Dublin Coffman Rocks 2020

Harrycrane

Well-known member
A bit later than usual as I start the new year thread in July , but Covid has made the situation murky to say the least. I am cautiously waiting to see what the Governor will decide and I am hoping that for the kids sake there can be a meaningful season. Rocks 2020 look impressive . D-1 Safety AJ Kirk hasn't been with the team and he appears to be with a juggernaut Akron Hoban program which was disappointing but he missed all of last year and the defense has 8 returning starters . He would have been the cherry on top of a damn good sundae but it is what it is . Still has potential to be as good a defense as they have had and the Rocks have been very solid defensively the last couple of years especially but have had routinely solid units under One of the top defensive coaches in the area Curtis Crager who has also done an outstanding job with the strength program the last few years.

Offense has 6 starters back including their QB Mathews a dual threat guy with good depth with 6-3 200 pound Junior Mason Maggs backing up with his big arm. D-1 recruit { Purdue decommit but with a gaggle of other offers} and All Ohio Back Bryon Threats who can play any position on the field and is a D-1 defensive recruit as well. 3 O-line starters return including D-1 recruit LT Daniel Warnsman 6-4 280 { Eastern Michigan commit but I think he's better than that to be honest had multiple offers } . Two new kids to keep an eye that will join returning starter WR Jr. Trey Hedderely are Sheron Phipps a Sr. transfer from Thomas Worthington { 5-9 165} a shifty playmaker who is also a good CB on defense and a bigger receiver 6-4 185 Jr. Davyion McDonald who didn't play last year after a very solid Frosh year catching passes from Mason Maggs , Hoops player who may make an impact . Good to be back posting about football as we cross our fingers for a season of some kind .
 
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Is game against Cinci Elder still on as of right now or is it cancelled? I was sort of looking forward to that one...

I'm assuming that one will be scrapped . I think the travel distance thing will be a big thing , but to be honest I think we will continue just seeing bad news as storm clouds just seem to be sitting above us like that Houston storm a few years ago when it just hovered for a few days dumping an ungodly amount of rain in the area . Some major decisions will need to be made this week . I am not optimistic
 
I'm assuming that one will be scrapped . I think the travel distance thing will be a big thing , but to be honest I think we will continue just seeing bad news as storm clouds just seem to be sitting above us like that Houston storm a few years ago when it just hovered for a few days dumping an ungodly amount of rain in the area . Some major decisions will need to be made this week . I am not optimistic
Yep; Hurricane Harvey. Still remember the radar and shots of the model for when it was apparent it was going to hover over Houston and how horrific it was to see.
 
Yep; Hurricane Harvey. Still remember the radar and shots of the model for when it was apparent it was going to hover over Houston and how horrific it was to see.
One of My daughters friends at Coffman was starting his Frosh year at Rice in 2017 when that thing swept through took its jacket off and stayed a while. . Welcome to college .
 
That's too bad about McDonald , I got other info a while back and then his name appeared on the Hudl page a few days after that .Don't really follow too much until scrimmage season,. Potential kind of wasted there IMO. File this under" Football ain't for everyone" . Name now off the hudl page. Figured Elder game was kaput . Figured may be the one crossover for Coffman may be Jerome , but it appears that won't be the case . Of course will we even play? Jerome game would have been packed like it has been the last couple years , But this year the large crowd and revenue that is always good at that game would be a moot point anyway . Still wish they play it .
 
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Jerome website now shows a Week 1 game against Coffman.
Previously showed a game against Grove City.


This whole thing in every respect is so fluid . Can’t play a school that’s any closer than that . Although the schools are in different counties. Lol. I joked that the last time Coffman played Jerome at their place , I left my house in Franklin County drove a few blocks north and was in Delaware county and ended up at Jerome in Union country . Took about 15 minutes to get there .
 
Jerome website now shows a Week 1 game against Coffman.
Previously showed a game against Grove City.


Makes sense if they play a 6 game schedule (. Fingers crossed ) because Jerome was week 4 (. First three were in PA. Northmont and Elder , too far ). And Groveport week 5. also too far . So the 6 would be all pretty close .

