With all the recent talk about Coach Dave Wirth picking up and leaving, and now that TOG cleared everything up and says he is here to stay. I thought we could start a thread to talk about Coach Wirth's Blue Colonels.

 

I am not as familiar with this team as I have been with the past Colonels teams, so like to hear your opinions.

 

Who does Covington Catholic have coming back this year?

 

What do they need to improve from last year.( especially getting past Highlands)

 

How does this team stack up against teams around the league and past CCH teams?

 

Who will they be looking up to(underclassmen and such) to fill some of the roles that have been left empty by the departures of many, talented seniors.

 

Wish the best of luck to all of those young men as they enter a very important part of their lives! College! Lol

 

We're all excited about this season, so it's never to early to start talking. Wish the best to all teams, young men, and coaches entering this 2014 season.

How good is this team expected to be this season?

More of the same...lose to whichever Cincy teams they play, curb stomp the rest of NKY for the most part...play Highlands tough but lose and then exit the playoffs in either round two or three...cue coach to start tweeting about "next year"...

More of the same...lose to whichever Cincy teams they play, curb stomp the rest of NKY for the most part...play Highlands tough but lose and then exit the playoffs in either round two or three...cue coach to start tweeting about "next year"...

 

So lets see, who else in Ky is going to beat the two time big school Ohio state champion Moeller and your correct the last two years we have been beaten by HHS in the third round, but hopefully the injury elephant that stomped on CovCath last year will visit someone else and leave CovCath alone.

 

CovCath has to choose between two starting successful QB's from last year (the one who doesn't start at QB will most likely be a starting RB) a returning starting RB, most of their WR's two starting linemen, the entire D-line and two good LB's, the only part of the D I am worried about is replacing The Mighty Mites" but there are some pretty good current 9th and 10th graders to help replace those gentlemen.

 

Yep at worst another dreadful 11-3 record, but then again, it could be a undefeated season too.

Nobody said it was a bad thing to be Cov. Cath, or to play at the level they play at...I simply said, "more of the same", which, it seems, you agree with.

Interesting! These big team upcoming year threads are usually started by Ram but I'm guessing since it's kinda slow and cold outside, an exception was made.

 

I personally think CCH has an incredibly talented class coming back. They will be a very dangerous team to play. Lots of weapons to go around. And TOG, as far as injuries go, full healthy team last year finishes the same IMO. Am I aloud to use IMO? But yeah for sure, CCH has been bit by the bug a lot over the past few years.

Considering the sheer number of injuries to key positions and even worse timing, I thought this past season was terrific. To better the previous years record using a ton of new faces and underclass men spoke volumes about the talent of the kids standing behind the regular starters as well as the coaches abilities to have them buy into "next man up."

 

On offense:

At QB you have either Adam Wagner or Ben Dressman. Dressman was a pleasant surprise this past season. So much so that I am sure the coaches are going to create a way to have them both on the field. I can easily envision Wagner taking the QB spot with Ben Dressman filling the role of older brother Sam- rotating between WR, RB and QB depending on the situation. Both are too good athletically to not have on the field with the threat of the ball in their hands. I won't talk about VonHandorf until I am sure he's playing, but obviously that kid needs to see the field in some way shape or form.

At RB, current Soph Ben Darlington got a ton of experience playing for the injured Luke Bir. Ben is a very strong north and south runner- and a good blocker out of the backfield in pass pro and QB runs. Also has terrific hands and never goes down on the first hit. I think we will see great things out of him the next two years.

Lost some very good seniors on the line but return Sam Murrer ( who may have been the best of the bunch) plus a lot of guys who played in spots while they had injuries.

At Wide receiver they return the Mac brothers- McLure, McDowell and McGuiness. All three have serious wheels and athletic as all get out. Could be an upcoming Soph or two that could break into that lineup as well.

 

On Defense:

The D line should be a big strength IMO. They lost one Sr in the starting rotation and return (5) guys: Bailey, Brooks, Foertch (who also kicks) Steins and Thorson- who all either started or saw starting minutes. This should be a very solid group. Not super imposing physically, but very smart, athletic and high motors.

At LB we lose Sam Burchell which is huge of course- but yet again, due to injuries a lot of younger guys saw starting minutes all year, led by Cam Pitzer. I expect big thing ahead for Cam as he was one of the leading tacklers on the team as a Soph. Other guys who saw significant minutes are Kathman and Timmerman. I expect we'll hear from Soph to be Alex Shelton in the LB talk as well.

The DB's who graduated will be greatly missed no doubt. We do return a couple studs at Strong and Weak Safety in Alex Wagner and Ben Zumdik. Both are tremendous athletes and up until his injury in the playoffs, I believe Zumdik was leading the team in tackles.

 

Overall, I think this team has the kids the coaching and the ability to take things a step further and - yes , what the hell, I"ll go on record- beat the Birds and continue to big things in the playoffs.

 

Should be a very fun year!

I really like reading all of these team threads, especially ones for the NKY teams and the fact that I actually recognize the names of many of them. A serious question to the Colonel faithful and that is why the feeling that this is the year to knock Highlands off the perch? Not asking this question to stir up trouble, but rather to have some reasonable dialogue on the subject.

