Actually, I really think X just isn't there yet...now they are banged up as well. I really thought Zoeller would be where he needed to be as of yet, but that hasn't happened...and I am shocked that Deuce isn't ready to go the way we saw him the last two years. That said, I look for X to be at full speed come the 28th of September.

 

Unfortuneately, St X has a few games before that, including 4 against a top 10 ranked team before September 28th. Based on last night, let's hope improvement before next week's game.

 

First of all, Henry Clay has a first class facility and were very good guests.

As to their team, their offensive line was similar to Male's offensive line last year in size and speed. Ryan Phillippi at QB has very good feet and lightning fast. He has a very nice ball and makes good decisions. X had defenders in place many times but he eluded them and went past them. Dontae Gay was impressive and was a good receiver as well. Aaron Boyd is a stud and caught a touchdown pass but you can see from his first step whether the ball is going his way. When he goes all out, he's unstoppable. There is another receiver that was small in stature but made a number of good catches and set up the second touchdown. All in all, an impressive offense that made only 1 turnover on a tipped ball. Kicking game struggled with offensive linemen stepping too soon a getting a procedure call ( 3 times ) Kickoffs were not impressive unless they were trying to squib kick.

 

Henry Clay's defense was solid and sent blitzing linebacker after blitzing linebacker. Good flow to the ball. DE got hooked a number of times on sweeps. DB played tight on the outside but X only went deep once and underthrew the receiver. All in all, expect Henry Clay to advance to at least the semifinals again. I believe they have 15 returning starters back and it shows.

 

As to the Tigers, it will be a long week of practice. Penalties, missed assignments, dropped balls, and missed tackles sums it up. Tigers hurt themselves more than the opponent. At least 80 yards of offense got called back so instead of first down and 10 it became 2 down and 22 and even Joe Montana can't get a sustained drive that way. Offensive line was missing 2 starters but failed to open up the holes on the inside. Only effective running was to the wide side outside. Deuce has one long run called back of about 40 yards for a tD that he showed the flashes of last year.

Passing game suffers from 3 major problems. 1)Protection-Zoeller has to roll out to avoid pressure. 2)Play calling- X only showed passes to the outside zones and many times just 2 receiver routes. The one effective play was a TE hook that went for about 35 yards. They need to throw across the middle more to keep the linebackers home. 3)Receivers need to catch the ball. The receivers had a closed door meeting when they got back to school. QB's can't catch the ball -granted not every throw is on target because of protection but they need to make adjustments and practice the more advanced plays.

 

Defense got little or no penetration against the bigger and better offensive line of HC. I remember only one sack. Overall, the defense got alot of no yardage gained plays but spent too much time on the field.

 

KIcking game- kickoffs were deep. Punting was average.

Unfortuneately, St X has a few games before that, including 4 against a top 10 ranked team before September 28th. Based on last night, let's hope improvement before next week's game.

 

First of all, Henry Clay has a first class facility and were very good guests.

As to their team, their offensive line was similar to Male's offensive line last year in size and speed. Ryan Phillippi at QB has very good feet and lightning fast. He has a very nice ball and makes good decisions. X had defenders in place many times but he eluded them and went past them. Dontae Gay was impressive and was a good receiver as well. Aaron Boyd is a stud and caught a touchdown pass but you can see from his first step whether the ball is going his way. When he goes all out, he's unstoppable. There is another receiver that was small in stature but made a number of good catches and set up the second touchdown. All in all, an impressive offense that made only 1 turnover on a tipped ball. Kicking game struggled with offensive linemen stepping too soon a getting a procedure call ( 3 times ) Kickoffs were not impressive unless they were trying to squib kick.

 

Henry Clay's defense was solid and sent blitzing linebacker after blitzing linebacker. Good flow to the ball. DE got hooked a number of times on sweeps. DB played tight on the outside but X only went deep once and underthrew the receiver. All in all, expect Henry Clay to advance to at least the semifinals again. I believe they have 15 returning starters back and it shows.