Jérôme a few miles , Davidson and Liberty really close Upper Arlington close , Bradley not too far and then Orange the furthest but no more than 25 minutes . Hopefully we can have some kind of season
 
Why didnt A.J. stay and play his sr year with what looks like a heck of a defense? I'm a thinking Hoban, let's say, PERSUADED him to come play given the offensive juggernaut in their same region. Any insight?
 
Kirk missed all of last year ( personal ) and its not an issue with Coffman but rather probably a family move back towards Mike Doss roots . Doss is his brother and guardian . He has younger children and may be wants to be closer to family ?? This is the likely story . Wasn’t a case of wanting to play at Hoban specifically .
 
Makes sense if they play a 6 game schedule (. Fingers crossed ) because Jerome was week 4 (. First three were in PA. Northmont and Elder , too far ). And Groveport week 5. also too far . So the 6 would be all pretty close .

Jérôme a few miles , Davidson and Liberty really close Upper Arlington close , Bradley not too far and then Orange the furthest but no more than 25 minutes . Hopefully we can have some kind of season
I'm seeing multiple schools update their Arbiter pages that way. Previous Week 4 is Week 1, and Weeks 6-10, are now 2-6.
 
Why wouldn’t Doss take his brother to Canton to play at McK?

The move wasn't made to find AJ another place to play football . Academics and overall environment . CM? Hoban has the strong program and is more like Coffman academically . No offense to CM. I realize you have to get through Hoban at some point and it won't be easy but you guys added some players to compete and you were really good last year .I was actually rooting for Mass last year to get it done. This was a family move , not a football move for ONE of their kids .
 
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Dewine 'Day" is upon us. Our fearless leader will make his call on whether the six game local only season can commence in 9-10 days . It appears that he will give his go forward decision today. Can't imagine it going the other way at this point with what I've heard , BUT does anything really surprise us anymore in these crazy times ? Kids are resilient , that has always been true. Adaptable , they bounce back from disappointment fairly well . When this virus was starting to take hold and spread , the weeks went by slowly . Time stood as still as a paused horror movie. Events , businesses , and yes Sports disappeared from operating at a dizzying rate .

We went from only parents can attend the state wrestling meet , and March madness being played sans fans , to just cancelling everything. Spring training stopped on a dime , no March madness , No Masters , no nothing. I remember that last Saturday before the Dewine was shutting bars and restaurants down the next day. Wife said , why don't we stop at Roosters have a beer get an AP , and take some food home . I thought about it and said nah , 'there's no sports to watch ". Don't like Roosters enough to go there and not watch a ballgame of some kind.

Schools, gyms , and hair salons came next . Didn't get a haircut when I should have and Dewine shut it down and I was SOL . Wife cut the hair twice . Have had two haircuts since they opened and they were the two best haircuts I have had ever. Rec Center opened a while back and that has made life a bit more normal. Haven't stopped some form of weight training since I was 14 . 10- 25 pound sets of dumb bells , body weight lunges and squats and pushups and dips between chairs sufficed for a while.

I opined early on that there was a good chance that we would probably not have a football season due to poor response and no real plan on attacking it and poor leadership at the top . Well I was partially right . We have been one of the worst few country's in the world in containing the virus and it isn't quite over. Some won't play football { City leagues and some others} and some it seems will start the season . Limited fans seems reasonable . If I can't go to the games , that's OK if that means the kids can play and compete. Kids have worked hard and coaches and administrators have diligently done their part to give the kids and their teams the best chance to have a season.

Kids worked out on their own , lifted in basements and garages , ran sprints , did agility drills , and did what they could to be in football shape . Lifting has gone on at facilities for a while now and in hopefully 10 days the season will kick off. A few kids aren't playing who I figured would be out there this season the most notable AJ Kirk who transferred to Hoban . A couple other who were once part of the program aren't listed on the roster. So a bit less athletic than previously thought but enough players to be a very good team .


