In the Beechwood / Covington Catholic game, the Colonels went for it on 4th down multiple times. CCH went for it on 4th and 10 in easy field goal range trailing 21-20. Are the Colonels a go for it on 4th down team? Or was that just a plan for Beechwood?

What teams have a philosophy of going for it on 4th down? Do they always go for it? What situations do they choose not to go for it on 4th down? Good idea or bad idea to go for it on 4th down?

To me, the recent trend at all levels of football of going for it on 4th down so much is costing teams wins.  It is ok to take the points and to punt every now and then.  Especially early on in games.

As far as Cov. Cath. specifically, I don't know the status of their kicker; therefore, I believe it would be unfair to comment.

Kickers can be hard to trust at any level, but especially the HS level. 

6 minutes ago, BillNye said:

Kickers can be hard to trust at any level, but especially the HS level. 

Agreed.  My above comments are mainly about the systemic issue with going for it on 4th down so much.

2021 State Championship against Johnson Central on Boyle's 1st. series of the game on their own 12 yard line on a 4th. and 1 Coach Haddix goes for it!  Boyle got the firstdown and went on to score a TD to go up 7-0.  Later I asked about his decision and he said if we couldn't get that first down we wasn't going to win the game.   

2022 State Championship game against Corbin in the 4th. quarter Boyle is faced with a 4th. down.   A first down pretty much seals the game.  Boyle gets it and never gave Corbin the ball back.     

3 minutes ago, Rebel said:

2021 State Championship against Johnson Central on Boyle's 1st. series of the game on their own 12 yard line on a 4th. and 1 Coach Haddix goes for it!  Boyle got the firstdown and went on to score a TD to go up 7-0.  Later I asked about his decision and he said if we couldn't get that first down we wasn't going to win the game.   

2022 State Championship game against Corbin in the 4th. quarter Boyle is faced with a 4th. down.   A first down pretty much seals the game.  Boyle gets it and never gave Corbin the ball back.     

They are all good decisions when they work.

1 hour ago, BillNye said:

Kickers can be hard to trust at any level, but especially the HS level. 

Agreed, hard enough in most places across the State to find somebody that can kick it consistently from the 3 let alone anywhere else on the field.

1 hour ago, BillNye said:

Kickers can be hard to trust at any level, but especially the HS level. 

This doesn't even include trusting your long snapper and/or holder.

The game was invented to where you get to take four chances to gain ten yards.

If I was a HS coach, once I crossed midfield I would never punt. The game nowadays (damn I sound old) is offensive in nature. Go score!

Not a Hal Mumme disciple, but it was sure fun to watch.  To me 4th down decisions cannot be made in a vacuum…..field position, time, score, risk vs reward, momentum, line dominance all play a major factor.  As to CovCath which averaged 11.5 yards per rush for the game, the O-line dominance made for an easy decision.  In fact the reward for decision might have been the opening of the floodgates (28 straight points).

6 hours ago, Oldercoach said:

Not a Hal Mumme disciple, but it was sure fun to watch.  To me 4th down decisions cannot be made in a vacuum…..field position, time, score, risk vs reward, momentum, line dominance all play a major factor.  As to CovCath which averaged 11.5 yards per rush for the game, the O-line dominance made for an easy decision.  In fact the reward for decision might have been the opening of the floodgates (28 straight points).

CCH has long snaps turning into safeties, missed PATs and all around shaky special teams performance this year.

The "easy field goal" range mentioned in the original post was easy field goal range for a team that has a sound special teams unit. That's something glaringly lacking in Park Hills at the moment. I think when EE looked at how unreliable his special teams are compared to how reliable his run game was on Friday against Beechwood, going for it on 4th down instead of punting was the much safer decision to make.

16 hours ago, Oldercoach said:

Not a Hal Mumme disciple, but it was sure fun to watch.  To me 4th down decisions cannot be made in a vacuum…..field position, time, score, risk vs reward, momentum, line dominance all play a major factor.  As to CovCath which averaged 11.5 yards per rush for the game, the O-line dominance made for an easy decision.  In fact the reward for decision might have been the opening of the floodgates (28 straight points).

Speaking of Mumme.  I watched him coach a Belhaven (MS) team against Lindsey Wilson College about 10 years ago.  He was going for it on 4th down almost every possession.  Inside his own 30 yard line included.  I think they punted twice the entire game.  They lost 91-14........

4 hours ago, BEChargers said:

Speaking of Mumme.  I watched him coach a Belhaven (MS) team against Lindsey Wilson College about 10 years ago.  He was going for it on 4th down almost every possession.  Inside his own 30 yard line included.  I think they punted twice the entire game.  They lost 91-14........

As the years went on it became clear that Mike Leach was the real genius of that Mumme UK staff.

21 hours ago, Falcon Pride said:

The game was invented to where you get to take four chances to gain ten yards.

If I was a HS coach, once I crossed midfield I would never punt. The game nowadays (damn I sound old) is offensive in nature. Go score!

In general, I agree with this. I would need a good reason to not go for it once my offense crosses the 50.