Week 3: Olentangy Liberty

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The battle of the winless takes place at RDI Stadium this Friday as Olentangy Liberty (0-2) staggers south from the Columbus area to take on the Bombers (0-2) fresh off a Sunday afternoon ESPN televised curb stomping in Chicago.

X only has 5 days to prepare and a lot needs to be addressed.

Luckily it is the home opener and Liberty may be the weakest team on the schedule.

Yes, even weaker than Moeller, Elder and even LaSalle.
 
 
2 Patriot seniors are receiving small college offers: OLB #5 Gabe Pence (6'1" 205lb) and WR #2 Alex Okuley (6'3" 170lb)
 
I know comparing scores doesn't mean anything, but I'm guessing the Bombers get their first W this week:
Pickerington Central 42
Olentangy Liberty 0

Elder 17
Pickerington Central 7

I think Elder is a lot better than people are giving them credit for so far, but they're probably on par with St X, maybe slightly ahead at this point in the season.
 
Offensively the staff likes the personnel and it’s potential.
Only 2 players have varsity experience in their current position - Fogler and Wassler.
And JW only played week 2 and was still not himself following the scrimmage concussion.

The OLine has the potential to be one of the best, just needs a little more time.
You’ve got 2 converted D linemen (Adams and Dollenmeyer), Fleetwood new to the center position and Tucker Kattus just a sophomore. The coaching staff did the best job they could in lieu of Coach Carp's health battle.

The talented freshmen offensive skill players will stay put for now as the upperclassmen O’Malley, Napier, Patrick, Fitzgerald, Sharp, Weber, Griesser and Nicholson get a chance to develop and prove themselves.

The LW and LA defenses will be the best X sees all year.

Tonight we will see a handful of changes on the defensive side of the ball as the staff addresses the pass defense issues.
Houston will move from safety to corner and at the other corner will be a 6’1” junior to cover bigger WR
Joining Bonner and Myers in the secondary will be sophomore Lucas Bishop (taking Houston’s spot)
Beck will be middle LB, flanked by Devine and junior Guy Folke as the D line remains unchanged.

Those of us who actually follow StX football knew the team would likely be 0-2 going into the home opener.

Looking forward to the game and supporting the team!

GO X!
 
The 2020 team started 1-2 and was losing at half to Elder. They won that second half at the Pit then 10 more including a dominating state title game. That team was YOUNG with only 5 senior starters. The OL averaged about 250. They were dominating offensively until the quarterfinals them defense won a couple games. Great senior top-end talent and great overall junior depth that matured quickly.

Does this team have the top-end talent? Does this team have the overall depth?

I think the defense will be fine. My concerns are on offense. This team will win if 1) 2-3 playmaker emerge. I have not seen this yet. And 2) the OL learns to play together. They might be big and strong but they are not working as one cohesive unit. Collins-Renneker-Parker-Uhl-Koch communicated well and knew when to engage and when to pass off to the next man in the line. This OL has yet to figure this out. I hope they do, soon.
 
Elder+Xavier said:
The 2020 team started 1-2 and was losing at half to Elder. They won that second half at the Pit then 10 more including a dominating state title game. That team was YOUNG with only 5 senior starters. The OL averaged about 250. They were dominating offensively until the quarterfinals them defense won a couple games. Great senior top-end talent and great overall junior depth that matured quickly.

Does this team have the top-end talent? Does this team have the overall depth?

I think the defense will be fine. My concerns are on offense. This team will win if 1) 2-3 playmaker emerge. I have not seen this yet. And 2) the OL learns to play together. They might be big and strong but they are not working as one cohesive unit. Collins-Renneker-Parker-Uhl-Koch communicated well and knew when to engage and when to pass off to the next man in the line. This OL has yet to figure this out. I hope they do, soon.
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I think there were some substantial differences in the 2020 start, vs. this year-- yes, X SHOULD have won the game against Lakota West this year as they SHOULD have won the game against Brownsburg in 2020-- but the loss in 2020 was pretty much ALL down to one really idiotic play call (and then a bad decision by the QB) at the end of the game, when it should have just been "salted away"-- this year, there were a MULTITUDE of sins by almost every aspect of the X team that cost them the win against LW... then, the loss to Cathedral in 2020, while a fair result, was very close-- and could also have gone the other way, with a couple of breaks... this year, X was THOROUGHLY outclassed by Loyola-- even though the score was essentially the same as the score this week against Olentangy Liberty (but for a missed PAT by each team), the Loyola game was really NEVER close-- whereas the game against OL tonight was MUCH closer (24-21 in the 4th quarter) than the final score suggests-- and OL is NOT a good team (and nor is Lakota West, for that matter), and Cathedral was a very good team in 2020-- X is struggling against lesser competition than it faced in 2020 (I don't think 2022 Loyola could/would beat 2020 Cathedral, either)...

