offense is at moving the ball and if thy do they can't finish? I mean Darby scores 31 ? Marysville has a big one on deck with Jerome which should be a very competitive tilt. The Country Clubbers were in a tight competitive game with YOTW starting the 4th quarter { 28-21 } before they ripped off 28 unanswered points to end the proceedings.

Celts were very balanced on offense running for a bit over 200 and throwing for 258. YOTW had 300 yards offense . Jerome's Miller was a gaudy 17-20 throwing the rock for 258 yards { 13 an attempt} Country Clubbers only punted once and were an excellent 5-7 on third downs.


Both squads face run heavy teams this week as Jerome heads to Marysville and YOTW hosts Olentangy. First impressions are the DJ- M-Ville game is a tight last few possessions type game and the Cards will have a rough time handling Tangy on the ground eventually.
 
Harrycrane said:
PN surprised a bit as they played a run heavy physical game with two runners Lawrence a three year vet and a breakout runner Green both going for 138 yards .

I think this is another indication of just how strong PC is .
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Lawrence and Green combined for 48 yards on 22 carries against Pick Central. They each ran for over 130 vs Westerville Central.

Through 2 games Pick Central has allowed a grand total of 74 yards of total offense...keep in mind the 2s and JVs played 3 of the 8 quarters so far.

With Central Crossing’s win over Lancaster I’m hoping that means they will push back a little and give Pick Central some work before the Groveport game. That will be the real test.
 
Walt said:
Lawrence and Green combined for 48 yards on 22 carries against Pick Central. They each ran for over 130 vs Westerville Central.

Through 2 games Pick Central has allowed a grand total of 74 yards of total offense...keep in mind the 2s and JVs played 3 of the 8 quarters so far.

With Central Crossing’s win over Lancaster I’m hoping that means they will push back a little and give Pick Central some work before the Groveport game. That will be the real test.
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Not likely . GPM got two defensive TD's to push it out but they seem legit. PC wins by 3 scores in that one IMO . May be worse . Regional game last year was telling and PC defense is better now . GPM will have trouble because PC can load the box and feel very comfortable putting a couple guys on the Island so to speak. R-Burg has a totally new defense and was not strong enough physically . The score vs. Gahanna was a bit misleading . We will see how the regions shake out but suffice to say PC is at it's apex as a program right now . One of those periods in time you don't see very often . Just an embarrassment of riches in the speed size and strength realm. They work really hard which separates them even further. I think a special defensive effort can compete with PC'S offense for a while but the defense is too much for pretty much anyone in Ohio to move the ball against on any consistent basis . Complacency and may be overconfidence may be PC's biggest opponent
 
Week 3 is pretty much here as teams formulate their game plans and get ready to make that jump in level of execution. At this point we will probably see better execution, teams in better 'game" shape and be more ready to roll. Probably the first week teams thinking about where they may be seeded and or if they opt in. I expect only a team or two pre region to consider NOT participating in the play-offs .


Hilliard Bradley at Davidson - CP Line HD - 12

Seems like the numbers CP put out last week were tighter than this week's . A few inflated lines and in this game I have it more a pick em type situation with the 12 point dog being the better club. Bradley fumbled deep inside UA territory and had a pass picked off in UA's end zone . In hoops they use the expression there is a lid on the basket when a team goes ice cold from the field. Another one you hear is " We couldn't throw the ball in the ocean ". Bradley it seems needs 8 forms of ID , provide their 8th grade' ex girlfriends mothers maiden name , full finger print analysis , pass a blood and hair sample drug test and then have it all notarized after getting a member of congress to nominate them in order to score a touchdown . Again in the paper this week coach Loparo intimated that the kids were still trying to grasp coach Triv's new offense . Well , if they are trying to reinvent the wheel , it isn't going real well early on. Desperate to not have QB Mirgon carry the ball 20 times a game they shifted super athletic Mayfield from wide out to more of a hybrid RB.

Coach Loparo knows his team is under performing and was talking about Davidson's offense like it was the Nebraska Cornhuskers circa 1983{ 52 a game and 400 rushing yard average} . He is feeling a bit of pressure, but why should he ? He probably misses the play-offs again if it was a normal year. Not so with this one though . If the kids can figure out the offense which appears is equal parts nuclear fission and quantum physics by week 7 they will be dangerous. The mighty HD offense out up 150 yards of offense last week . I like their running backs as well , but lets slow down coach Loparo on the offense being dynamic . Bradley defense which has played well is up to this challenge and the offense has gotten that congressional endorsement . Drug tests came back clean and the maiden name of their former middle school GF they found out was Paydirt. Both clubs head to week four 1-2 .


Bradley 17 Davidson 10
 
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Week 2 cont.

