McGinness finishes with 233 yards rushing and 4 touchdowns. Very nice.

 

In the second half?

Glad to see Cov Cath push around the Birds in this one. This should quiet anyone who thinks the gap has shrunk between the two teams.

CovCath was laying the wood all night! I sat next to Michael Mayer's dad and he was a proud papa.

Just my opinion, but I don't see Highlands beating CovCath for the foreseeable future. Eddie is the best coach in the area, and the pipeline is stacked (including the class coming in next year).

I'd be curious to know how many total yards Highlands finished with.

I talked to Casey on the way out of the locker room, and he winked at me. He knew they were getting the running game going (finally) at the end of the 2nd quarter, and it was just domination in the 3rd quarter.

Great job boys.

Michael Mayer-Stud! All over the field tonight!

 

140 yards receiving for Michael tonight. No idea how many tackles he had, but he had a ton of them.

Surprised to see words like "domination" and "mismatch" in this thread this morning. Wonder how many of those are posts from people who watched the game and how many are just from posters who see the final score and that it was a running clock.

 

No doubt, CCH was the better team and deserved to win. 1st half was played basically even with very little offense by either team. CCH capitalized on a 3rd and long pass to a D1 receiver that was not well covered by the defense. That happens. Beyond that 1 play, about 75 yards offense for CCH and maybe 40 for HHS.

 

Where CCH capitalized on their opportunities, HHS floundered. This offense, as constructed and called, would have a very difficult time mounting a long drive against CCH defense. When that is the case, you must convert when you have 3rd & short. Keeps the drive going and gives your defense a rest. HHS did not do so early (with a particularly uninspired play call starting from shotgun, handing off deep behind the LOS and then running laterally while CCH DL is gaining territory).

 

Again in the 1st half, HHS given great field position via a dropped punt. 3rd & 1, 4th & 1, uninspired play calls lead to a turnover on downs. Some could argue to put points on the board and take the 3 points (particularly knowing you are likely to get an uninspired play call on 4th & 1), but I like going for the 1st down. As an underdog, you have to make every opportunity count. They didn't. (Q - what is the downside late in the 2Q of trying to draw CCH offside on 4th & 1? If they don't jump, call TO and make sure you're confident of the play call. If they do, you have a free 1st down. If 1 of your guys jumps, shame on them, but you take the FG.)

 

Start the 2nd half with the ball and go 3 & out. Uninspired and uninspiring.

 

On CCH drive, 2 breaks off a long run for a TD. Great athletes make great plays. Should have been tackled for a loss on the play, but didn't happen and you can't expect your defense to do everything for the whole night.

 

Down 14-0 with a 4th down around midfield, HHS tries to run a fake punt (QB is the P, so they line up normal and then QB runs up and gets under C to run a play). The QB has taken probably 10 snaps under C this year (and most of them have turned out poorly). You remove the real element of surprise from a fake punt by going into formation (even if you intend to run up, get in formation and snap it quickly). Before the snap, it seemed like a panic call down only 14-0, but with offense doing absolutely nothing, again, I like taking the risk. Of course, QB fumbles the snap and the play falls apart. CCH goes down and scores and the wind is completely out of the sails.

 

From there, it WAS "domination" and a "mismatch." Before that, it was a competitive game. Defense was gassed and knew that the offense was unlikely to mount 21 points in the remaining time. CCH imposed their will, got the running clock and finished things out.

 

Congrats to the HHS seniors. You experienced a "rough patch" rarely seen in HHS football, but you worked hard and helped start the process of bringing things back to where they should be. Reminds me of the baseball birds who battled through several seasons building what is now a premiere program. No house stands tall without a solid foundation.

Just my opinion, but I don't see Highlands beating CovCath for the foreseeable future. Eddie is the best coach in the area, and the pipeline is stacked (including the class coming in next year).

 

I don’t believe that the pipeline will stop growing anytime soon, especially if Eviston remains as coach.

Surprised to see words like "domination" and "mismatch" in this thread this morning. Wonder how many of those are posts from people who watched the game and how many are just from posters who see the final score and that it was a running clock.

 

No doubt, CCH was the better team and deserved to win. 1st half was played basically even with very little offense by either team. CCH capitalized on a 3rd and long pass to a D1 receiver that was not well covered by the defense. That happens. Beyond that 1 play, about 75 yards offense for CCH and maybe 40 for HHS.

 

Where CCH capitalized on their opportunities, HHS floundered. This offense, as constructed and called, would have a very difficult time mounting a long drive against CCH defense. When that is the case, you must convert when you have 3rd & short. Keeps the drive going and gives your defense a rest. HHS did not do so early (with a particularly uninspired play call starting from shotgun, handing off deep behind the LOS and then running laterally while CCH DL is gaining territory).

 

Again in the 1st half, HHS given great field position via a dropped punt. 3rd & 1, 4th & 1, uninspired play calls lead to a turnover on downs. Some could argue to put points on the board and take the 3 points (particularly knowing you are likely to get an uninspired play call on 4th & 1), but I like going for the 1st down. As an underdog, you have to make every opportunity count. They didn't. (Q - what is the downside late in the 2Q of trying to draw CCH offside on 4th & 1? If they don't jump, call TO and make sure you're confident of the play call. If they do, you have a free 1st down. If 1 of your guys jumps, shame on them, but you take the FG.)

 

Start the 2nd half with the ball and go 3 & out. Uninspired and uninspiring.

 

On CCH drive, 2 breaks off a long run for a TD. Great athletes make great plays. Should have been tackled for a loss on the play, but didn't happen and you can't expect your defense to do everything for the whole night.

 

Down 14-0 with a 4th down around midfield, HHS tries to run a fake punt (QB is the P, so they line up normal and then QB runs up and gets under C to run a play). The QB has taken probably 10 snaps under C this year (and most of them have turned out poorly). You remove the real element of surprise from a fake punt by going into formation (even if you intend to run up, get in formation and snap it quickly). Before the snap, it seemed like a panic call down only 14-0, but with offense doing absolutely nothing, again, I like taking the risk. Of course, QB fumbles the snap and the play falls apart. CCH goes down and scores and the wind is completely out of the sails.

 

From there, it WAS "domination" and a "mismatch." Before that, it was a competitive game. Defense was gassed and knew that the offense was unlikely to mount 21 points in the remaining time. CCH imposed their will, got the running clock and finished things out.

 

Congrats to the HHS seniors. You experienced a "rough patch" rarely seen in HHS football, but you worked hard and helped start the process of bringing things back to where they should be. Reminds me of the baseball birds who battled through several seasons building what is now a premiere program. No house stands tall without a solid foundation.

 

Very well said and much more diplomatic than I would have been regarding the offense. How well would this offense have looked if Jason Lynch or Kevin Siple were running it with the athletes they have? It took BW a few years to realize that the former DC could not get it done, now it is time to make the change at OC. You have a former head coach and really good offensive mind working out of the Central Office, maybe give him a call.

Edited November 17, 20187 yr by Jack of all Trades

Did CCH go for two points to get the running clock? At what point in the game did that happen?

Did CCH go for two points to get the running clock? At what point in the game did that happen?

 

Very early in the 4th. Made the game and cold a lot easier to handle.

They ran out of hot chocolate on the visitors side of the field way too early.

Did CCH go for two points to get the running clock? At what point in the game did that happen?

 

Yes-I believe they made it 34-0 on the 1st play of the 4th Quarter. They went for two after that. The 4th Quarter then took about 15 minutes, and allowed CCH to get the backups (including some of their Frosh) in.