The "Official" Colerain Cardinals Game Thread: Week 1 vs. Lakota West Firebirds ** Homecoming Edition **

[cincifbfan]

Great win for West! A few things that stood out for me were...
1. Execution was sloppy for both teams overall, it looked like a scrimmage through much of the game. You could tell that having only 1 scrimmage hurt both teams.

2. Lots of careless penalties by both teams.... That typically is reflective of coaching and I'm positive both will clean those up.

3. West was running a nice scheme on their counters. They were pulling the guard to go opposite of where the ball was going. You almost never see that anymore but is devastating to the LB reads. That to me was the biggest "wrinkle" Bolden threw in there that really slowed down Colerain's LBs and had them guessing.

I wouldn't be surprised if these 2 meet again in playoffs.

 

[PDC]

Crazy to ever see Colerain shut out.

 

[chaingang]

Being a lifelong fan I must say it was very disappointing. We have no identity on Offense. I believe it's a no-brainer to play Freddy but you have to make a decision and go with it. You can't rotate two QB's that have two totally different styles. Make a decision and go with it, geez don't be afraid to put Freddy in the gun and run the Joker offense....

Frustrated Fan

 

[GLAT]

The worst offense Colerain has had since I have been following them. The line is tiny. Defense looks good.

 

[mike45069]

I felt like Colerain had their smallest offensive line I have ever seen. Maybe it was West was huge, not sure. Freddy Johnson has the leadership factor and can hit the home run with a seam, he needs to be their guy and their offense will be fine. Remember last year how creative the Colerain offensive coordinator got, he was very good. Give it a little time, now that they aren't weighed down with that burden, they can find their identity on offense. Freddy Johnson played great football last year and he will do the same. Last ngiht was like a scrimmage and Colerain got to see what worked and did not work and now they get to adjust. With their defense they might run the table and be a toigh out in the playoffs

 

[Davis]

Congrats and nothing but credit to Tom and Lakota West. Nothing but respect. The entire atmosphere, in the stands and on the field seemed so surreal. It was just a small scrimmage size crowd, it certainly wasn't The Cage. Crazy looking over seeing Tom on the other side, and seeing 2 Boldens boys playing against Colerain, along with transfer Kweisi Jones.

The entire game felt like a scrimmage. Extremely sloppy play on both sides, West was just less sloppy than the Cards and left with the W. West has one hell of a defense. Looked so much like your typical run fast, hit hard Colerain defense.

Defensively the Cards are very good once again and they'll continue to get even better. Offensively, we're a train wreck. It was a lot of trial and error schematically. Absolutely zero identify. These are things that you typically iron out during scrimmages but with the lack of preseason work we didn't get to work through this. The o-line is obviously very small and brand new to the varsity level. They're still learning but they'll improve. The offense still has tons of athletes and lots of speed. You just have to find a way to get them in positions to make plays. Going forward, Freddie must be the guy. Last season, the improvements he made from week 1 against Wayne until the regional title game were amazing. We are already moving on the the Oak Hills game.
Go Cards!

 

[darbydavidsonfan]

Congrats to Colerain on the great run!
I still remember when the last run ended back in 2008 against Middletown and yet that team still found it’s way to the regional finals.
That’s 12 freakin years since a conference loss!
Fans should only be proud. Just means it’s time to start another great run. Again congrats and good luck next week. Congrats to LW as well!

 

[MickeyMantle]

Congrats to Colerain on the great run!
I still remember when the last run ended back in 2008 against Middletown and yet that team still found it’s way to the regional finals.
That’s 12 freakin years since a conference loss!
Fans should only be proud. Just means it’s time to start another great run. Again congrats and good luck next week. Congrats to LW as well!

Schwarber was on that team, right? Funny he was in the Cubs lineup in town last night as well.

 

[Coeus]

A couple thoughts...

-West showed up ready to compete and battle for 4 quarters. Colerain came out sluggish and flat to start the 2nd Half - West was able to gain momentum and never looked back. It's not hard to tell that Coach Bolden has those kids hungry and ready to run through a wall. They believed they could stop the streak from the first snap. Now that Tom is out of the Colerain shadow, people will see just how great of a coach he is.

-Both teams have stellar defenses. West's DL and LB core is tough. Alex Afari and Jyaire Brown rival the 2 studs at LaSalle as the best Cornerback duo in the city. Alex Afari is a physical specimen - can't believe that kid is only a junior! Colerain's defense is stout and solid per usual. Every year they are able to re-load with talent and players on that side of the ball - it's pretty remarkable if you ask me. CB #29 Kenny Willis is a darn good player. Great to see LB Michael Bess out there.

-Offensively, as it usually happens year after year, both teams struggled. I was impressed with both of West's RB's (#3 & #23) - both run very hard are difficult to bring down. Mitch Bolden is still going through some growing pains, but he is going to be a STUD. Colerain on the other hand has a lot of work to do. Replacing their entire offensive line is in itself a tall task. Seems like to me they are stuck deciding between their old school triple option offense and evolving into more of a modernized spread offense.

When was the last time Colerain was shut-out at home?

 

[OUcats82]

When was the last time Colerain was shut-out at home?

Has been a very long time. Pre Kerry Coombs for sure. Maybe very early 90s but likely the 1980s.

 

[Tardis]

Has been a very long time. Pre Kerry Coombs for sure. Maybe very early 90s but likely the 1980s.

Only shut outs since 1990 are against St. Xavier, 2 were in the showdown at Nippert and the other one was in 1991 but no home or away is listed. I assume one of the two shut outs by St X. in 1991 or 1989 was at Colerain, assuming a home and home contest.

Another sign of how long its been, the most recent team to shut out Colerain not named St. X was Purcell Marian, also in 1989. The last GMC teams were both Middletown and Princeton in 1985 but that was prior to Colerain being in the GMC. Lowest score vs. a Conference opponent was a 2-0 victory vs. Oak Hills in 1979.

 

[Tardis]

It was also only the second time Lakota West has ever beat Colerain. The last time being in 1999. Both East and West were 1-17 vs Colerain coming into this season, with both wins in 1999. Lakota was 2-4 vs. Colerain, with wins in 93 and 96.

 

[OUcats82]

It was also only the second time Lakota West has ever beat Colerain. The last time being in 1999. Both East and West were 1-17 vs Colerain coming into this season, with both wins in 1999. Lakota was 2-4 vs. Colerain, with wins in 93 and 96.

Interesting factoid about the 96 game… It was the final football game in Lakota High School history prior to the split.