Groveport Madison at Lancaster - CP Line GPM - 36

Yes you read that right . Only a few seasons removed from a WINLESS season the Grovers go down to Lenkuhster as a whopping 5 TD and a penny favorite ? If you weren't aware what was going on the last few years you might think " Did the Gaels get rid of football as a varsity sport? Are they playing at a club level now? Good lord . Now the Grovers did pound on the Burg pretty well last week . 342 yards to 180 and controlled the action from box to wire. A 40ish point win vs. Westland proceeded this eye opener . Burg as usual has athletes . But they were green and their hammering on the scoreboard vs. Gahanna was a bit misleading . The Gaels could easily be 2-0 this season, instead of the 0-2 as they find themselves for the FIFTH straight season ? Are you freaking kidding me ?

Now the Gaels could physically be more equipped on defense to stand up to this club . GPM has some size at RB and some great speed and talent . Lancaster has had a knack the last few years losing games they should win , but the also can surprise an unsuspecting opponent from time to time and they do have some talent to work with . How ugly was last weeks Central Crossing game ? Quasimodo level ugly. How about losing a game where you hold the opponent to 124 yards of offense? You somehow give up 21 points with that output? Talk about finding ways to lose. The teams combined for a 7th grade pop warner like 3- 17 passing for a whopping 34 yards ? 2 yards an attempt ? Most garter bowls double that production level .

The Gaels were 1-11 for 12 yards through the air . That's Quasimodo's less handsome brother ugly. The Gaels did produce 175 total yards but lost the turnover battle by two which set the Comets up for success and ultimately the victory in a game that you can no longer find on tape or video as all copies were incinerated shortly after the contest went final. All this Gael unpleasantness may have you thinking I am calling for a 40 point loss here. Not so . The Gaels rise to occasions on occasion if you will. I think their anger , pride and being at home and a bit embarrassed is a formula for playing better. Getting a 36 point head start courtesy of CP , is a head start even an idiot son can turn into a decent life.

GPM 33 Lancaster 12
 
Week 3 cont.

Going to get some of the what I think are bad lines out of the way first . Won't judge the prediction totally on covering this number as it is inflated by about 11-13 points IMO .


Dublin Sawmill at Canal Winchester - CP Line CW - 21

Canal was the better club last year which may play into this a bit , but the disparity wasn't that large. Scioto did paly Kilbourne with Tomasek out and he was lights out vs Canal in week one in a huge Wolves win. In fact the Wolves back-up then rolled his ankle and Scioto grinded out and ugly win vs. the third string Soph JV . QB . The Irish are once again worthy the Sawmill express moniker. For this who may not know Scioto is east of the Scioto river as the other two Dublin HS's are west of it . Sawmill Parkway runs North and South and kind of serves as a loose eastern border of the school district , bordering the Columbus city school boundary and the Worthington schools edge. It borders the edge of the UA district on the south and the Olentangy district to the north. It is a major commercial Parkway with multiple stores restaurants and businesses. Scioto is situated about a block or so from Sawmill Parkway. The Irish can throw the rock a bit this year at an express like level , and they have a nice bigger RB to keep defenses honest . A nice stable of receivers to help RB Worthen . Andut , Lopes Trent Boze and Jeffy are nice targets for QB 1 Jenkins.

Irish have an extra day to prepare for this one as they played last Thursday night. Canal was outgained by a Tomasek led Kilbourne offense by half a football field or so . Stephen Byrd is a legit stud RB and the Irish will have to key on him . CW lost some good players from last years 9-2 team and last week's blowout of Franklin Heights was a breeze so their energy level should be high here at home. I just don't think they can get this type of margin here. Scioto threw for a ton of yards vs. the Westy South Ibbies , but they surrender yards like France surrenders wars. Speaking of the Ibbies they can really score the football and they prefer to play fast in order to get the ball back , so it seems to work for them to a certain level.

Really interesting match-up here that favors CW by a bit but not this much.


CW 31 Irish 26
 
Week 3 cont.

New Albany at Gahanna - CP Line NA - 15

Number is definitely heavy here. This may be an underrated rivalry around the outer belt. Knowing folks in both communities ,I know there is some emotion involved. Proximity breeds contempt? I don't think it's that emotionally heavy , but I do know that the Lions are motivated by last years first loss to New Albany which was a butt kicking [41-17}. Gahanna may have had as tough a schedule as anyone without a Saint or Archbishop in front of them in the state . Started 0-6 . Lost to Burg by a lot . The game wasn't as lopsided as the score suggests . Snap for snap not a large disparity . { 365- 308 yardage} Lions got some confidence by crushing Westland last week in a no heavy lifting game after an uneven start. Lots left in the tank here.

