Highlands 49 Ryle 21

[OldCamelNewBird]

I thought Highlands looked excellent tonight other than the first half of the 3rd quarter. They seemed pretty flat and made many mistakes in about the first 5 or so minutes after half. Cecil looked very solid passing and running. Conners did well other than when he decided to hand the ball over a few times. I actually thought Zack Hurtt had a couple of sweet runs too. Highlands needs to work on getting pressure from the offensive line and the defensive backs need to learn how to tackle in the open field.

 

On an awesome note from lineman to lineman, I loved watching Ryan Ball returning punts tonight. He sure punished a couple of tacklers when he ran one back for 20 or 30 yards. I love it! :ylsuper:

[bird dad 56]

Great pic of my boy Guru.

[leatherneck]

Birds looked good last night. Real good at times, not real good at times. Averaged out, they looked good. They know what they need to do. While I somewhat don't want to single out players, I have to mention the games that Fitzgerald, Hurtt and Ball had on defense. The defense linemen tied up the Ryle linemen and those three linebackers did a great job getting to the ball. Great job young men. Get ready for Trotwood and get ready in a big way.

 

Both teams played sloppy at times. Too many turnovers. That will need to get straightened out asap.

 

Ryle has a nice team. Their line is huge; and I mean huge. Hard running backs. Decent but inconsistent passing game. If that improves, it will make the running game easier. Ryle played hard and aggressive defense. All in all, a nice squad that will really need to improve if they want to beat Trinity this year. Work hard boys.

 

Off to the JV game.

[malachicrunch]

Props to Will "The Thrill Coleman" #24 HHS reciever. Caught a 2 point conversion, and made a sweet sideline grab for about a 20 yard gain. Hes another kid that has simply worked his tail off his whole career.

[malachicrunch]

Nice start for the Birds. 330 yd rushing. Nice job by the backs and O line. 33 Hurtt did a nice job punting. I was glad to see that. Love Ball on punt return. On one of Hurtts open field mad dashes, QB, Clay Cecil, is 20 yards downfield throwing a block. How many QBs hand the ball off and then sprint down the field to make a block?? D played well also. Linebacking core is one of the best. DBs also played well. 22, and 19 had good soph debuts. I'm sure I'm leaving someone out as the whole team played well, and we are looking forward to the Rams next week. Go Birds:dancingpa

[NCCJrBred]

Conner is not a Mike Mitchell or anything. He fumbled what 3 times tonight? They will compete fine in NKY but against the big boys I don't see them having any kind of advantage they have had in the past. I don't see them having a lot if any really successful D-1 athletes out there this year.

 

 

Sportz Addict you are right he is not Mike Mitchell he is a legitimate D1 running back and will excel at that level also. Oh yeah did we all forget that he is a junior who averaged 10 yards a carry as a soph ( 70 carries - 750 yards ). By the way he had 227 yards on 19 carries for an average of 11.52 ypc and 5 touchdowns Fri night. Yes he did fumble however, HHS has never and will never have a talent like him again when he is finished next year. So please dont compare him with anyone yet because he is just getting started.

 

Also I believe I called this one yesterday ( Josh will have 3 tds by the half ).:ylsuper: :ylsuper: :ylsuper:

[WhoozYoDaddy]

And that is the point i've been trying to make for 20 mins now when I said they don't have the same kinda studs from the past. Those other teams could have played with anyone in KY and most teams in Cincy. But I agree I think HHS will be strong in KY this year. I just don't know what kinda competition they will face in December. If there are loaded up Boyle teams and LexCath teams HHS will have to step it up a notch.

 

 

 

Did you happen to catch what the Birds did to Male just over a week ago?

[WhoozYoDaddy]

My guess is #21 took the wrong read...

 

 

Maybe that should be "wrong Reed" :banana:

[Bluetothebone]

Maybe that should be "wrong Reed" :banana:

 

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

 

I don't care who you are, that there is funny!!!

[Bluetothebone]

Great game Birds, :ylsuper: :ylsuper: for the first game at alot of positions all of you played very well.:thumb: :thumb: Keep your heads up and looking forward.