X is going to be in REAL trouble, when this pass defense faces Doug Ramsey's pass offense-- I have NO IDEA what the Elder QB is like this year-- but if he was good enough to beat Pickerington 17-7 (who then annihilated this same Olentangy Liberty team 42-0, that X struggled mightily with tonight), I suspect that X may be looking at getting embarrassed by Elder this year-- and Ramsay LOVES to run it up on X, if/when he has the horses to do it-- none of this Specht-style running out the clock (as we saw from X tonight, with the score 38-21, with ~4 minutes to go), not trying to score, when the game is out of reach, for Ramsay-- he will be throwing the ball to try to score, even if he's up ~4 scores late in the 4th quarter. Said another way-- this team has MAJOR issues on defense too-- particularly in the secondary. The offense is not wining any prizes either (and the less said about the special teams, the better)-- this team has major issues in every phase of the game. You could see the latent potential in 2020, even after 3 games-- I don't think this year's team is analogous to 2020 at all.
 
Happy to see the ream get the W under their belt, and just as importantly close out a game in the second half. Was great to see some QB pressure and the adjustments made to those quick outs and slants. Beck is reminding me more and more of Grant Lyons. Folke played well, as did the sophomore safety.

Offensively I liked seeing other WR"S finally getting involved, and O'Malley throwing with more confidence, even if it meant there were some dicey situations. At times that line was blowing holes wide open.

Room for improvement:
Taking the right angle for tackles, especially on the outside. Moeller and Springfield are nightmare scenarios for this team right now.

The O line absolutely has to be better on interior blitzes. You could put OSU Era Kirk Herbstreit back there and it wouldn't matter with that quick middle pressure. Would love to see them get to those second level blocks.

The stretch plays are not working. Napier is a downhill runner, and either doesn't have the quicks or confidence on those. Let that power game flex!

Penalties.. just sloppy.

Punting... that is going to murder them in tight games.

This team is still very much a work in progress, but showed significant improvement in the second half last night. Hope Fleetwood is okay. I'd really love to see a little more nastiness out of this o line. Started seeing it from Beck and Morris on the defense, and you could see the rest of the unit start to ratchet up with them.
 
bomberinmonroe said:
Happy to see the ream get the W under their belt, and just as importantly close out a game in the second half. Was great to see some QB pressure and the adjustments made to those quick outs and slants. Beck is reminding me more and more of Grant Lyons. Folke played well, as did the sophomore safety.

Offensively I liked seeing other WR"S finally getting involved, and O'Malley throwing with more confidence, even if it meant there were some dicey situations. At times that line was blowing holes wide open.

Room for improvement:
Taking the right angle for tackles, especially on the outside. Moeller and Springfield are nightmare scenarios for this team right now.

The O line absolutely has to be better on interior blitzes. You could put OSU Era Kirk Herbstreit back there and it wouldn't matter with that quick middle pressure. Would love to see them get to those second level blocks.

The stretch plays are not working. Napier is a downhill runner, and either doesn't have the quicks or confidence on those. Let that power game flex!

Penalties.. just sloppy.

Punting... that is going to murder them in tight games.

This team is still very much a work in progress, but showed significant improvement in the second half last night. Hope Fleetwood is okay. I'd really love to see a little more nastiness out of this o line. Started seeing it from Beck and Morris on the defense, and you could see the rest of the unit start to ratchet up with them.
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Do they not have any other RBs? Saw Rivers back there a series but looked like he got hurt early. Napier looked gassed a few times and they never sent anyone to give him a blow. Then towards the end of the game they had it locked up, and they just left Napier in, which was questionable as you'd hate to see him get hurt when he didn't need to be in there.
 
TR1982 said:
Do they not have any other RBs? Saw Rivers back there a series but looked like he got hurt early. Napier looked gassed a few times and they never sent anyone to give him a blow. Then towards the end of the game they had it locked up, and they just left Napier in, which was questionable as you'd hate to see him get hurt when he didn't need to be in there.
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The usual back up to Napier is Gage Patrick. Guessing they were keeping Napier in for ball security.
 
TR1982 said:
Gage wasn't dressed, I saw him on the sideline. What happened to Leonard and Dean?
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#3-- PJ Rose-- is also supposed to be a back-up running back-- but he was on the sidelines on crutches, with an icepack on his knee for this game.
 