Week one New Albany was played even by Lancaster and Titan Johnson { All name team } threw for 157 yards. yes he was a poor 5-15 and last week was 1-11 for 12 yards , but the 157 is significant. Gahanna QB Trey Burger I saw last year for a spell vs Coffman. He moves around OK and throws a tight accurate ball. I look for him to equal Titan's output here and a bit more . Lions RB Ronald Blackman is a class RB, he has been productive the first two weeks and gives them nice balance in this match-up. New Albany flexed a bit last week pulling away from Grove City gaining over 400 yards and cruising to a 16 point win. They Lost their " Big " { He's about 150 pounds} Back Malachi Maccauley who is out for a longer while. Great name . Malachi reminds of the famous brothers who were demolition derby experts and had a great weapon called the Malachi crunch. Well Malachi's injury has unveiled another All Name team guy Jayden Fudge who has piled up nice yardage in Malachi's absence. 200 in week one vs Lancaster and 157 last week vs GC. He is a handful . Bigger than Malachi and as productive.

Even match-up to me and getting 15 points ? No brainer . I see what kind of numbers may have gone into this , but rivalry, equal raw talent , and some extra motivation for the Lions this year. Last few possessions . Upset revenge special?


Gahanna 23 New Albany 21
 
Week 3 cont.

Olentangy Liberty at Upper Arlington - CP Line OL - 8

This is a tight line . Spot on to me actually . I Jotted down 7- 7.5 myself before looking for the Cal Preps number. Liberty is marginally better than UA , a bit more efficient , coaching staff has been in place long time and it shows. They have a solid Senior group that was very successful at the Frosh level { Undefeated } and JV level. Only Kenley contributed significantly as a Sophomore as he was the starting RB. Kenley appears a bit bigger and stronger this year after a productive Soph. year and a injury riddled Junior Yr. Balance a bit of burst , more quick than flat out elite speed but can separate when needed to get crucial yards. Coffman did a nice job on him in the run game . Made him earn his 96 yards on 23 carries. He is also a nice safety valve in the passing game where he is tough to tackle in space .

UA also has a really nice RB in Junior Carson Gresock who i saw last year as a Soph.vs Coffman. Bigger than Kenley { about 15-18 pounds} not as shifty but grinds out yards , falls forward and runs tough. He left last week's game late. 172 yards in a game where the Bears only scored 7 . Weird game vs Bradley in that both teams moved the ball much better than their outputs on the scoreboard.

The difference I see in this game is the passing game. Liberty at this point is much more efficient. Fields was 22-30 last week vs Coffman for 229 yards. UA isn't at the level of Coffman defensively this year. Fields has been on point in the first two weeks and it's great to see a kid who waits his turn and does the work while a back-up improves each year and gets off to a really nice start his Senior year . Even the balls that were batted down by Coffman by athletic Defensive backs were on target. Bears QB playing in his THIRD different system in 3 years time is still obviously adjusting to new Coach Buttermore more spread attack. He has gone 21-47 for 225 against pretty solid defenses . It doesn't get any easier this week . Liberty plays faster than their foot speed because they are so well coached and anticipate so well. They have talent . Not elite talent , BUT they play faster than they are and they are tough mentally and physically. They all do their jobs to a T a huge majority of snaps .

Both have good size on the O-Line , both have similar talent levels on defense . The difference here will be the passing game , Gresock may be not being 100 percent { Bears may be banged up a bit more here overall} and as good as Buttermore is there is no substitute for the level of continuity that the Liberty staff has going against a staff in their first year in a program . Fields , Kenley , Barcus and Brecht sounds like a law firm in a tony part of town. These guys make the difference making plays .


Liberty 27 UA 13
 
After watching some of the SR vids from last week, feel a little better about a couple of things. The WC/PN game was extremely close until the last 2 min when 2 pk6s were thrown, although it still is concerning their ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

YOTW definitely seems improved, and their score was also marred by pk6 turnovers.

Coffman made great use of their backs on swing/screen passes to score vs Liberty and they clearly had no answer for defending. Wasn't clear if Liberty's run defense was there shutting them down, but due to the lack of highlights seems like they must have done a pretty good job. And to your point, Liberty's QB was very good and it took some nice defensive plays by the Coffman DBs to bat away passes that otherwise were going to be big trouble.

Orange's defense seems to not have really faced any committed passing attacks yet and this may have over-inflated their results. They clearly have the personnel to stop run-happy teams. But if Coffman is going to swing their backs out and get them dump routes in open space, this will be a new kind of challenge for them and I'm going to go out on a limb and predict some success for Coffman again if that is their game plan. Doesn't necessarily have to be Berlin-style downfield passing.