 

:dancingpa :dancingpa :dancingpa

[malachicrunch]

Before you go off on a rampage i'm gonna calm you down. HHS is well known to be pretty much one of the top teams in NKY. I feel again they will be this year. But Ryle did not have the personel to expose them like other really good teams will.

Ryle ranked #2 in NKY. Who are these other really good teams you speak of?

[luvthemraiders]

Congrats to the Birds and Coach Mueller on #200. Is that correct - #200? Can't turn it over in your own land and have success against an excellent team. I was impressed that better conditioning by one team vs. the other was not a factor. We just got beat by a better team but showed heart for 4 quarters. It will be difficult for any NKY team to hang with the Birds this year as they pursue a state title. I am optimistic about Ryle's chances for success this year. Good luck to both teams.

[TrueBluebird]

Ryle ranked #2 in NKY. Who are these other really good teams you speak of?

 

How about last years 3A state championship team? Over the last couple year’s highlands has pretty much dominated all Northern Kentucky teams except for Covington Catholic. When week five comes around be ready for a game because anything can happen in this rivalry regardless of who’s ranked what.

 

As for last night the game was a blowout. Yes, Highlands only scored 49 point and gave up 21 but you also have to realize that about 14 of those points were scored when the JV Squad and a few starters were in. Highlands played a bit sloppy in the 2nd half on offense with too many mental mistakes and untimely turnovers, which gave the raiders great field position. The bird’s defense played great “fly to the ball” defense along with solid secondary and quick pass rush. Ryle defense seemed flat and was crumbled by the bird’s high-powered weapons. Ryle’s running back seemed to be the only effective weapon against the birds but when your down 28-0 at half time your chances of shutting out a team as talented as Highlands and scoring five touchdowns are pretty slim. As for “stud’s” Highlands is filled with talent but the names you will be hearing the most this year will be Hurtt, Stine, Fitzgerald, Cecil, Connors, and Ball. All of these young men are great players with the knowledge and understanding of the game and posses skills to lead the birds to victory and a chance to play in the big game in December. As for my favorite play last night it had to be Hurtt barreling through defenders, running into referee, picking up some great blocks and taking it into the end zone for six. Best of luck to the birds next week…

[Sportz Addict]

Ryle ranked #2 in NKY. Who are these other really good teams you speak of?

 

If Ryle is #2 in NKY it's gonna be that kinda year for NKY football I guess. They had a decent-good rushing attack. Bad-average passing game. Overall team speed couldn't keep up with HHS. And there defense can not make open field tackles. If Conner holds onto the ball this could have been about a 55-62 - 7-14 game.

[Sportz Addict]

How about last years 3A state championship team? Over the last couple year’s highlands has pretty much dominated all Northern Kentucky teams except for Covington Catholic. When week five comes around be ready for a game because anything can happen in this rivalry regardless of who’s ranked what.

 

As for last night the game was a blowout. Yes, Highlands only scored 49 point and gave up 21 but you also have to realize that about 14 of those points were scored when the JV Squad and a few starters were in. Highlands played a bit sloppy in the 2nd half on offense with too many mental mistakes and untimely turnovers, which gave the raiders great field position. The bird’s defense played great “fly to the ball” defense along with solid secondary and quick pass rush. Ryle defense seemed flat and was crumbled by the bird’s high-powered weapons. Ryle’s running back seemed to be the only effective weapon against the birds but when your down 28-0 at half time your chances of shutting out a team as talented as Highlands and scoring five touchdowns are pretty slim. As for “stud’s” Highlands is filled with talent but the names you will be hearing the most this year will be Hurtt, Stine, Fitzgerald, Cecil, Connors, and Ball. All of these young men are great players with the knowledge and understanding of the game and posses skills to lead the birds to victory and a chance to play in the big game in December. As for my favorite play last night it had to be Hurtt barreling through defenders, running into referee, picking up some great blocks and taking it into the end zone for six. Best of luck to the birds next week…

 

Fitzgerald I was most impressed with last night. But where does he stack up.. he doesn't look like a Grover he looks more like that 45 they had a few years back but I haven't been able to keep up that much with them.