2 minutes ago, DevilMayCare said:

 

The truth is likely somewhere in between. Beechwood deserves due credit for defending Brown when he touched the ball better than anyone else this season. I hate to question LCA's coaches, because frankly, I'm not qualified. But if - And I say if because he may have gotten dinged up in the first half. I don't know the whole truth there - if he was healthy, how do you not get him the ball more than ten times? It's the state championship game of his senior year. You feed him the ball as many times as it takes. 

All of us on the Beechwood side were wondering the same exact thing. 

With people wondering what happened with Brown, let's dig deep and see what happened.

Brown got the first two carries of the game for LCA with the second carry resulting in a fumble recovered by Beechwood.

On LCA's second possession, Emerson gained 30 yards on the first play. That worked well so LCA gave Riffle a carry on the next play. Then Brown gets another carry, 4 yard gain. Mason Moore got the next carry and fumbled, Beechwood recovers. Should LCA have done something different there? 

Now Beechwood leads 13-0. Down two scores with 8:24 till halftime, what should LCA do? They give it to Emerson again and he picks up 10. That is 2 carries for 40 yards for Emerson. Nevertheless, Brown gets 3 of the next 5 carries for LCA. It is 3rd and 5, Nieves fakes to Brown and picks up 3. On 4th and 2, LCA gives it to Moore and he is stopped by Beechwood. Brown has half the touches in the game for LCA at this point. And Emerson has been more effective by far on his 3 touches. Hard to question what LCA has done on offense with play calling. Maybe Brown should have carried the ball those last two plays? But Brown only gained 2 yards on 2nd and 7.  See, it isn't easy to question the play calling.

Next possession for LCA, they get the ball with 3 minutes left in the half and they trail 20-0. LCA goes to the passing game. Brown is targeted on 2 of the first 4 passes and both are incomplete. However, on the second incompletion Beechwood is called for pass interference. Brown was well covered. The pass was a little short and hit the Beechwood defender in the back. It was a 50/50 call but to our discussion here, Brown was the target and Beechwood was right there with him. Next play, Brown carries it for 2 yards. At this point LCA has run 21 plays and Brown has either been the ball carrier or targeted receiver on 9 of them. Almost half the plays Brown was given the opportunity. Nieves then completed a 28 yard pass to Moore and after a rush by Chaney, Nieves completed a TD pass to Chaney. No one can question those last 3 plays because they resulted in LCA's TD. 

So here is what the first half looked like.  

Brown's 9 first half plays resulted in 7 carries, 64 yards and a lost fumble. Targeted on two passes and both were incomplete.

The rest of the team had 6 carries for 60 yards, 41 yards receiving, a TD and a lost fumble.

What produced more for LCA? Going to Brown or going to other very talented players? Should Brown have touched the ball more? Where?

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LCA's first second half drive, first play was a 57 yard completion and run by Selby to the 3 yard line. Two of the next 3 plays were runs by Brown and he scored a TD on a 1 yard run on 3rd and goal. No questions about usage of Brown here. 

Then the scoop and score put LCA ahead 21-20.

With that lead, on their next possession, LCA's most effective runner in the game so far Emerson had 2 carries and Riffle had one carry. No touches for Brown. I am not sure if he was in the game on this drive. LCA punted, 3 and out.

Next possession, first down completion to Selby. Nieves gets 3 yards. Then Brown gets a carry for 1 yard. It is 3rd and 6. Should Brown get the ball after just gaining one yard on the previous play? LCA passes the ball, incomplete and is forced to punt. 

At this point, I would not say anything looks like Brown was hurt. Yes, he did not get a touch on that 3 and out series, but LCA did the same type of possession on their second series of the first half handing the ball to Emerson, and it went for good yards in the first half. Maybe LCA should have broken their norm and said it is the title game, sorry but our senior Brown is getting the ball. If you do that, you are taking the ball away from Emerson, the guy who has 3 carries for 43 yards in the game.

Next LCA possession with 8:20 left in the game leading 21-20, no Brown. Nieves run, Emerson run, then incomplete on 3rd and 6. This is where I question for the first time - where was Brown? Hurt?

Next and final LCA possession with 1:43 to go trailing 23-21, Brown is back and returns the kickoff after Beechwood's field goal 35 yards to the 50. First offensive play is a 15 yard completion to Moore. Ball at Beechwood 35. Not in reasonable field goal range yet. With time short, the next 4 plays are all pass plays. First play, pass batted down by Beechwood's Jackson. Next play, Nieves scrambles for 4 yards. Next play Nieves is sacked by Beechwood's Shepherd. On 4th and 12, incomplete pass to Moore. 