At this point we would have had 7 on 7's , two scrimmages in the book , [ First one has been a Tri- scrimmage with Pick Central being the constant with another team } and DeSales on what would have been Saturday. Meet the team usually in on that Saturday night. Thursday would have seen a more game like scrimmage with Westerville Central. This Weeks News football preview pull out likely isn't happening. Big -10 and Pac -12 cancelled . Pro camps are open but wont have fans at first? This will be a season unlike any other. Part of the beauty of HS Football Friday night , is the community camaraderie , tailgates , the sound of the band , the buzz around the stadium you get a few times a year in district rivalry tilts and the biggest games against the best teams and your biggest league rivals . The early games played in summer like weather that draws bigger crowds . The few games that really help financially . The longer lines to get a ticket, the longer lines to grab a Dog and popcorn. Seeing more people you know . What will the scene be at Jerome next Friday? What it has been is electric. Packed house , a ton of emotion , and spirited competition. Running into old friends who you knew back in the day when your kids played on the same youth teams , parking further away from the stadium because the closer spots are filled. It's not just a football game but a community 'Event" .


Parents and a few handfuls of other people? Cheerleaders? Limited bands ? Concessions ? smaller rosters on the sidelines? Spaced out ? At this point any football in any version and setting is a good thing. Radio , streamed games and following on twitter may be what happens for many fans . This thing is as fluid as a late March Ohio weekly weather forecast . Bottom line is to get a 6 game local schedule in and weeks of play-offs after that , it will take a ton of sacrifice and discipline. If you want a good football team , these things are paramount. if you want a semblance of a real season? SACRIFICE , DISCIPLINE , having a good plan and sticking to it is imperative . I really wished our country had tackled this virus with these things in mind .
 
good write up Harry. Hopefully it is a green light and i feel for a good portion of the state who are paused or cancelled already. The plan has been horrendous(stumbling into the season). I have serious heartburn for these kids missing their usual 3 scrimmages. As a football guy, I think going into the first game without scrimmages is more dangerous than covid for these kids. you cant emulate game speed in practice and most public schools do not have the depth to have a great inter squad scrimmage. That being said, lets hope the green light comes and we get moving forward without quarantines when we start!!!
 
good write up Harry. Hopefully it is a green light and i feel for a good portion of the state who are paused or cancelled already. The plan has been horrendous(stumbling into the season). I have serious heartburn for these kids missing their usual 3 scrimmages. As a football guy, I think going into the first game without scrimmages is more dangerous than covid for these kids. you cant emulate game speed in practice and most public schools do not have the depth to have a great inter squad scrimmage. That being said, lets hope the green light comes and we get moving forward without quarantines when we start!!!

No question that they need at least two scrimmages . The first game or two will likely be sloppy and hopefully won't be rife with injuries . Unprecedented. Some kids get banged up in camps and don't scrimmage much { Or Diva's who beg out or coaches really limit } but a majority of the kids need the game speed reps to be more ready in week one. I distinctly remember when I played how much more prepared ready and confident I felt after a couple scrimmages . Inter squads just aren't the same .

I really feel if done right and with a majority of teams not going deeper in the play-offs a Spring season would have been very doable seeing as how much time off from full contact the kids would have had. But here we are . What has happened has been terrible for all kinds of people , death , death of loved ones , life long complications for the vulnerable, increases in Drug abuse and overdoses , domestic violence increases, kids going hungry in some cases due to not being able to go to school , falling behind academically , missed opportunities , social isolation and it's adverse consequences , huge divides within the country . Job losses and losing jobs that will never come back. I think the majority of people can put these types of tings in perspective and feel grateful for what they didn't lose and what they still have. Kids have had to grow up in some ways they never anticipated.

This situation has forced kids to grow up a bit . It is uncomfortable at best and we grow from discomfort. Kids have gotten first hand life experience in the adage that 'it isn't what happens to you in life that is as important as how you HANDLE what has happened , what your reaction to it is. How you deal and how you don't give up . This will be on display going forward. Lets hope the reactions going forward are positive and successful .
 
Harry your Rocks picked up a scrimmage.

Friday August 21st- Pick Central at Dublin Coffman 3:00 - No Fans


Thanks. I have a commitment that afternoon , so even if some fans I would miss . Last year's scrimmage was very good, very high level of play especially for the first scrimmage and competitive { Centerville was the other team involved} . Will definitely get them ready for Jerome the next week.
 
Such a strange year, NBA basketball playing in a bubble , in the Summer , every game looks similar , no real buzz. NHL ? Ditto . Except to me it is more interesting . NBA play-offs are excellent under normal circumstances . Now it just looks like a grown-up version of AAU . Instead of rainouts , the MLB regular season that resembles a college season in length , doesn't need to worry about rainouts . They have to worry about Covid-outs. An incredible , strange,weird , kind of absurd sports landscape. It's like your sports calendars equilibrium is all thrown off. College football is in Hell for some and Purgatory for others and won't look or feel the same either.

