Varsity Scrimmage:

ST X 24

Fern Creek 6

 

JV Scrimmage:

St X 14

Fern Creek 0

 

Fr Scrimmage:

ST X 30

Fern Creek 26

 

Good night of HS football.

Thanks for the post. It looks like both teams played fairly well from top to bottom.

Saw most of the freshmen scrimmage, needed binoculars, but came away impressed with Fern Creek's athleticism. The QB threw a nice deep ball, stayed in the pocket under pressure and took some hits. FC receivers also came up with a long jump balls.

Anybody see how Hynes did for FC's varsity?

How were the X's QB's? Who stood out? Heard that sophmore QB might see some time under the center.

Varsity Scrimmage:

ST X 24

Fern Creek 6

 

JV Scrimmage:

St X 14

Fern Creek 0

 

Fr Scrimmage:

ST X 30

Fern Creek 26

 

Good night of HS football.

X did manage to score one more late in the game to make the final score 31 to 6. Both the touchdown and the extra point were scored by #15 Brad Wilkerson. You don't see that happen very often. Defense looked very good. Heuser and Hilt in the Defensive Line backers position are going to be a deadly duo to be dealt with for their opponents all year. The O-line needs some work. Creeks defense spent to much time in the back field. Overall it was a good start to the year. I think both coaches learned a lot.

Early reviews on the stadium?

Early reviews on the stadium?

Simply Magnificent!!! Order the grilled chicken from the concession stand.

Plan on parking at george Rogers unless you get there real early or you will be at the tennis center.

For early season, the St. X Tigers looked pretty good. Lots of work to do. I missed the first 30 minutes of the scrimmage. My take =>

 

Offense - Need to work on passing game. Running game ok for preseason. OL needs more quickness.

 

Defense - Needs to improve speed to the ball. FC scored on a 2 yard screen followed by a 73 yard run....

 

Special teams - Kicking game looked to be improved, of course, it only had one way to go. Snapper on punts needs some work. Extra points were improved.

 

All in all => Keep working hard and improve each day. On to Henry Clay...

Saw most of the freshmen scrimmage, needed binoculars, but came away impressed with Fern Creek's athleticism. The QB threw a nice deep ball, stayed in the pocket under pressure and took some hits. FC receivers also came up with a long jump balls.

Anybody see how Hynes did for FC's varsity?

 

He didnt have much time they were sending 7 or 8 fairly often, hard to throw with a linebacker breathing down your neck. FC needs to buck up their O line, teach their blockers sometimes they have to push off and release. X's LB's had nice open lanes to travel in. Hynes however CAN throw on the run which surprised me. FC's defense was impressive, you gotta love coach White and what he is doing if your a FC fan! X was giving up a lot across the middle but thats a gamble when you send that many and it seemed to be very effective and stopping FC's passing game.

 

I liked that they played the scrimmage like a game and not just taking turns on downs.

 

Stadium AWESOME!

For early season, the St. X Tigers looked pretty good. Lots of work to do. I missed the first 30 minutes of the scrimmage. My take =>

 

Offense - Need to work on passing game. Running game ok for preseason. OL needs more quickness.

 

Defense - Needs to improve speed to the ball. FC scored on a 2 yard screen followed by a 73 yard run....

 

Special teams - Kicking game looked to be improved, of course, it only had one way to go. Snapper on punts needs some work. Extra points were improved.

 

All in all => Keep working hard and improve each day. On to Henry Clay...

 

Speed to the ball on defense looked fine. On the 73 yd pass several key players in the defensive secondary were not in the game. I think it was a screen.

I thought is was a great opening scrimmage for both teams:

 

The St. X O-line got an early look at the same type of defense Male runs and realized they have room for improvement. This learning experience will pay off later this season. FC has some good speed and spent a good deal of time in the backfield disrupting many plays due to the confusion up front.

 

St. X mixed the pass vs run fairly well, some passes were off and a number of them dropped, but that can be expected this time of year. I believe St. X found their goto receiver in tight end Ben Brown who put on a great display catching and running.

 

The St. X defense looked good considering they are putting in a new defensive scheme and were missing all four starting D-linemen due to various bumps and bruises. There were a lot of big hits by the defense.

 

The FC QB proved he can pass the ball if he has the time. He has a lot of speed to throw to.

 

I was impressed by FC's numbers, they seemed up from past seasons. FC showed good discipline and had few penalties.

 

The St. X kicking game was much improved. Most of the kickoffs ended up in the endzone and they were perfect on PATs and a field goal. They need a little more practice long snapping though.

 

Both teams showed some good young talent.

This turned out to be a great night for football, as the freshman teams scrimmaged in the baseball stadium, while the varsity and JV teams knocked heads in the main stadium. There was a good crowd at both venues to watch the Tigers battle the Tigers.

 

The Fern Creek parents and fans who attended this scrimmage session were outstanding, well-mannered guests, and it was our pleasure to host them. The Fern Creek team appears to be well-coached, has some talented players, and conducted themselves in a first-class manner throughout the contest. I wish them nothing but the best throughout their coming season.