JV beats OL 30-0 to improve to 2-1

1st Qtr
X 23 yard FG
X 52 yard INT return for TD LB DJ Wojechowski, XP good, X 10-0
2nd Qtr
X 27 yard FG X 13-0
X 1 yard TD plunge QB Herbstreit, PAT good X 20-0
3rd Qtr
X 44 yard TD pass Herbstreit to Ben Lehman, PAT good X 27-0
X 25 yard FG good X 30-0
 
TR1982 said:
Do they not have any other RBs? Saw Rivers back there a series but looked like he got hurt early. Napier looked gassed a few times and they never sent anyone to give him a blow. Then towards the end of the game they had it locked up, and they just left Napier in, which was questionable as you'd hate to see him get hurt when he didn't need to be in there.
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Ball carriers on varsity after Napier, Patrick, Rose, Rivers and Dean would be DeCurtins (6'2" 200) and Houston (5'10" 171lb).
JV leading ball carriers are Ben Lehman (6'0" 175lb), Caron Seymour (5'9" 195lb) and Prince Roberson (5'11" 184lb)
Frosh leading rushers are Daniel Vollmer (6'1" 176lb), Brady McDonald (6'0" 168lb) and Max Vollmer (5'11" 152lb)
Max is no relation to Daniel
 
ReLoad said:
2 Patriot seniors are receiving small college offers: OLB #5 Gabe Pence (6'1" 205lb) and WR #2 Alex Okuley (6'3" 170lb)
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Both of these players had big games.
Pence (#5) with 12 tackles, 6 tackles for loss (24 yards total), 1 interception, 1 sack (7 yards) and 1 pass breakup.
Okuley (#2) with 7 catches for 127 yards and 2 TDs
 
TR1982 said:
Do they not have any other RBs? Saw Rivers back there a series but looked like he got hurt early. Napier looked gassed a few times and they never sent anyone to give him a blow. Then towards the end of the game they had it locked up, and they just left Napier in, which was questionable as you'd hate to see him get hurt when he didn't need to be in there.
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Last Friday vs Olentangy Liberty Steven Napier had 31 carries for 114 yards (3.7 ypc)

It was the 14th time a Bomber running back has carried the ball over 30 times in a game since Specht's been HC (2004)

CJ Kellom 37 for 210 yards vs Moeller 9/17/2021
Chris Payne 33 for 134 yards vs Colerain 11/2/2018
Ben Glines 34 for 187 yards vs Colerain 11/15/2014
Ben Glines 44 for 251 yards vs Indy Cathedral 9/20/2013
Conor Hundley 32 for 150 yards vs LaSalle 11/6/2010
Nevin Heard 33 for 149 yards vs St. Ignatius 10/18/2008
Nevin Heard 33 for 144 yards vs St. Edward 10/11/2008
Darius Ashley 36 for 272 yards vs Mentor 12/1/2007
Darius Ashley 31 for 115 yards vs Colerain 11/16/2007
Darius Ashley 31 for 132 yards vs St. Ignatius 10/20/2007
Darius Ashley 32 for 141 yards vs Elder 9/29/2006
Darius Ashley 35 for 203 yards vs Covington Catholic 9/22/2006
Chris Cionni 40 for 205 yards vs Moeller 9/24/2004

The Bombers lost 2 of those 14 games
 
bomberinmonroe said:
Was great to see some QB pressure and the adjustments made to those quick outs and slants. Beck is reminding me more and more of Grant Lyons. Folke played well, as did the sophomore safety.
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Gus Folke (#34) Junior LB with 10 tackles, 2 for loss (7 yards), 1 sack (7 yards)
Lucas Bishop (#5) Sophomore Safety with 6 tackles, 1 for loss (2 yards) and 1 INT returned 23 yards

bomberinmonroe said:
Offensively I liked seeing other WR"S finally getting involved, and O'Malley throwing with more confidence, even if it meant there were some dicey situations. At times that line was blowing holes wide open.
Click to expand...
Jack O'Malley (#10) Junior QB was 21 for 33 for 329 yards 4 TDs and 1 INT
His 2 favorite targets were Jamal Sharp (11 targets) and McClatchey (7 targets).

Leading Receivers
Jamal Sharp (#82) Senior WR 8 catches for 120 yards and 2 TDs
Jack McClatchey (#80) Junior WR 4 catches for 90 yards and 1 TD
Kyle Fitzgerald (#9) Senior WR 3 catches for 75 yards and 1 TD
Joey Wassler (#88) Senior TE 2 catches for 24 yards

bomberinmonroe said:
Started seeing it from Beck and Morris on the defense, and you could see the rest of the unit start to ratchet up with them.
Click to expand...
Noah Beck (#38) Junior LB 7 tackles, 1 for loss (12 yards) and 1.5 sacks (12 yards)
Antony Morris (#99) Senior NG 3 tackles, 1 for loss (14 yards) and 1.5 sacks (14 yards)
 
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