The SR angle of the Berlin/Tangy games doesn't really do the passing game justice, but if you get a min look up QB Moeller's HUDL and just watch his 2 min highlight from the Tangy game. How are you going to defend that? The placement on his downfield throws is simply absurd. Tangy did not have busted coverages or coverage problems, WRs got a half step and the ball was throw perfectly and there's not anything they could have done differently. Unfortunately, Berlin lacks a defense that can keep them in games and continues making special teams mistakes, and this will prevent them from going deep in the playoffs this year. But definitely one of the top throwers in all of OH.
 
KramericaIndustries said:
After watching some of the SR vids from last week, feel a little better about a couple of things. The WC/PN game was extremely close until the last 2 min when 2 pk6s were thrown, although it still is concerning their ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

YOTW definitely seems improved, and their score was also marred by pk6 turnovers.

Coffman made great use of their backs on swing/screen passes to score vs Liberty and they clearly had no answer for defending. Wasn't clear if Liberty's run defense was there shutting them down, but due to the lack of highlights seems like they must have done a pretty good job. And to your point, Liberty's QB was very good and it took some nice defensive plays by the Coffman DBs to bat away passes that otherwise were going to be big trouble.

Orange's defense seems to not have really faced any committed passing attacks yet and this may have over-inflated their results. They clearly have the personnel to stop run-happy teams. But if Coffman is going to swing their backs out and get them dump routes in open space, this will be a new kind of challenge for them and I'm going to go out on a limb and predict some success for Coffman again if that is their game plan. Doesn't necessarily have to be Berlin-style downfield passing.

The SR angle of the Berlin/Tangy games doesn't really do the passing game justice, but if you get a min look up QB Moeller's HUDL and just watch his 2 min highlight from the Tangy game. How are you going to defend that? The placement on his downfield throws is simply absurd. Tangy did not have busted coverages or coverage problems, WRs got a half step and the ball was throw perfectly and there's not anything they could have done differently. Unfortunately, Berlin lacks a defense that can keep them in games and continues making special teams mistakes, and this will prevent them from going deep in the playoffs this year. But definitely one of the top throwers in all of OH.
Click to expand...

Coffman ran for just under 5 a carry . Threats got outside a few times (. 70 yards 10 carries ) for decent gains and QB Mathews added 80 yards between the tackle pulling the ball out and in a few designed runs ( 17 attempts ) . Coffman did a better job than Liberty running the ball . Liberty had a better overall passing attack . Coffman executed two passes over the middle after spreading them out and when the Backers came up on play action off of motion Threats and Phipps ran past and Mathews was on the money hitting them in stride . You aren’t catching them at that point . Really nice chess match and high level of play at this point of a weird season
 
Harry, the vids were deceiving in the PN WC game. PN ran the ball at will against a good WC defense (350 yards+). If it wasn’t for a couple special team blunders, PN runs away with it. If they develop any kind of passing game, they might be dangerous. They’re a better team than I thought, after seeing them week 1
 
OccFtball said:
Harry, the vids were deceiving in the PN WC game. PN ran the ball at will against a good WC defense (350 yards+). If it wasn’t for a couple special team blunders, PN runs away with it. If they develop any kind of passing game, they might be dangerous. They’re a better team than I thought, after seeing them week 1
Click to expand...

I didn’t comment on that game.. that was Kramer . I agree that they are a solid team
 
Week 3 cont.

Olentangy Orange at Dublin Coffman - CP Line DC - 18


The Coffman program in the Crabtree era has been known best for consistency. Has there been a couple play-of losses that they could have or probably " should " have won? Probably . But even the most ardent critics and rivals admit that the program is very consistently successful and their is a expectation of winning and being successful . The other thing that sticks out from time to time is they don't panic . This speaks well of the coaching staff. The continuity of the staff , and the nature of the staff lends itself to not getting really high or too low when things are going south. No bickering and finger pointing on the sideline , no overly emotional outbursts that can affect future plays.

Just put your head down , shake it off , give a quick yell and make adjustments . Coaches don't panic, players don't panic. I have played for both kinds of staffs in my day . Chaotic panic , screaming staffs that added to the already stressful situation and rarely helped the situation. What works better is trying to find a solution and make the situation better by regrouping without the chaos . When you deal with an irate or stressed person in business or a personal situation the best thing to do is inject some positive energy into the situation after acknowledging the stress and the reasons for it and turning them and the situation around. More negative energy thrown into a negative situation makes things worse . The Coffman program and staff does a good job of keeping the situation from snowballing in most cases.