The Ohio high school football season is no different. 6 game local schedule , then a coaches seeding meeting and boom, play-offs until they say you're done. That's the opponent either sending you home , opting out { If you know there is no chance } or of course the virus wreaking havoc and shutting things down.

No scrimmages until today. No preview mags, , you can't attend the scrimmages. 15 percent attendance , parents pretty much only . it is what it is , not whining , as long as the kids get to play that's good. 25 percent seemed reasonable to me seeing as indoor bar areas and stores can have many more enter. Bars and eateries are at what 40-50 percent ? Outdoor HS football stadium is at 15 ?

Anyway , couldn't go to the scrimmage of course as I would have and would have seen a couple more and no one can really tell me what's going on if I didn't go. This being said and I don't know who played and who didn't for Coffman and I only know of a few who played for PC because their twitter feed which followed it { Coach? who ? no fan lol} said who scored for them , but there was action that is likely still going on for a little while longer at Coffman stadium between the Rocks and the defending D-1 Champ Pick Central Tigers .

So this is what I got without any other context from the One's going against each other . PC scored on two long runs on two of their 3 10 play portions . QB Wallace and RB Mosely . Coffman threw two picks{ One was a pick 6 } and moved the ball well on the other one but didn't score .Down and distance followed and the Rocks defense did better stopping them on at least one three and out and gave up no more points. Coffman scored on a drive scoring on an 11 yard run. Two and threes came in at that point and I stopped following. No scores for a bit it said. PC is loaded with depth of talent and I am sure will win the JV portion . So to sum up the big boys portion , Rocks giving up two long runs for TD's is not ideal but those two guys are D-1 level athletes . two picks with one of them may be a quick short out picked for six needs to be corrected. After this Rocks moved the ball well twice scoring once and the defense did better. PC is loaded, no shame .


Positives for Coffman were the offense moving the rock pretty well a couple times scoring once but not finishing the other one. The defense settling down after getting gashed by the two 50 + TD runs and not giving up much more . Negatives were the long TD runs and the two picks . Not knowing anymore than that or having much other context it's tough to know how they looked aside from the scoring plays .

Jerome has some nixed sized kids and a solid Junior { And Soph } class and will be bring it hard , but the Rocks dealing with PC level speed strength and experience will help them the next couple weeks .
 
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I was able to see some of the scrimmage and it basically went as you stated. I saw 4 pick 6’s for PC but 1 may have been called back. It was hard to see from the tree I was sitting in. PC pulled their starting RB after the first or Second series of downs. You can’t take a lot from scrimmage games until you break down the film. The actual score means nothing. Both teams will be very goo this year.
 
I was able to see some of the scrimmage and it basically went as you stated. I saw 4 pick 6’s for PC but 1 may have been called back. It was hard to see from the tree I was sitting in. PC pulled their starting RB after the first or Second series of downs. You can’t take a lot from scrimmage games until you break down the film. The actual score means nothing. Both teams will be very goo this year.

I got a good write up from a good source . Thanks for the thoughts . PC RB had some nice runs (. Long TD ). but took a bump on the knee (. Not hurt ) but they have a nice stable of athletes . I did hear a couple Coffman kids were limited . One QB threw two picks one pick Six , didn’t hear of any more than that but PC has a ton of athletes in the back end no doubt .

PN should hold OK even without Sawyer as they have some very good players besides him . PC with more depth probably wears them down at some point . Coffman will be pushed hard by Jerome who is getting better and is well coached . Game was tight last year for almost 3 quarters and could be again . Rocks will have to be sharp .
 
PC had two pick six's with the 1's both by the DC starting qb and one with JV's that had a quick whistle he didn't even run it back, but he would have, not sure where you got 4???

Both teams were very vanilla. But the scrimmage served it's purpose as they had over 100 plays when you count all the special team plays in the beginning.

DC didn't run there TB much either. PC is very talented on defense, i can't see many teams scoring on them this year. PC will have to really improve a lot with it's passing game, i didn't see much yesterday from it. But the defense is loaded, if this was a real game the DC qb might not make it out healthy of the 1st qt. PC probably had 3 or 4 sacks during the first ten plays.

