With Beechwood losing in the state semi-finals on the last play, and from what reports say being shut down offensively in the 2nd half. Did all the blow out wins they had this year do them a disservice? I am curious to know if any other fan base feels this way? If they had played relatively close games in district do you believe they would have won thier respective games or not? In the beechwood instance I don't think it mattered at all.

I think your last statement is the answer to your question.

 

They just played a really good team and battled them to the end.

I guess I should make it a more general question. I know people complain, but if you pull you statrters each game or almost each game before the end of the 3rd, doesn't that hurt your team in the long run?

Will not speak directly about the Beechwood game, but in general. Having some blowout games in the regular season can be somewhat beneficial, as your backups get to see a little more action. That way, if/when they are needed in a important situation, they at least have some experience. On the other hand, having to battle all the way to the wire in a regular season game or two, gives your entire team knowledge of what needs to be done at crunch time.

I don't think leaving starters in a blowout game is beneficial. The best scenario is to play some teams that are competitive to the end of the 4th qtr. Beechwood starters scoring at will in the 4th qtr doesn't prepare them for anything. Playing teams like cov cath where they have to play hard until the end is very beneficial.

My two cents, which you see how much it is worth, I would say the schedule is what comes into play. Say for example a team has 2 or 3 easy weeks of games where the starters play 2 qts, then set the tone the first 5 min. of the 3rd qt, then they play a tough game, it will hurt them. Now say the same teams are played but in a different order, where there is an easy game, then tough game, then easy game, then really tough game, I would say it benefits the team in the matter of being in shape. Beechwood and Mayfield both had fairly easy roads to the semi-state game. And in a game of inches, it sometimes comes down to one play. That is what makes this game we love called Football so great!!!

^Beechwood and Mayfield had what looked like easy roads because they were that good. They both played several higher class level programs. For example, Beechwood beat the likely 2A state champion (Holy Cross) 69-26. With the revised districts this year, Beechwood only played 3 1A schools. The rest of the schedule was 2 6A schools, 2 4A schools (including CovCath, arguably the #2 team in 4A), a 3A school (not very good though this year) and the two best 2A schools in the state.

 

Did the blowout wins hurt Beechwood? Not at all IMO. You have to work extra on conditioning in practice if you have several blowouts in a row but if you do that it is a non factor IMO. Beechwood's offense in the second half versus Mayfield was hurt by Davis going out mid way through Q3 much more than any impact blowout wins possibly had.

With Beechwood losing in the state semi-finals on the last play, and from what reports say being shut down offensively in the 2nd half. Did all the blow out wins they had this year do them a disservice? I am curious to know if any other fan base feels this way? If they had played relatively close games in district do you believe they would have won thier respective games or not? In the beechwood instance I don't think it mattered at all.

 

Didn't seem to affect Mayfield which had as many, if not more, blowout wins. Non issue in this particular game. In general, as other's have pointed out, a couple challenging games can offset the reduced playing time in getting the team ready for these types of games.

I want to also propose that in some cases a "blowout loss" against a tough team not in your class or district can be a real wakeup call. After Beechwood smacked around Holy Cross earlier this year, I think HC realized that they had to make some serious defensive changes. A win or a "close loss" at that point in the year might not have had the same affect on forcing the team to make changes. The Conner loss was not looked on in the same way as the Beechwood loss. That one was embarrassing. We can see clearly that HC is not the same team now as it was 10 weeks ago. They took enough small steps quickly to turn their defense from a weakness into a strength through the playoffs. Kozerski's focus has never been getting "perfect" seasons (although that is always nice), but putting the team into a position to make a deep playoff run. Different ways to get there. However, it appears this stategy finally worked out this year for HC.

I personally think that pulling starters early and getting more kids in the game and involved is the most vaulable assest and an advantage that a coach and his program as a whole can have.

It builds the program for yrs to come and helps develope those and prepare them for the Varsity level.

The question of the thread here is a catch 22 and is debated anytime that a team either loses or seems to be vulnerable by some concerned fans or parents.

I know at some of the bigger and most successful programs that this is always the fear but little do we as fans and parents know that the coach rarely makes the mistake that his team is out of shape in the end because of the lack of playing time for his starters during the yr. If the coach plays 22 kids all yr long and then parents and fans will scream that my kid or the kids are tired and beat.

Its a fine line to walk and most coaches know this line and I can assure you that Noel Rash walks it as well as anyone.

Typically, when a team beats ya, its because the other is just plain and simply a better team. The really good programs like BW understand that and they work harder the next yr to make sure that doesnt happen again.

I think all but one of BW's injuries this season came after the games were well out of reach. The coaches are stuck in a constant catch 22. If they take 'em out, folks think they should've stayed in longer...if a player gets hurt when you're up by 3-4 TD's against a lesser opponent...then everyone screams "why were they still in the game?".

 

Regardless of which avenue a coach chooses he will be "right" AND "wrong"...

I want to also propose that in some cases a "blowout loss" against a tough team not in your class or district can be a real wakeup call. After Beechwood smacked around Holy Cross earlier this year, I think HC realized that they had to make some serious defensive changes. A win or a "close loss" at that point in the year might not have had the same affect on forcing the team to make changes. The Conner loss was not looked on in the same way as the Beechwood loss. That one was embarrassing. We can see clearly that HC is not the same team now as it was 10 weeks ago. They took enough small steps quickly to turn their defense from a weakness into a strength through the playoffs. Kozerski's focus has never been getting "perfect" seasons (although that is always nice), but putting the team into a position to make a deep playoff run. Different ways to get there. However, it appears this stategy finally worked out this year for HC.

 

Curious how a rematch now would be?