 

To me the neatest thing of all as a St. X. alum was watching all of this occur in our own astounding new facilities, which rival those of many small colleges. Athletic Director, Alan Donhoff, together with the Tiger Boosters, rolled out the carpet and gave us an outstanding preview of what is to come when the regular season commences with the Inaugural Game on August 24. Attendants were present in the parking lot to assist with traffic, and the concessions were fired up with a full, greatly expanded menu, including delicious outdoor grilled items. This was like a well-planned dress rehersal for the main event. After this appetizer, I can't wait for the real thing.

 

I'm sure this early scrimmage, conducted in a regular game format, was extremely helpful for both St. X. and Fern Creek. From a St. X. perspective I noticed a lot of positives, plus a few negatives which will need attention.

 

Positives

* New 4-3 Defense - After years running a Split-6, Defensive Coordinator, Todd Walsh, unvailed the new 4-3 alignment, and it looked fantastic. Stunts run from a wide variety of areas befuddled the opposition. Aside from a short swing pass, which after a missed tackle turned into a 70+ yard TD for Fern Creek, and 3 or 4 other short to medium completions, St. X. stymied an excellent Creeker passing attack. For the most part the Fern Creek QB was being either smacked for a major loss or running for his life, while the St. X. secondary was doing a great job in covering speedy receivers. In a like manner, the Fern Creek rushing attack was thoroughly throttled, as defenders were flying to the ball from everywhere.

* Defensive Line Depth - With the entire projected starting 4-man DL sitting out due to minor injuries, the Tiger front never missed a beat, and totally outplayed the opposition. The extremely large Fern Creek OL was never able to establish any semblance of a rushing attack.

* Linebacker Play - Led by Nick Heuser and Jack Hilt, this may be the quickest and hardest hitting set of linebackers seen at St. X. in many years. They were all over the field in this scrimmage passing out punishment.

* Running Back Depth - Deuce Finch, Aaron Knotts, and Joe Montano, as expected, all looked strong and quick in the early going. The Tigers substituted liberally as the scrimmage progressed, which opened the door for some outstanding younger players. Junior Brad Wilkerson, and sophomores, Jermiah Neal and Demetrius Conley, all flashed superb speed and moves in breaking for a number of long gainers.

* Tight End - Ben Brown (6-3, 240, Sr.) played like a man possessed. He not only was making many brilliant catches on the outside and over the middle, but was also proving to be a human bulldozer, running over the Creeker LB's and DB's after the catch. This young man definitely belongs on the list of the best TE's in Kentucky.

* Placekicking - With the wind at his back, Andrew Bosscher, was booming the kickoffs high and deep into the endzone. When he was going against the wind, all his kickoffs were still going high and inside the 3-yard marker. He was also perfect on all his extrapoint and only fieldgoal attempt. This is a great improvement from last season.

 

Negatives

* QB Passing - As was the case last year, many passes to open receivers were thrown short and into the ground. I'm not sure whether this is a mental thing or flaw in mechanics, but hopefully a solution can be found. Also, when Fern Creek provided a good rush, the QB appeared to be a deer in the headlights and froze, taking a sack when he could have safely and easily thrown the ball away.

* Deep Pass Receiving - On passes which were on target, the Tigers showed a bad case of dropsey. St. X. has the speed at WR to beat others deep and demonstrated it in this scrimmage, but they need to catch the ball. Hopefully, more time on proper hand positioning, ignoring defender distractions, and concentration on looking the ball all the way in will prove fruitful.

* Punting Game - Long-snapping looked to be a major problem, as most were off target, with one going entirely over the kicker's head into the endzone. In addition, the punts were very inconsistent. Some were high, long boomers (which shows the potential is there), while other were shanked short. This could have been caused by timing alterations due to off target snaps. More practice repetitions and film study to detect form variations will hopefully resolve this one.

* Offensive Line Blocking - With a lot of new faces on the line, some problems in this area are to be expected. As the preseason progresses, with more repetitions, the learning curve becomes expodential and chemistry develops. The talent is there, we just need to give it time to reach its high potential.

 

Time to come off of the soapbox. I'm winded!

 

:ylsuper: GO TIGERS!! :ylsuper:

Does anyone have some details on the St. X./Fern Creek freshman scrimmage (who played what...how did both teams score...turnovers...running attack...passing attack...kicking game...defensive plays...positives and negatives)? Is the 30-26 score correct? I found myself too involved with the varsity and did not have an opportunity to watch any of the Baby Bengals performance. Come on...I'm starving for info! :jump:

Actually Deuce was the least impressive of the RB core...he looks a bit out of shape as of this moment ( I believe he'll end up fine) but I realize that we simply need some info passed to us, so that we can forecast some struggles here and there.

How big and fast is Jack Hilt now? I coached him all through middle school and he is one of my favorite kids I ever coached. Great kid and great family! It's exciting to see that he has reached the level to be one of the great LB's to play at X!