PC should be just fine next week vs PN, but DC better be ready for a very good DJ team week one. The QB and TB are very good and they are very well coached. I know it's just a scrimmage, but DJ destroyed Davidson.
I agree as i said . Coffman will have to play well . Jerome is not PC on defense though . Coffman will have more time and space . Wee you at the scrimmage ? Jerome is well coached and has had better classes than Coffman in every class coming up except this years Coffman Senior group .
 
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Week one is upon us in the weirdest most challenging season of HS football that any of us can remember. Unprecedented is obvious, but how does it affect teams going forward? What are the games going to look like ? We usually have multiple scrimmages , 7 on 7 , a more full account of teams potential. Yeah we have a basic idea what's up , but I have less information on teams than I have ever had. Direct result of the scrimmage situation . How have programs handled the fluid situation, the lack of the regular strength programs ? 7 on 7's, other off-season workouts amended.

Who did the best work on their own ? How have the coaches and players adapted? Much of this is unknown . Obviously I have a decent idea how Coffman handled this , but the other programs ? How will the lack of atmosphere and fans play in to the dynamic ? Will it be easier on first year starters in terms of nerves and being overwhelmed ? Will it take the edge from certain more emotionally charged guys? This is nitpicking and while the dynamics are real , most likely it will come down to players being coached and executing what they have ben trained to do and their ability to make plays and do their jobs as usual that will determine the outcomes. Veteran staff's may have an advantage here. Newer and first year guys leading their programs may be at a disadvantage early on without the benefit of the full off -season program.


A great lineup of week one games with the district rivalry games and many teams having their Senior nights their first home game. The football will be probably be more ragged , more mistake filled no question. Week one can be like that anyway. This will be more last scrimmage like possibly with shinier uniforms and the smell of hotdogs and burgers wafting in the air. The good news for some of the teams that may be a bit further behind the curve for a variety of reasons is that they can still participate in the play-offs with a couple losses . Mr. Harbin doesn't have his red pen out this season. Your seed is the only demerit to a disappointing loss and performance.


I think given the nature of a novel virus and pandemic is the fact that the take it 'one game at a time" 'one week at a time " mantra isn't optional. It is a requirement. For fans who are fortunate enough to go to the games and the rest of the legion of radio and video streaming consumers, enjoying and not taking for granted the fact that there is even a game to follow that particular week will be certainly be a new dynamic.

There are some very interesting week one games that we should all enjoy. Kids getting out there and competing , a sense of somewhat normalcy , the hard difficult work of the last 7-8 months in the off-season given a chance to be seen on the field. Kids missing the camp circuit who are interested in playing in college have a chance to get some game tape . The crowds that would normally be present at these big rivalry games will not be present. the buzz won't be there from blocks away as you near the field. It will likely have the feel of a glorified game scrimmage .

Of course as usual I will have some thoughts and write up the Coffman -Jerome game and some thoughts on other games with less information of course. Lack of scrimmages , lack of the normal coverage and no preview { Comes out next week } no Drew Pasteur or even Cal Preps line makes this a totally different season. But that is true of College football prep for me as well and the NFL calendar is askew as well. I have started working on week one of the NFL which is going forward, but is fluid as well in terms of players opting out and the usual new season dynamics that go on within teams . I have numbers to work with in the NFL, for the first time nothing to work with in HS . Unprecedented season, a football campaign like no other and one that we likely never see again.


Quick first thought impressions of some of the games this week . Coffman -Jerome gets their own post of course .


PN at PC - Heard some good things on PC from the Coffman scrimmage, we know their talent and program momentum . Game will EASILY have the most individual talent on the field than any other game in CO , even without Sawyer participating.

Bradley at Marysville - HB has some serious talent and some solid classes off of a disappointing year with a lot of adversity { Health other issues} M-Ville physical toughness and style can compete and Powers is an absolute stud. HB athletes too much?


Davidson at Darby - New regime , same basic style at Davidson? Darby the consistent brand with the coaching stability . Davidson coach the kinder gentler version of White? { Nice article in the dispatch profiling the difficult following of a legend} More fun ? White get out now for a reason? Darby with the edge . Connor Jones is a warrior .