This being said , how about win the first quarter this week guys. The defense has played the role of the boxer feeling out his opponent , feeling the power and letting things come to him a bit. Now last week there was a few missed tackles that contributed to the first TD drive. Jerome scored first with a few completions into less tight coverage with the QB rolling right and then ran a screen on the other side of the field which resulted in a walk in TD basically. Now Jerome and Liberty had QB's who had a really grasp of the offenses and both staff's put together good offensive plans . First drive is often a bit scripted and the kids know exactly what they want to do and it's a matter of just executing it . Well they passed that first exam with flying colors . Rocks defense comes off of the field and the team is down with a chunk of the first quarter gone . Now if you play a bit more aggressively and they take a shot and hit a big play and score? OK that ahs been happening anyway , but here there is less time off of the clock ? Win the first couple possessions , win the first quarter .


Orange shut down Davidson pretty well last week giving up only 150 yards and 7 points . They only had about 225 themselves but it was good enough for 20 points . They had only 3 points vs Olentangy moving the ball in a similar fashion but weren't finishing drives. I think this season that Tangy has a better more experienced defense than Davidson has . Rocks will need to tackle well against a physical back with some size in Applegate . The key is to not let that type of back get momentum and get started.. Think the way you handled Whitmer's Jared Banks last year . Most of the evening you hat a few hats near him and on him very quickly after he got the ball and you tackled him low , or the first two stood him up stopping the momentum and other cleaned it up .

Houston is another running back . QB Laisure is a flame throwing pitcher in baseball and a first year starter and obviously has an arm . Receiver Konczak has been very productive in his career and they will try to get the the ball into his hands and good handful of times . Disabato had a nice game vs Davidson with 5 catches . Oranges best overall football player may be LB Ampadu who is very solid . A Senior with some tools. Rocks will have to be ready for a more physical run game approach and Orange will need to be ready for a more balanced offense after facing Davidson who had no passing attack last week and Olentangy who is a run heavy team this year for the first time I can remember.


Rocks play a different style and have more team speed and talent on offense which is hard to simulate in practice and last weeks game hasn't prepared them much for this week's match-up . Rocks will test them on the edges and then attack the middle with QB Mathews keeping the ball or finding receivers in the middle. Win the first quarter , match the physicality and emotion and execute your schemes with your talented players making plays , getting a lead and then grinding with consistency . First home game . There is limited opportunity this year to show what you have . You have taken advantage of the first two weeks and the work put in was evident . Tonight is another opportunity to make a mark and perform at a high level . Perfect weather most likely and a nice home smattering of people. Ball out , do the job and make the most of every game. Rocks should do well here against a quality program.


DC 31 Orange 14
 
Week 3 cont.

Very short on time today unexpectedly , but a couple more games I want to mention here in a shorter fashion.


Jerome at Marysville -CP Line DJ -10

Very interesting ballgame to be sure. M-Ville wants to control the ball on the ground , but unlike many run heavy teams likes to paly at a bit faster tempo . Nice scheme , two physical backs in Sr.Kern and Five star Jr. LB Powers . M-Ville has moved the rock well at times and will test the Country Clubbers up front as the Celts have some talented kids up front on defense but they are young . three Sophs may be starting . Celts offense is more experienced , a couple solid lineman back a few receivers, and their QB. Their Running backs are first year ball carriers for the most part but they have some ability Everheart is pretty solid , Kirk runs well. I think the line is wrong, much more a pick em type situation IMO. I think both teams will have some success moving the ball at times and the key will be who gets a key stop at a crucial time in the ballgame. Turnovers are to difficult to handicap , but suffice to say the turnover battle is always key in an even match-up .

Jerome 23 Marysville 22 coin flip on who wins a closely contested game
 
Coffman handled Orange pretty easily, as anticipated. Will share some thoughts on the rest of the OLSD round-up.

Liberty finally got the breakout game from Kenly and won a hard-fought game vs UA. Stats ended up somewhat even after a 75yd TD run for UA, but it looks like Liberty is a solid 2nd place team in that league.

Once again with both games up I found myself ignoring the Tangy snooze-fest and having to pay full attention to Berlin/Darby. Tangy's defense is still very good and you can't hold the Berlin game against them (no one should read anything into any team Berlin plays, they are indefensible and only stop themselves). Tangy had less success running the ball this week but actually did get some passing output, which is a surprise because they do not have a QB that is going to perform well against good passing defenses. I think they are highly likely to out-brawn both Marysville and Darby and run away with the league title, however, when you are playing close, low-scoring games against meat-headed teams, someones one tragic mistake can turn a game.

It was great to see Darby fans finally get an exciting game to watch and see their team executing against one of the poorest defenses in COH. Horvath ran for just under 300 yards and 5 TDs and tried to throw the ball a lot more than recent years, but was largely ineffective because the coaching staff has no clue what they are doing in the passing game and has to rely on deception and having everyone charge the line to stop their run in order to have successful passing plays.

