Final

I actually would have picked the Tigers in this one. Huh, shows what I know.

I actually would have picked the Tigers in this one. Huh, shows what I know.

 

You were not by yourself, Pep. I did pick Fern Creek in all the contests. It's just hard to believe that Male got this win without Justin Green. :eek:

Fern Creek had no running game and didn't protect their QB. Well you usually lose.

Fern Creek had no running game and didn't protect their QB. Well you usually lose.

 

AL

 

Good point(s). Saw FC in some 7on7 --and alot of preseason posts were touting them. No question their QB is a good passer -- but opined that could change when some "live rushers" were coming at him. Sounds like that is what happened.

Probably the most impressive thing about this game (or a couple of things actually) were two SIGNIFICANT changes to Male's gameplan.

1. Male went to their old offense, running the single wing a good portion of the game. Although they ran what looked like only 7 or 8 different plays, these plays were highly effective. Fern Creek really struggled to stop Male's running game.

2. Male's defense actually played a lot of zone coverage. THey lined up in their usualy man to man and then dropped back into zone coverage. Several things happened as a result. The corner's changed what they were giving up. Instead of lining up inside of the receiver, the moved prior to the snap to the outside, forcing the receivers to go inside and preventing FC's receivers from going down the sideline. Male's front line got good pressure on the QB most of the game, forcing many inaccurate passes. A lot of passes were deflected by waiting safeties, MANY were dropped by the FC Receivers and the ones they did catch, the Receivers couldnt go anywhere because Male's speed was there to limit the YAC to about 1-2 yards. Didnt look like FC was prepared to face a zone defense, instead trying to too much to throw the deep ball into double/triple coverage.

3. Male was fired up the entire game. You could tell they wanted this game. FC's QB was frustrated throughout the game. Dropped passes, lots of hits on him as he threw...FC just looked lathargic and down after the 1st qtr.

4. Time of Possession was HUGE. Male had the ball more than double then what FC had. FC couldnt convert 3rd down plays and punted a lot. I think Male had the ball 33 minutes on offense. FC only had it about 15 minutes or so. FC's defense got wore down badly.

 

I was surprised that FC didnt make any real halftime adjustments. Then again, they were down 24-0 middle of 3rd qtr so they didnt have time to march the ball if they were going to win. Bottom line was, Male had a nice game plan for this game and showed. They were patient, didnt try to go for the big play on every other play. They did throw deep a few times to keep the secondary from coming up all the time. I think the biggest difference (besides the TOP) was the fact that Male used an effective defensive strategy. Zone defense with good pressure, something FC clearly wasnt ready for. Best I've seen them play all year long.