Olentangy at Orange- Tangy played a brutal schedule last year { Mostly D-1 and included a handful of heavies} and it helped them in the D2 play-offs . Orange had a great year in 2019 until running into the PC buzz-saw. Solis runs a great program, not many could do what he did with such a big school split . Leaning Tangy .

Liberty at Berlin - Patriots won a ton of close ones last year but weren't as good as their record as injury's hurt them even with their depth. Patriots get more kids out than anyone .Huge numbers . Berlin is a quick study. Have progressed faster than programs should realistically expect . Extremely interesting game .

UA- at Westy C - WC has some nice talent as usual , the big armed 6-7 QB whose is a D-1 kid , athletes to get the ball to. UA has some nice athletes as well [ Good classes coming up} and they have a excellent program building coach in Buttermore . [ not to be confused with little league miracle worker of yesteryear Buttemaker } UA will compete , but WC has too much ?
 
Good luck to the Rocks this year. I think they are somewhat being overlooked.Seems like a strong year in division 1 across the state. Coffman vs Jerome shows on NFHS streaming channel live on 8/28 so will be watching. Will be interesting to see if The new "more of a players coach" at Davidson gets the job done. I'm sure he is doing that to get increased participation in the program as it had dwindled the last several years. I expect some tweaks on offense but nothing drastic. They simply do not have the talent level to do other than what they have been doing for 21 years. Sucks not being able to watch them in person this year. First time for me since 2012 but at least they are on TV tonight and hopefully can watch some streaming games too. For home games,might have to sneak over behind the end zone fences at game time... LOL !
 
Week one is here, week one eve . Nothing about it seems the same , there will be no roaring ,chanting ,smack talking, and snarky signs displaying student sections. It will feel more like filing into a elite music recital where only parents or grandparents are interested in listening. A middle school play on a Saturday afternoon but is held outside. One group of participants get a few more tickets than the others .

OK , of course week one is district rivalry week heavy. Instructions of 'Blocking out the noise " and just play isn't necessary here. I am wondering if it will feel like a youth soccer game with the sparse smattering of parents making it possible for players to actually hear their own parents voices lol. Will fans find the experience a bit eerie in week one ? Will they enter the stadiums like they are entering church of a library thinking they need to be quiet as well? Will fans keep their masks on in humid weather for 4 quarters ? I am thinking not . Will there be ushers who roam the rows looking for resistors ?


Coffman vs. Jerome happened in week one two different times. This is the fifth meeting between the schools. Coffman is 4-0 , but Jerome as I have said many times has had about 5 straight stronger classes from their feeder schools than Coffman or Scioto. beating them up very badly in many instances. Grizzell as been KING of the Dub MS football scene for quite a while now. Of course the Coffman Seniors are the last superior group to Jerome's classes. 8th through 11th { Probably 7th again } it's ALL country Clubber bludgeoning of poor Sells and Davis . Karrer is neutral , but leans Jerome in numbers now but Coffman gets some of those kids as well . They document their dominance at the 7th through Frosh levels the last small handful of years. You see some of the footage and it's men vs little boys in many cases . They mature early on the country club .


Now of course when it comes to rivalry schools , I tend to tweak a bit and poke them in the ribs with the hyperbole . I am not making it up though , Jerome has big strong kids , is in the 6th year of a successful program build under an excellent young coach who seems will be here for the long term with a young family. Done a great job and has stacked classes . Wil it translate to the varsity level further ? They are not just up and coming now. They have arrived at this point . Max preps has them at number 22 in Ohio , not D-1 , IN OHIO . it's one ranking , but they aren't out of place in this company.


They work extremely hard , have good schemes , are well coached , and do the little things. I was very impressed with them last year in week 4 in Coffman's 31-14 win which was tied at 14 at the half . They have their two and half year veteran starting QB back a D-1 athlete{ baseball } with a good arm, good size, and runs fairly well. Not fast , more corner infield or left field like athletic like but can move the chain when necessary . 2-3 reliable veteran receivers { Martin and Stoner made contributions last year vs .DC} AND I am not sure who the main back will be but John Aziz who played at Coffman as a Freshman and did well may be the guy? 5-9 170 and shifty. Don't think they have a better option.