 

As to the Tigers, it will be a long week of practice. Penalties, missed assignments, dropped balls, and missed tackles sums it up. Tigers hurt themselves more than the opponent. At least 80 yards of offense got called back so instead of first down and 10 it became 2 down and 22 and even Joe Montana can't get a sustained drive that way. Offensive line was missing 2 starters but failed to open up the holes on the inside. Only effective running was to the wide side outside. Deuce has one long run called back of about 40 yards for a tD that he showed the flashes of last year.

Passing game suffers from 3 major problems. 1)Protection-Zoeller has to roll out to avoid pressure. 2)Play calling- X only showed passes to the outside zones and many times just 2 receiver routes. The one effective play was a TE hook that went for about 35 yards. They need to throw across the middle more to keep the linebackers home. 3)Receivers need to catch the ball. The receivers had a closed door meeting when they got back to school. QB's can't catch the ball -granted not every throw is on target because of protection but they need to make adjustments and practice the more advanced plays.

 

Defense got little or no penetration against the bigger and better offensive line of HC. I remember only one sack. Overall, the defense got alot of no yardage gained plays but spent too much time on the field.

 

KIcking game- kickoffs were deep. Punting was average.

 

I would like to see some play calling that allows the QB to set his feet.

Actually, I really think X just isn't there yet...now they are banged up as well. I really thought Zoeller would be where he needed to be as of yet, but that hasn't happened...and I am shocked that Deuce isn't ready to go the way we saw him the last two years. That said, I look for X to be at full speed come the 28th of September.

 

Finch can only do so much. When teams have 11 men in the box it can be a little difficult.

Finch can only do so much. When teams have 11 men in the box it can be a little difficult.

 

True. When the offense can't throw the ball... stack the box.

Offensive line was missing 2 starters but failed to open up the holes on the inside.

OL wasn't missing any starters until Josh Gahm went out, (2nd quarter maybe). And the QB's never had to roll out and were never sacked (1st team). In fact, fans in my section exaperated with the incomplete passes, said "He's getting all the time in the world to throw!". On one play that might have looked as a 'roll out' happened because no receivers appeared to be open and the QB was trying to find an open target, the QB did not have to leave the pocket for lack of protection. Although only a couple passes were off the target, many were dropped right from the receivers hands. My point is, the OL gave very good protection. Also, there were often plenty of 'holes' but X was unable to take advantage of these oppotunities. I agree there is lots of work to be done, but I thought the OL was one of the better producers last night (minus the couple holding penalties of course).

Granted a lot of work to do but a 17 - 14 W on the road against the #3 ranked team in the state. Thats actually pretty good for a St. X "preseason" team....

Lots of talk about X, how did HC look? The score is exciting for 6A football.

Jimmyref did an excellent job of sumerizing a lot of what happened on the field. In regards to the OL performance, I agree somewhat with g8db8's analysis that overall their performance was greatly improved from the Fern Creek scrimmage. Most of the movement I saw from the QB was because of the play call and not pressure. For the OL to reach its full pass and run potential, however, I think we need our best lineman (Josh Gahm) back on the field, and we also need to get Seth Harvey involved more.

 

Almost all of the X passing offense is based upon the QB rolling out or sprinting out, and it has been this way for decades. They have not been coached to throw pocket passes with their feet set. The main thing they work on is getting their shoulders square to the line of scrimmage before releasing the ball on the run.

 

In regards to Jimmyref's comments about the few pass patterns that have so far been installed, such as only two-receiver routes, it really makes no difference how many receivers that the Tigers send out. They are ALWAYS by play design locked on to one guy and never look for the second or third options. If the designated receiver is not open, the QB's option is to run.

 

Last night the passing by the QBs' was drastically improved from the first scrimmage, and for the most part the ball was right on the money. The big problem is that other than TE Ben Brown, we have not had any receivers demonstrate that they can catch the ball in game conditions. Somewhere amongst the 100-man roster some heretofore undiscovered individuals will be unearthed who can make plays, and they will be the ones in the ball game.