Berlin's offense is NFL-quality in terms of entertainment value. Moeller threw for just under 300 yards/3TDs and is over 1100 for the season. Tonight's game featured a 1-handed grab on a fly pattern 40 yds down the field that ended up a 75yd TD that will 100% be the OHio HS highlight of the week. They finally got a 100 yard rushing game there, as there were holes there tonight that had not been the previous 2 weeks vs Liberty and Tangy and had 2 other long runs called back (including a 50yd TD) on phantom holding penalties, which weren't being called on Darby when they had the ball.

There was also a K.O.R for TD, a pick 6, and Berlin iced the game when they kicked off up 48.41, Darby was returning the kickoff for what might have been a TD, but the ball carrier was run down from behind by a 6'4 1st year football player recruited off the basketball team who was actually smart enough to knock the ball out instead of tackling on the 5 yard line and it was recovered for a touchback. This game had everything. Except defense.

This is as fun a team to watch on offense as you will see. They still stop themselves often with penalties and tonight there were some drops late in the game as some of the 2 way kids were clearly getting tired, but it rarely is the other defense stopping them unless the coaches get stubborn with ill-advised run calls. But with the running game functioning much better this week, they were able to run out the clock in the 4th Q (game was 41.41 early in the 4th). The remaining 3 teams on their schedule will absolutely not be able to stop them and if they can stop the mistakes they should definitely win the last 3 games and be 4-2 with losses to a pair of 5-1 teams (or really Tangy should go 6-0, but I expect they will slip somewhere).

D2 playoffs are an interesting proposition, really excited to see what shakes out. Would love a shot at the SWO D2 teams as opposed to Toledo for both Tangy and Berlin, there are actually some tough D2 teams up there this year beyond ToledoCC. Hopefully things keep going and we can have a safe season because both Tangy and Berlin can make some noise.
 
It was great to go to a football game on Friday. Rocks came out focused and executed very well. The weather suddenly turned cool and was actually a bit cold at the end of the contest. it was if the football and weather gods got together and said , we know this is only week three but here in Ohio it's the halfway point in the regular season so lets give them a cooler climate here .

Not going to lie , my mind sometimes wanders to where the season would be under on once in a century pandemic conditions. The Rocks would have been hosting Elder on Friday night and from what I saw they are more than capable this year of competing well with them . Unfortunately all we have is ' It would have been a really good game ". From my research on the Woodland Hills team in PA and where they are this year as a program who would have been the opponent in week one , the Rocks would have won that one , probably comfortably . Week two was at home vs Northmont. Rocks would be pushed a bit and N-Mont has some nice players and a transfer QB who appears good but another win IMO.

That would have brought the Elder match-up at home and a very interesting Friday night . Jerome would be following this week , then Groveport Madison . Then the league action they are playing now in the same order. When I start thinking this way, I quickly stop knowing that the situation could be worse and we should be grateful .

Anyway , a pretty solid if imperfect or uneven performance by the Rocks . I tend to observe more like a coach and notice the flaws , mistakes and missteps . In my write up of the game I was asking for them to win the first quarter for the first time . They did that and more. Executed at a high level on offense and took care of business on defense .

Opening drive was perfect. Mathews chunk run on the opening play{ 13 yards} then five short concise pass completions to move into Pioneer territory . Threats 14 yard run, another couple QB Mathews runs, Threats from one yard out.

Rocks defense gets the three and out and the Rocks score again quickly . A handful of plays , the big one being Mathews best pass of the night a 30 yard completion to Sheron Phipps who had another nice ballgame .

Maggs comes in at QB with Rocks leading 14-0 and getting the ball back , a couple completions , Threats running , them Maggs throws a pick . rocks got the ball right back on a fumble which were the only two turnovers in the ballgame. Maggs gets the team into the end zone with the drive starting at the Pioneer 40 . Some running by Threats and Maggs , the drive culminating in another TD , this time a slip screen to Hedderly that was kind of scary with Pioneers on either side of him but Maggs got it to him in stride he got a block and knifed his way into the end zone from 14 yards out. 21-0 .

This is when some sloppiness ensued for the rest of the half. Pioneers reeling a bit , have a third and long on the next possession and the Rocks look like they have a sack of Laisure who was very slippery strong and athletic got out of the predicament and threw a 20 yard pass to Konczak that appeared complete but was ruled incomplete , but the Rocks got dinged with a personal foul for hitting Laisure. Next play Konczak does his best Chris Scott impression from last year when the Panthers got back in the game vs. the Rocks with a double move bomb , Laisure with his best pass of the night hits him in stride dropping a dime for a 50 yard TD . Big momentum shift which continued as the Rocks were flagged for anohter 15 yarder on the TD pass and started deep in territory and the fired up Pioneers stopped the Rocks who had another key peanlty .