I really like reading all of these team threads, especially ones for the NKY teams and the fact that I actually recognize the names of many of them. A serious question to the Colonel faithful and that is why the feeling that this is the year to knock Highlands off the perch? Not asking this question to stir up trouble, but rather to have some reasonable dialogue on the subject.

 

I think it could happen since its apparent to me that the talent in the upcoming Sr and Jr classes is as even as it has been in a long time- and the upcoming Soph talent is a leg up on Highlands (as evidenced by this past years Frosh team records and head to head match up).

Will it be enough to top the scales? My guess is that it will. Just an observation based on speculation, but it seems to me the recent decision to shut the door on out of district students at Highlands has begun to result in a slightly less talented group of kids. Believe me- Highlands is still at another level and their "slightly less" is most everyone's "very best"- but the skid has to stop sometime, so why not this year?

I want to close in saying that I have nothing but the utmost admiration and respect for the Highlands program. A program that has experienced such a high level of success over such a sustained length of time is deserving of all the praise that they receive.

I think it could happen since its apparent to me that the talent in the upcoming Sr and Jr classes is as even as it has been in a long time- and the upcoming Soph talent is a leg up on Highlands (as evidenced by this past years Frosh team records and head to head match up).

Will it be enough to top the scales? My guess is that it will. Just an observation based on speculation, but it seems to me the recent decision to shut the door on out of district students at Highlands has begun to result in a slightly less talented group of kids. Believe me- Highlands is still at another level and their "slightly less" is most everyone's "very best"- but the skid has to stop sometime, so why not this year?

I want to close in saying that I have nothing but the utmost admiration and respect for the Highlands program. A program that has experienced such a high level of success over such a sustained length of time is deserving of all the praise that they receive.

 

You mention that the upcoming Sr and Jr classes are even and the Soph class has a leg up. Just curious what you are basing this on? If I recall, the Senior class to be defeated CovCath twice, the Junior class to be won by more than a touchdown and CovCath scored late in that game to make it an 8 point deficit and the Soph class to be was only defeated 13 to 10 I believe by what many have said is CovCath's best frosh team in many years. JV scores really mean nothing and they did not even play this year. Just curious what you perceive as the advantages that CovCath has over HHS and vice versa.

I think it could happen since its apparent to me that the talent in the upcoming Sr and Jr classes is as even as it has been in a long time- and the upcoming Soph talent is a leg up on Highlands (as evidenced by this past years Frosh team records and head to head match up).

Will it be enough to top the scales? My guess is that it will. Just an observation based on speculation, but it seems to me the recent decision to shut the door on out of district students at Highlands has begun to result in a slightly less talented group of kids. Believe me- Highlands is still at another level and their "slightly less" is most everyone's "very best"- but the skid has to stop sometime, so why not this year?

I want to close in saying that I have nothing but the utmost admiration and respect for the Highlands program. A program that has experienced such a high level of success over such a sustained length of time is deserving of all the praise that they receive.

 

You mention that the upcoming Sr and Jr classes are even and the Soph class has a leg up. Just curious what you are basing this on? If I recall, the Senior class to be defeated CovCath twice, the Junior class to be won by more than a touchdown and CovCath scored late in that game to make it an 8 point deficit and the Soph class to be was only defeated 13 to 10 I believe by what many have said is CovCath's best frosh team in many years. JV scores really mean nothing and they did not even play this year. Just curious what you perceive as the advantages that CovCath has over HHS and vice versa.

 

I think reading anything into frosh scores is unwise. It's one grade against one grade in a grade where one or two really good players can make the difference.

 

Varsity ball is 4 grades against 4 grades plus kids bodies change after their frosh year.

 

With that I have no clue who will be better next year.

You mention that the upcoming Sr and Jr classes are even and the Soph class has a leg up. Just curious what you are basing this on? If I recall, the Senior class to be defeated CovCath twice, the Junior class to be won by more than a touchdown and CovCath scored late in that game to make it an 8 point deficit and the Soph class to be was only defeated 13 to 10 I believe by what many have said is CovCath's best frosh team in many years. JV scores really mean nothing and they did not even play this year. Just curious what you perceive as the advantages that CovCath has over HHS and vice versa.

 

Again- I don't think the talent is much different - the close scores of the recent Frosh and JV (this past years JV notwithstanding) seems to bear that out. Don't know why it would be such a stretch to say that I expect it to change this year. You can say that JV/ Frosh scores don't mean anything- that's not 100% accurate though. I think you can watch any of those games and come away with a good idea about what team has talent and how much.

"This does not mean that you are not able to discuss a team prior to the staff starting a thread. We encourage members to start the 2014 discussion anytime they wish. " Ram posted this so I decided to take the initiative lol!

Again- I don't think the talent is much different - the close scores of the recent Frosh and JV (this past years JV notwithstanding) seems to bear that out. Don't know why it would be such a stretch to say that I expect it to change this year. You can say that JV/ Frosh scores don't mean anything- that's not 100% accurate though. I think you can watch any of those games and come away with a good idea about what team has talent and how much.

 

I totally get what you are saying. Where do you perceive CovCath to have an advantage over Highlands and vice versa. Is it coaching, offense, defense, special teams, home field?

Bluedad, I believe you have a mix up. LB Ethan Sammons played valuable minutes and started a few games with Burchell injury, not Kathman. If I am right, and I could be wrong but, I believe Kathman moved to DB position.