A couple returning O- and D lineman , some decent LB's and a couple stud Sophomores will make the scene. Larosa is rumored to be a beast and a D-1 certainty and has at least Cam Craig potential { Some say more} who is at Purdue. Hole is a sturdy physical player [ DE - RB- LB?} 6-0 205 ?

Week one 2012 , initial meeting. 2012 Rocks team definitely had final four potential. Were killing everyone they played until the last few weeks of the season. Liberty in week 9 was a sloppy rainy game the Rocks only won by 8 points. then got upset in week 10 to a decent but not really good UA team by 9 turning the ball over 7 times { 6 offensive and one a muffed pooched Kick off } then losing to a good by not real good Davidson team losing the battle 4-0 setting up Davidson with 3 short fields losing 17-14 , after dominating them 33-10 in the regular season.

A bit of a mismatch here as the Rocks rolled with a mostly Senior group 48-6 . James Walsh ran and threw for a ton of yards, RB Bilal Williamson , Receivers Tony Woodford, Austen Rankin, and Zach Fouche were too much for the Celts. Jerome had a stud RB in Donovan Wilson who was heading to Ga Tech { Transferred to Bowling Green } . a 200 plus pound back ,had little room to maneuver . Rocks physical front 7 had a great night . Miles McCollum Vinny Jones , Ian Flinders et al were all over the field .

2013 opening night at Coffman was a different story altogether. Coffman was much less a favorite and had their least experienced team in the Crabtree 20 year era. ONE returning starter on Offense. [Guard Jared Nunn} and only a few on defense . One of the returning starters on defense DB Juan Jennings actually transferred to Jerome for his Senior year. The country Clubbers smelled blood and had more returning guys who had taken a bad beating the year before and wanted revenge. Steve Kidwell was a horse in the first half at RB and the CC's took a 14-10 lead into the break after Coffman had gotten off to a 10-0 lead.

Rocks would eek out a 16-14 win on a beautiful night as John McGue kicked a 40 yard FG his third of the night with about 3 minutes left . Jerome gained 40 yards on a screen pass in the last seconds setting themselves up for a potential game winning 47 yard FG on the last play . Junior Safety Reagan Malas { Dayton } would block the FG and the Jerome kid whose name escapes me had the leg to get it there.

The Rocks exhaled deeply and little did they know that if they had lost that game they would started the season at 0-4 . They lost to Scioto the next week , Canton McKinley week three and Davidson in week 4 to start 1-3 . They would get revenge on all three in 2014 , 35-7 48-0 and 24-9 respectively. In what was the staffs best coaching job IMO , they then ripped off 6 straight wins to end the regular season to just make the play offs and winning a play-off game hammering Centerville by 28 , a team that had beaten them up in a scrimmage two months before .


The programs didn't play in 2014 through 2017 , getting back at it in 2018 . Week four the Rocks won 45-14 at Jerome in a game they were behind 14-10 at the half .Second half was all Rocks as they made some nice adjustments and weren't hurt by the deep throw it up pass in the second half as they were in the first . Rocks also cleaned up the mistakes on offense and executed to perfection really . Drennan was a beast , Diallo was strong until he broke his arm on a 30 yard breaking 5 tackles run . QB Brown was outstanding making a few throws and running for some big first downs. Defense was outstanding in the second half with a couple picks and sacks shutting them down completely.

Safety AJ Kirk as a Sophomore was a beast with the hardest hits of the night. That was the last year he played for the Rocks , sitting out last year and transferring to Hoban this year. Jr. Bramonte { Moved to Florida for is Senior year} had a few sacks . Soph. Cincinnati signee and Rock leader Bryon Threats had a late pick 6 .

Last year the game was played on a very warm sultry night but it was windy as if the fans ordered a fan to cool them. First half was especially windy adn both teams scored with the wind as it played a huge factor . Rocks went up 14-0 with a very short field on one TD drive as it was tough to punt the ball into that wind. The Country Clubbers came back strong converting on some 4th downs , completing some nice crossing routes against some first year Rocks starters at Corner and no Kirk at safety to worry about going over the middle. Rocks had chances to make plays and get off the field but didn't . Again like the year before the second half was ALL Rocks.

