52 minutes ago, Voice of Reason said:

So you can't stop the other team's offense and the solution is give them a short field? 

I get the point on maximizing offensive possessions but you can't give away points and make it even more difficult for both your offense and your defense.

The question is what’s the difference between a short field and long field if you can’t stop the other guys. Not to mention who do you trust to make a play. You’ve also got to consider how good your special teams are. If you’re only going to net 20-30 yards on the punt or possibly give up a long return or even a TD what would you rather do? 
 

I’m not saying it’s optimal strategy in all cases. But punting isn’t always the best decision either. Good punts are far from automatic at the high school level.

2 minutes ago, rjs4470 said:

The question is what’s the difference between a short field and long field if you can’t stop the other guys. Not to mention who do you trust to make a play. You’ve also got to consider how good your special teams are. If you’re only going to net 20-30 yards on the punt or possibly give up a long return or even a TD what would you rather do? 
 

I’m not saying it’s optimal strategy in all cases. But punting isn’t always the best decision either. Good punts are far from automatic at the high school level.

The difference is an extra 30 yards and 10 more plays for the offense to have a penalty or make a mistake that stops a drive. 

By the way, Kellan McLaughlin is so good.

Congrats to him. Kicked his 18th FG of the season - which ties him for the state record.

I believe he now has 35 for his career, which is second all-time in the state. Kid is special and a weapon.

2 minutes ago, Voice of Reason said:

The difference is an extra 30 yards and 10 more plays for the offense to have a penalty or make a mistake that stops a drive. 

Trinity gains more than 3 yards per play, so it isn’t going to be 10 plays. And if you’re depending on the other team to make a mistake to stop them, you’re going to need a lot more than 30 extra yards from a punt and are probably better off holding on to the football.

Again, not saying I’d be against punting. I just understand why they wouldn’t punt and don’t have an issue with them going for it.

21 minutes ago, rjs4470 said:

Trinity gains more than 3 yards per play, so it isn’t going to be 10 plays. And if you’re depending on the other team to make a mistake to stop them, you’re going to need a lot more than 30 extra yards from a punt and are probably better off holding on to the football.

Again, not saying I’d be against punting. I just understand why they wouldn’t punt and don’t have an issue with them going for it.

Getting 3 yards per play and being 30 yards further away from scoring is 10 plays.

The biggest issue for me is going for it in your own territory. If you think your team has a chance to win, I cannot justify that.  

1 hour ago, Voice of Reason said:

 

The biggest issue for me is going for it in your own territory. If you think your team has a chance to win, I cannot justify that.  

Only thing I can think is that the SK coaching staff though their offense was good enough to get it, a challenge to the Trinity defense.

13 minutes ago, TheDeuce said:

Only thing I can think is that the SK coaching staff though their offense was good enough to get it, a challenge to the Trinity defense.

I think it comes down to who you have more faith in, your offense or defense, and which one you think is more likely to make the play you need. SK needed to take advantage of every possession. Trinity scored on nearly every possession of the second half. It didn’t matter where they started those possessions. 

SK couldn’t tackle the Trinity punt returner. He has two punt return TDs in a row and SK had a 5 yard punt during the game. The wind was blowing in the punters face too.

 

37 minutes ago, BigE333 said:

SK couldn’t tackle the Trinity punt returner. He has two punt return TDs in a row and SK had a 5 yard punt during the game. The wind was blowing in the punters face too.

 

This confirms my belief that going for it wasn't such a bad decision.