Bad punt sets up Pioneers with plenty of time left in the half to make it a one score game. This would have been a surreal result as the Rocks were dominant for most of the half. Rocks held and the third quarter was also a bit sloppy with the Rocks not scoring. Rocks put it away with a nice drive to start the 4th quarter gobbling up a nice chunk of clock .


Rocks outgained them 360 to 99 , with 50 of the Pioneers yards coming on one play. RB Applegate was out for the Pioneers which hurt them a bit , BUT there was little room for any running backs and he is a 200 pounder who is tougher to bring down , there wasn't much he would have been able to do given what was going on up front Pioneers were bigger , but the Rocks were quicker were getting off blocks and there gap integrity was excellent. Oh and Devon Williams was a beast on this night . Russell was a handful as he is all the time and he made a lot of plays , Williams was all over the field .He makes plays everywhere, he even had a few snaps at RB . He was setting edges , chasing down the QB , good in coverage , you name it , he did it and does it for this defense . PJ Fleck is getting a good one at Minnesota . Physical tools and a very smart player .
Negatives were the penalty's that kind of shifted momentum and gave Orange a sense that they could get back in the game. Two kickoffs that went out of bounds . Rocks are employing the Ohio State strategy of a couple years ago when they frequently tried to nail the kickoff to the far corner and try to execute it so they get a stop inside the 20 or worse. Well the risk reward ratio went against them . Two drives starting at the 35 . Offensive line was a bit inconsistent and missed some blocks , Guard Ballay went out with an ankle it looked like and he has been solid . Hopefully he's able to play in the Davidson rivalry game as a Senior. Mathews was 10- 15 but there were a couple deeper seam routes that he misfired on that were a bit high. Those plays will be there for them because of the Rocks running ability with Threats and Mathews himself being a handful . On a third down in field goal range the Rocks ran a screen behind the line of scrimmage that went for negative yards and out of field goal range then missed the 4th down play . Pioneers did a nice job on Threats "Limiting " him to 84 yards on 15 tries with no homeruns . Mathews had 85 yards on 12 attempts.

Defense was very solid in a harder hitting contest and aside from the long pitch and catch was solid technique wise effort wise and tackled pretty well overall. Jr.Mitch Broskie OLB , had a nice night with a couple heavy hits . First time seeing him , he was a transfer from Orange and is a really good wrestler . Dorian Weaver was a presence as well . Defensive line was solid against a big Pioneer O-line . Played some 4 man fronts with Jr. Kyle Buckley who usually plays on the end at about 230 pounds going inside and taking on and occupying large blockers very well .
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Sr. WR Hicks did a good job with 4 catches for a 9 yard per catch average, Phipps had 6 grabs for less per catch . Hedderly contributed the TD and and had two other catches .

A nice night and it was great to go to a game . Solid performance and another home game vs Davidson next week. Rocks have about a month to get better for the play-offs . A lot of positives , but some things to clean up a bit which is a continuing theme for all football teams . Some interesting results around CO that I will talk about later today or tomorrow.
 
Week 3 is behind us and in the seven games I was able to write up a bit , had a nice 5-2 vs the number with the two losses being by 1 point { Liberty - 8 won by 7 , had them wining by 14} and 3 points { Coffman - 18 winning by 17 , and they won by 21}. Two games I didn't get to that I was interested in were Berlin - Darby which I thought Berlin would win by out scoring Darby, but somehow i kind of forgot about that one and forgot to put it down and the DeSales - Hartley war which is ALWAYS close . I was going to make it a 1-3 point win for either team as the line was Hartley - 4.

Gahanna won as a 15 point underdog as I predicted in a go either way type game. Blackmon was great at RB for the Lions and NA went for two in OT and came up a half yard short.

Canal going up 21-0 over Scioto didn't look good for my take that the game would be close with Canal wining and Scioto grabbing 21 points even looked in peril. Irish came all the way back to win by a score.

Liberty gave up a bit more yards than I figured and their offense scored one less TD . Passing advantage I figured Liberty had didn't show itself as I thought, but Kenley made up for it and the Patriots bowed up and stopped the Bears inside the three at the end of the game to secure the victory.

Jerome -M-Ville was the game that went way wrong, as I figured a last possession nailbiter ending in a razor close finish with Jerome eeking out the win . M-Ville clearly was the better team winning 31-12 .