Dominant run game , QB Mathews keeping was huge , Diallo was big as well . 17-0 in the second half and like 2018 the defense made the adjustments and shut out the Country Clubbers for the second straight year in the second half. 52-0 the last two years combined after halftime.


Rocks have a handful and a few more back . Jerome has some folks back and is not sneaking up on anyone anymore . Physical program kids who compete and are in no way intimidated at all here. Rocks need to do better in the first half of these games and the Celts can't be happy with the way the second half's have gone . Probably have a final prediction later today /tonight . Really tough to get a handle on some of these games with the limited scrimmage time and not much deeper info .


Kramerica ? Where are you? We need your take on the Tangy double feature this weekend . GOOD LUCK to your Berlin Bears vs. Liberty .
 
Good luck to the Rocks this year. I think they are somewhat being overlooked.Seems like a strong year in division 1 across the state. Coffman vs Jerome shows on NFHS streaming channel live on 8/28 so will be watching. Will be interesting to see if The new "more of a players coach" at Davidson gets the job done. I'm sure he is doing that to get increased participation in the program as it had dwindled the last several years. I expect some tweaks on offense but nothing drastic. They simply do not have the talent level to do other than what they have been doing for 21 years. Sucks not being able to watch them in person this year. First time for me since 2012 but at least they are on TV tonight and hopefully can watch some streaming games too. For home games,might have to sneak over behind the end zone fences at game time... LOL !


Thanks appreciate that. It will be interesting to see the newer approach. White got the most of the players and is a legend . NO other way to look at his tenure there. Same philosophy , different methods of motivating may be ? Different tone. This is a different time for all the fans and supporters of the programs . Cats as always will keep games close and give themselves a chance to win most weeks. I think Darby night get them this year , but I don't have as much to go on as most years obviously . I like their Running backs and they have a few other kids who will be physical and productive on defense . Have to agree though that the talent level is down a bit and their margin for error and their winning margins have been trending lower . Enjoy the game on TV tonight, and hope you can find a way to get to a game at some point.
 
Good writeups HC, saw the Jerome team up close last year and I truly think the Rocks have nothing to worry about this week. Jerome is building a nice program to compete with the D2 schools and lower end D1 schools they were going to be playing (before schedule re-arrange), they do almost everything well, but nothing spectacularly well. A well-balanced offence that can throw ball some and keep them spread out like the Rocks will should definitely beat them. The Rocks have a clear advantage at the skill positions with their athletes.

Berlin is in a tough spot this year and likely to fall off some. They have likely the best D2 QB in central OH (ThisWeek agrees), but their receiving corps lost most of their production and is now extremely lacking in size (though not in speed). RB stable also a big question mark, but will see what happens when they roll out. Defense took a giant hit losing 2 extremely productive LBs. JV last year struggled quite a bit, so it's unclear what is waiting to replace the senior production that was lost. That said, Nori is an excellent coach and you can bet he will have the kids ready to play, though I have no earthly idea why they scheduled Liberty for their 1 non-league game. Even if they agreed to stay in district, Berlin/Orange and Tangy/Liberty would have made a lot more sense.

Liberty has a significant upgrade in throwing QB this year, and based on the short highlights I saw on SR he looks very good. Word is that their offense is going to be significantly better this year, and I expect Friday will be a very long night for the Bears and recommend Tangy/Orange to anyone up this way.

Tangy has an extremely strong senior class (and had Tangy and Berlin still been together, this would have been one of the top 10 D1 schools for sure), though they are breaking in a new QB and need him to perform in order to put the talent on display. Solis teams have started slowly the past couple years, but he clearly improves them greatly as the season goes on and they are always playing well at the end of the year. Defense might still have some questionmarks but they are going to be balanced on offense and with Solis's scheme should score points.

Orange is a real wildcard, people likely forget that Harrison was gone last year and they still only lost 2 games, one to Pick North, who they beat 36-17 in a playoff rematch, and the other to Pick Central. Some production was lost, but there were plenty of underclassmen playing last year and there has been a steady stream of Jr High talent coming in there for several years now. The biggest issue I've always had is that Zeb's coaching seemed to underperform and underdevelop their players, but last season was a great coaching job and maybe he's turning the corner. But their tomato can schedules are gone, and they are going to be tested every single week this year.

Good luck to all, and stay safe out there.
 
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