Week 1: Pickerington North (0-0) vs Lancaster (0-0)

 
Looking forward to the new lancaster defense and some shotgun sets for the gales. That being said- pick north takes this one
 
I’m not sold on the PN offense yet and Lancaster defense seems to play tough yearly.

PN- 21
Lancaster - 7
 
Lancaster will be ready for PN.

the Gales have a small senior class but a lot of young talented players that I believe can rise to the occasion if they play to their ability.
 
First thought is PN 41 Gales 12. PN with a promising Junior QB who will take a leap this year, RB Green who has been carrying the rock for the Panthers , Pre Covid, ,. covid and now post covid [4 the year } and a bevy of talented skill guys including getting Liberty's best athlete as a target for the D-1 QB ? They will score. May be A LOT. I have always liked the Gaels program., Went to a play-off game down there with a good friend and former Collogue who was the first guy to correct me on the pronunciation of Lenkuhster. back when I was a newbie to CO. In 2003 Had watched the Rocks lose to the Gales by a point at Coffman stadium in week 10 and two weeks later Scioto went down there and handled the Gales pretty well in the game I watched with him and his Dad . Coffman beat Davidson in week 12 which I didn't see [Wasn't yet a full-blown Rocks fan just yet} and then of course Scioto beat Coffman in the all-Dublin R-3 final. Jack Rafferty the do everything QB for the Rocks went down early second half and the Irish beat the Rocks. I think it would have been a fight to the final gun if Jack hadn't gone down. Friend was more a basketball guy and the Gales were good back then as well. But his Dad RIP , was a bigger football guy . Quite a character. Loved watching the couple game I did with him. Want to see them do well , but PN is at a different level at the moment than Lenkuhster is.
 
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Lancaster will not be ready for PN.

I saw very little talent on the field last year, and nothing from parent reports I heard about the scrimmage to make me thing this year will be any different. A 1-4 start to the season is likely, 0-5 quite possible.
You must really have a hard on for Lancaster smh .. let’s get it right score was 21-13 Liberty at the half and not a single starter played for either side in the 3rd quarter in which they only played 3 quarters .. so to say they killed Lancaster is a lie .. and yes 21-13 at the half and neither side played starters after that!! Please post facts before you keep this” hard on “you have for Lancaster .. by the way what school you root for? Oh did the parents tell you yes Liberty scored twice on the Gales w the JV’s playing so yes they did keep the score on the scoreboard and score was 35-13 .. the first half with just the Varsity it was a good game ! Not saying the Gales would’ve won but it was a good close game .. and what I’m posting is 110% fact !!
 
Im under the impression he’s playing wide receiver but heard he’s wearing a green jersey that indicates Qb also. I understand they have a highly recruited QB already but my sources have said he’s not been impressive so far. This might be a quarterback battle ongoing and curious to see what happens during their game vs Lancaster.
 
Im under the impression he’s playing wide receiver but heard he’s wearing a green jersey that indicates Qb also. I understand they have a highly recruited QB already but my sources have said he’s not been impressive so far. This might be a quarterback battle ongoing and curious to see what happens during their game vs Lancaster.
No QB battle. O’Connell is going to start as he did last year
 
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Nope, they told me that their varsity scored 3 TDs in the first half and moved the ball at will, despite having pretty low expectations for their offense this year. I'll help yall Lancaster folk with the math, thats a 42 points a game pace.

Keep talking now while you can, let's talk again after the Olentangy game.
I’m not the one saying they’ll beat Olentangy .. I have zero clue what they have coming back but all I do know is Lancaster beat Olentangy last year 34-15 .. so to say they’ll kill Lancaster or not in the same league I believe would be a stupid projection by yourself .. I just hope it’s a good game either way and of course with Lancaster winning .. but I’m also not the guy who will sit on here and completely bash another team and say this or that team isn’t in this other teams league etc .. all I do know just a year ago Olentangy lost to Lancaster by 19 .. Go Gales !
 
When Lancaster has a big strong O-Line and enough athletes on defense to stop the pass, they are tough to beat because they eat the clock 3.4 yards per play. The defense gets tired at about play 17 of a drive. However, if they get a penalty, their drive is pretty much over. And if they get behind by 2-3 scores, game over. Defensively they used to play a cover 3 and their outside backers aren’t good at covering the flats so you can pass all over them. Whenever you play at Lancaster, plan on getting hosed by the refs. Not sure why but there have been some real head scratchers over the years.
I haven’t seen the dominating O-line the past few seasons. The Olentangy game is at Olentangy so there shouldn’t be any ref shenanigans to deal with.
 