I had Bradley beating Davidson by a touchdown and they were getting 12 points off of their poor offensive performances. Bradley won by 5 22-17.
Davidson did very well on offense in this game and usually that would be enough but they gave up 22 all in the first half. Gives rival Coffman who according to Cal Preps is a whopping 31 point favorite something to think about and prep for no question. The line is Absurd . Coffman is a very good team and that is said without any admitted bias, but that is by far the largest number by Pasteur or Cal preps in the history of this rivalry . Coffman is better no question about that, but the numbers in general are a bit inflated again this week. There are clear favorites to be sure but you will see the numbers seeming a tad high with this one being the most inflated .

Other games I am looking at include

At PC - 14 Groveport

Burg -15 at Lancaster

At Liberty -19 Bradley

At Westy C - 19 Gahanna

At Jerome - 4 Berlin

Olentangy - 18 at Darby

At Orange - 5 Upper Arlington

At Northmont - 1 Springfield

These seem to be the most interesting . Rematch with Watterson and DeSales is kind of interesting I suppose . Jerome Berlin looks like a really nice even match-up , Orange UA will be a key one for both squads not wanting to get that 3rd loss . Tangy Darby has been a longer term matchup and the teams are very familiar with each other . Kramerica will undoubtedly weight in on this one as he will with Jerome -Berlin I am sure.
Springfield - Northmont is a key game in R-2 { If regions hold serve that is} PC - GPM is getting some hype , but not sure if that's really a close match-up . Liberty can further solidify their number two status in the league behind Coffman. Can Lenkuhster bag their first win after last weeks impressive showing in defeat ? Can Gahanna get back up to face a better team in West C and keep that one competitive?

In the Coffman - Davidson game , under normal conditions in week 8 the Cats would almost assuredly be in a position in my opinion where they needed this game to make the play-offs . Not so this year . They can finish 1-5 and play a meaningful game in week 7. The sledding doesn't get any easier for the Cats as they have Coffman , Liberty and UA to close the regular season.
 
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Yeesh, not sure what to do with that 18pt spread in Tangy/Darby. First thing to not get caught up in is the transitive property of Tangy/Berlin/Darby playing round-robin games and assuming each game is the same. This is a COMPLETELY different matchup than Berlin/Darby was last week. Where Berlin has zero LB play and can't stop the run at all, Tangy has exceptional linebacker play and defends the run quite well.

Because neither team can throw the ball effectively, the complexion of the game is much different and this should actually be a low scoring affair, despite both team's games vs. Berlin. Horvath is an explosive runner if he gets free, the key to the game will really come down to whether or not he gets any breakout runs or if they are able to completely fool Tangy with a pass play that is unexpected. Tangy's offense is likely to have success because Darby was definitely the worse of the 2 run Ds vs. Berlin. But they will be able to fully key the run and don't have to be terrified of the pass.

With 2 teams that are going to feature the run, 18 points seems like too many.

Jerome present a new look for Berlin compared to the last 2 weeks, really more like Liberty in many ways in terms of being balanced and having a QB who can actually throw pretty well. They are always very well coached and know they will come up with some new coverage schemes, but we already know from last year's game that ultimately Jerome doesn't have the kids to cover all Berlin's receivers and I'm fully expecting them to get their 450+ yards again this week for the 4th week in a row.

Berlin's game right now all comes down to mistakes. When they don't turn the ball over or make special teams mistakes and don't have untimely penalties, they can beat anyone this side of Hoban. When they do make those mistakes, as they often do, their defense is so bad right now that they can't stem off the negative impacts of those mistakes and it has been costing them ball games. Expecting perfectly clean games from HS kids is a tough task, and why the ultimate outcome of any Berlin game will always be in doubt.

There just aren't enough superlatives to describe how well QB Moeller is throwing the ball right now. One of the Berlin coaches tweeted a HUDL highlight they made of his first 3 games (1128 yds and 8TDs) and it is really worth 3 min of your time. WR Lawrence is featured prominently in them (and has to be 1st team all-state), but they also get different help each week, which makes their 4 WR set just impossible to defend. Week 1, Loeffler had 9 catches for over 100 yds. Week 2, Rader had over 100 yds and 3 TDs. Last week, Horstman had 6/112. They are running complex, pro style route combos out of 4 WR sets, and even when well covered, Lawrence just catches every ball he is targeted.

www.hudl.com

Senior Year: First 3-Game Highlights

Senior Year: First 3-Game Highlights
www.hudl.com www.hudl.com

All that said, the 1 thing that has been pretty impossible to predict is the outcome of Berlin games this year, other than the fact that a lot of points will be scored. I guess I would say this is a game Berlin SHOULD win, as it was last year until some very smart coaching on 4th down gave Jerome a penalty to extend a drive.
 
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