 

One thing that was not mentioned is that on defense, St. X. is still missing two of their premier linemen in Matt Smith (6-4, 265) and Trevor Foy (6-7, 235) due to preseason injuries. IMHO their presence on the DL would have made a very big difference last night. Things were only worstened when returning starting safety, Cody Allgeier and returning all-district LB, Nick Heuser, were both lost early to injury.

 

However, with injury also comes opportunity, and backup safety Justin Merimee took advantage of it with at least two outstanding plays. First he intercepted a deflected pass and made a long return, and then later made a TD saving tackle on a break away by a Henry Clay receiver. On the TD saving tackle, Justin demonstrated that he remembered all that he had been taught about the importance of taking a proper angle of pursuit. Great game Justin!

 

Despite all the calamities (5 fumbles, 2 bad punt snaps, numerous dropped passes, 3 holding calls, and 3 blocking in the back calls), we nonetheless managed to stay on an even level with a truly tough Henry Clay squad. Dontae Gay is definitely all-state material at RB; Ryan Phillippi is a superb QB with both his arm and his feet; and Aaron Boyd is capable of making tremendous plays when he wants to. Whoever faces the Blue Devils this season will have their hands full.

 

Thankfully, we still have another week to heal our injuries and remedy our problem areas before the real season begins. The position vacant signs have gone up announcing that we are NOW LOOKING FOR PLAYMAKERS!

Ox,

 

I know Finch played, but did Simmons, Wilkerson and Montano play too?

Ox,

 

I know Finch played, but did Simmons, Wilkerson and Montano play too?

 

CentreRocks, Deuce played, and despite what RP said earlier in this thread, he ran much better than last week, but lost a lot of yardage accumulated and a long TD due to holding and blocking in the back penalties. He will be fine.

 

Joe Montano played also and ran well on the few carries he was given. Aaron Knotts, who shares the starting FB position with Montano, also played well. Will Simmons has all the talent in the world, especially in the speed department, but cannot seem to hold onto the ball, but I'm sure that he will get that corrected.

 

Brad Wilkerson, all 5-7, 150 lbs. of him, is quickly becoming a fan favorite. Very similar to last week, Brad took a pitchout 65 yards for a TD. This young man is a playmaker with astounding football speed. Although he is recognized as an accomplished sprinter in track, Brad is probably the only player I have ever seen who is even faster with his football gear on.

 

Henry Clay is an excellent football team with superb skill position athletes. Dontae Gay is a true D1 athlete with amazing balance and quickness. I honestly believe that he and not Boyd is the true star the Blue Devils team. Henry Clay is quite deserving of their high 6A ranking.

Glad to hear Justin got a chance to play. He should have been a starter since last year. He is a gamer.

Lots of talk about X, how did HC look? The score is exciting for 6A football.

'Ru...it MAY be great for 6A...or it could be real, real depressing for many. X is known as a very slow starting team, but from what I gather most of the troops are quite shocked at the overall lethargy, and lack of execution. I know this will be fixed eventually, however it is something they normally don't have to deal with.

CentreRocks, Deuce played, and despite what RP said earlier in this thread, he ran much better than last week, but lost a lot of yardage accumulated and a long TD due to holding and blocking in the back penalties. He will be fine.

I did not mis-lead in my post. Deuce is still a little behind there is no denying that...he will be just fine, but he is slightly behind pace.

I did not mis-lead in my post. Deuce is still a little behind there is no denying that...he will be just fine, but he is slightly behind pace.

 

If you would let us know what "pace" he is supposed to be on and "who" established this projected pace, we could better judge the relevancy. Deuce did ramble for good yardage, as I noted earlier, but much of it was called back on penalties. Meeting the expectations of his coaches, teammates, and self are his main concern. Are you implying that he is not doing this?

^ That's sort of a loaded question....I feel you know what I think, and we'll leave it at that.