In the second half, Brown carried the ball 3 times for 2 yards. He returned a kickoff 35 yards. I certainly wonder why he did not get carries on the one 3 and out series, but beyond that - I see no place where I have questions for how LCA used Brown in the game.

7 hours ago, Voice of Reason said:

With people wondering what happened with Brown, let's dig deep and see what happened.

Brown got the first two carries of the game for LCA with the second carry resulting in a fumble recovered by Beechwood.

On LCA's second possession, Emerson gained 30 yards on the first play. That worked well so LCA gave Riffle a carry on the next play. Then Brown gets another carry, 4 yard gain. Mason Moore got the next carry and fumbled, Beechwood recovers. Should LCA have done something different there? 

Now Beechwood leads 13-0. Down two scores with 8:24 till halftime, what should LCA do? They give it to Emerson again and he picks up 10. That is 2 carries for 40 yards for Emerson. Nevertheless, Brown gets 3 of the next 5 carries for LCA. It is 3rd and 5, Nieves fakes to Brown and picks up 3. On 4th and 2, LCA gives it to Moore and he is stopped by Beechwood. Brown has half the touches in the game for LCA at this point. And Emerson has been more effective by far on his 3 touches. Hard to question what LCA has done on offense with play calling. Maybe Brown should have carried the ball those last two plays? But Brown only gained 2 yards on 2nd and 7.  See, it isn't easy to question the play calling.

Next possession for LCA, they get the ball with 3 minutes left in the half and they trail 20-0. LCA goes to the passing game. Brown is targeted on 2 of the first 4 passes and both are incomplete. However, on the second incompletion Beechwood is called for pass interference. Brown was well covered. The pass was a little short and hit the Beechwood defender in the back. It was a 50/50 call but to our discussion here, Brown was the target and Beechwood was right there with him. Next play, Brown carries it for 2 yards. At this point LCA has run 21 plays and Brown has either been the ball carrier or targeted receiver on 9 of them. Almost half the plays Brown was given the opportunity. Nieves then completed a 28 yard pass to Moore and after a rush by Chaney, Nieves completed a TD pass to Chaney. No one can question those last 3 plays because they resulted in LCA's TD. 

So here is what the first half looked like.  

Brown's 9 first half plays resulted in 7 carries, 64 yards and a lost fumble. Targeted on two passes and both were incomplete.

The rest of the team had 6 carries for 60 yards, 41 yards receiving, a TD and a lost fumble.

What produced more for LCA? Going to Brown or going to other very talented players? Should Brown have touched the ball more? Where?

__________________________________________________________________________________

LCA's first second half drive, first play was a 57 yard completion and run by Selby to the 3 yard line. Two of the next 3 plays were runs by Brown and he scored a TD on a 1 yard run on 3rd and goal. No questions about usage of Brown here. 

Then the scoop and score put LCA ahead 21-20.

With that lead, on their next possession, LCA's most effective runner in the game so far Emerson had 2 carries and Riffle had one carry. No touches for Brown. I am not sure if he was in the game on this drive. LCA punted, 3 and out.

Next possession, first down completion to Selby. Nieves gets 3 yards. Then Brown gets a carry for 1 yard. It is 3rd and 6. Should Brown get the ball after just gaining one yard on the previous play? LCA passes the ball, incomplete and is forced to punt. 

At this point, I would not say anything looks like Brown was hurt. Yes, he did not get a touch on that 3 and out series, but LCA did the same type of possession on their second series of the first half handing the ball to Emerson, and it went for good yards in the first half. Maybe LCA should have broken their norm and said it is the title game, sorry but our senior Brown is getting the ball. If you do that, you are taking the ball away from Emerson, the guy who has 3 carries for 43 yards in the game.

Next LCA possession with 8:20 left in the game leading 21-20, no Brown. Nieves run, Emerson run, then incomplete on 3rd and 6. This is where I question for the first time - where was Brown? Hurt?

Next and final LCA possession with 1:43 to go trailing 23-21, Brown is back and returns the kickoff after Beechwood's field goal 35 yards to the 50. First offensive play is a 15 yard completion to Moore. Ball at Beechwood 35. Not in reasonable field goal range yet. With time short, the next 4 plays are all pass plays. First play, pass batted down by Beechwood's Jackson. Next play, Nieves scrambles for 4 yards. Next play Nieves is sacked by Beechwood's Shepherd. On 4th and 12, incomplete pass to Moore. 

In the second half, Brown carried the ball 3 times for 2 yards. He returned a kickoff 35 yards. I certainly wonder why he did not get carries on the one 3 and out series, but beyond that - I see no place where I have questions for how LCA used Brown in the game.

Excellent write up VoR. I think we all see Power 5 commitments and assume they are supposed to take over the game. The BW defense was as good as they’ve been all year last night. Holding Brown and LCA offense to 14 points scored by them showed that. I guess we all figured he’d get 40 touches. 