I just hope this doesn’t turn into a blowout.
Unless PN's play calling has significantly changed/improved they will definitely keep Lancaster in the game. Any 3rd and longs will be draw plays or passes behind the line of scrimmage. I went to about half of PN's games last year and the coaching staff had ZERO confidence in their QB. Maybe (hopefully!) the "play-not-to-lose" philosophy won't still be there. I'm hoping PN has found some big-play threats and won't simply rely on their plodding ground attack. I have no doubt they will beat the Gaels, but I'm hoping the objective this year is not to just beat the teams you're supposed to beat.
 
I’m not the one saying they’ll beat Olentangy .. I have zero clue what they have coming back but all I do know is Lancaster beat Olentangy last year 34-15 .. so to say they’ll kill Lancaster or not in the same league I believe would be a stupid projection by yourself .. I just hope it’s a good game either way and of course with Lancaster winning .. but I’m also not the guy who will sit on here and completely bash another team and say this or that team isn’t in this other teams league etc .. all I do know just a year ago Olentangy lost to Lancaster by 19 .. Go Gales !
Olentangy was in a huge rebuild last year . Lost virtually all their starters from the year before when they lost a brutal game to Top seed Perry and out played them most of the way . A lot of Sophomore’s last year . Will be better this year
 
North 28-0. No 5 Stars on defense but young, fast and will lay the wood. D Line is legit from what I saw. QB play is the only thing that could hold them back but hearing he has taken a big step forward
 
I’m going to be a realist here. Lancaster is pretty young this year. Only 12 seniors on the roster and I expect several sophomores to be starting come Friday. I’ve seen improvement from scrimmage to scrimmage and I’m sure they continue to improve daily in practice.

I wont even begin to to predict a score. Could North win this one big? Absolutely, but if Lancaster can play to their ability and not make big mistakes or get a bunch of penalties then I believe they can win this game.

i know one thing is for sure, those boys will go out there and make Lancaster proud but playing their butts off and never quitting. GO GALES!
 
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I’m going to be a realist here. Lancaster is pretty young this year. Only 12 seniors on the roster and I expect several sophomores to be starting come Friday. I’ve seen improvement from scrimmage to scrimmage and I’m sure they continue to improve daily in practice.

I wont even begin to to predict a score. Could North win this one big? Absolutely, but if Lancaster can play to their ability and not make big mistakes or get a bunch of penalties then I believe they can win this game.

i know one thing is for sure, those boys will go out there and make Lancaster proud but playing their butts off and never quitting. GO GALES!
I watched their scrimmage vs Liberty. Must say the Lancaster Offense looked different. I thought their passing scheme looked pretty good.
 
Pick North threw like 30 times last year themselves...I believe the qb still only had a lil bit over 100 yards but not much more...Lancaster's quarterback had more yards w/ 18 0r so less passes....It's a new year and I'm sure everyone is much better ...I just wanna see a great game ..Good luck to both teams!!
 
North 53
Lancaster 0


OUCH...................expected North to win handily, but not that scoreline.
Panthers held Gales to 1 first down for the game I believe and last drive of the fist half. They couldn't do anything against that D.
 
North 53
Lancaster 0


OUCH...................expected North to win handily, but not that scoreline.
Panthers held Gales to 1 first down for the game I believe and last drive of the fist half. They couldn't do anything against that D.
ahem, I was told that the Gales had two first downs.
 
ahem, I was told that the Gales had two first downs.
It was one first down, they did not have a first down in the second half. That was as poor of a blocking performance as I have ever seen from a Lancaster Offensive Line. Every time, Van Gundy seemed to take two or three steps to throw, he had defenders tackling him. The run game outside of one or two plays could not sustain there block to create holes for the back. And a lot of missed tackles on Defense as well.
Pick North is really good and will interested to see what there season looks like the rest of the season. I wish them the best.

I know Lancaster started quite a few players on Varsity for the first time and they are very young with only 12 seniors. I know they will get better as the season goes. I hope they can bounce back against Marysville next week?

I just wish the OHSAA would push the season start back one week so that teams like Lancaster who are young could have the opportunity of a third scrimmage. It does not hurt the allow younger player more game time opportunities without affect regular season wins and losses. There were a lot of lopsided uncompetitive games all across Ohio last night. I just hope that is not a trend in future years early in the season moving forward.
 
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