He must have had that mysterious "issue" suffered by Chris Rodriguez for UK That nobody would talk about.

20 hours ago, Voice of Reason said:

With people wondering what happened with Brown, let's dig deep and see what happened.

Brown got the first two carries of the game for LCA with the second carry resulting in a fumble recovered by Beechwood.

On LCA's second possession, Emerson gained 30 yards on the first play. That worked well so LCA gave Riffle a carry on the next play. Then Brown gets another carry, 4 yard gain. Mason Moore got the next carry and fumbled, Beechwood recovers. Should LCA have done something different there? 

Now Beechwood leads 13-0. Down two scores with 8:24 till halftime, what should LCA do? They give it to Emerson again and he picks up 10. That is 2 carries for 40 yards for Emerson. Nevertheless, Brown gets 3 of the next 5 carries for LCA. It is 3rd and 5, Nieves fakes to Brown and picks up 3. On 4th and 2, LCA gives it to Moore and he is stopped by Beechwood. Brown has half the touches in the game for LCA at this point. And Emerson has been more effective by far on his 3 touches. Hard to question what LCA has done on offense with play calling. Maybe Brown should have carried the ball those last two plays? But Brown only gained 2 yards on 2nd and 7.  See, it isn't easy to question the play calling.

Next possession for LCA, they get the ball with 3 minutes left in the half and they trail 20-0. LCA goes to the passing game. Brown is targeted on 2 of the first 4 passes and both are incomplete. However, on the second incompletion Beechwood is called for pass interference. Brown was well covered. The pass was a little short and hit the Beechwood defender in the back. It was a 50/50 call but to our discussion here, Brown was the target and Beechwood was right there with him. Next play, Brown carries it for 2 yards. At this point LCA has run 21 plays and Brown has either been the ball carrier or targeted receiver on 9 of them. Almost half the plays Brown was given the opportunity. Nieves then completed a 28 yard pass to Moore and after a rush by Chaney, Nieves completed a TD pass to Chaney. No one can question those last 3 plays because they resulted in LCA's TD. 

So here is what the first half looked like.  

Brown's 9 first half plays resulted in 7 carries, 64 yards and a lost fumble. Targeted on two passes and both were incomplete.

The rest of the team had 6 carries for 60 yards, 41 yards receiving, a TD and a lost fumble.

What produced more for LCA? Going to Brown or going to other very talented players? Should Brown have touched the ball more? Where?

__________________________________________________________________________________

LCA's first second half drive, first play was a 57 yard completion and run by Selby to the 3 yard line. Two of the next 3 plays were runs by Brown and he scored a TD on a 1 yard run on 3rd and goal. No questions about usage of Brown here. 

Then the scoop and score put LCA ahead 21-20.

With that lead, on their next possession, LCA's most effective runner in the game so far Emerson had 2 carries and Riffle had one carry. No touches for Brown. I am not sure if he was in the game on this drive. LCA punted, 3 and out.

Next possession, first down completion to Selby. Nieves gets 3 yards. Then Brown gets a carry for 1 yard. It is 3rd and 6. Should Brown get the ball after just gaining one yard on the previous play? LCA passes the ball, incomplete and is forced to punt. 

At this point, I would not say anything looks like Brown was hurt. Yes, he did not get a touch on that 3 and out series, but LCA did the same type of possession on their second series of the first half handing the ball to Emerson, and it went for good yards in the first half. Maybe LCA should have broken their norm and said it is the title game, sorry but our senior Brown is getting the ball. If you do that, you are taking the ball away from Emerson, the guy who has 3 carries for 43 yards in the game.

Next LCA possession with 8:20 left in the game leading 21-20, no Brown. Nieves run, Emerson run, then incomplete on 3rd and 6. This is where I question for the first time - where was Brown? Hurt?

Next and final LCA possession with 1:43 to go trailing 23-21, Brown is back and returns the kickoff after Beechwood's field goal 35 yards to the 50. First offensive play is a 15 yard completion to Moore. Ball at Beechwood 35. Not in reasonable field goal range yet. With time short, the next 4 plays are all pass plays. First play, pass batted down by Beechwood's Jackson. Next play, Nieves scrambles for 4 yards. Next play Nieves is sacked by Beechwood's Shepherd. On 4th and 12, incomplete pass to Moore. 

In the second half, Brown carried the ball 3 times for 2 yards. He returned a kickoff 35 yards. I certainly wonder why he did not get carries on the one 3 and out series, but beyond that - I see no place where I have questions for how LCA used Brown in the game.

Yes well thought out and agree that he was not the same after the hit in question. If he was not hurt then there is a question from that point onward. I would only say that the LCA coaching staff needs to get the benefit of the doubt on this one.