CreekFan

Whoever takes over this program will inherit some pretty good talent going into next season.

I just heard that Tates Creek Head Coach Mike Harmon Resigned. Has anyone else heard this? Any ideas who might replace him and what this means to the program?

Why would UK be looking at a kid that didn't start Varsity at his position? Pretty sure the only QB's that anyone will be talking about this upcoming season in Lexington will be Reese Ryan, Graham Gordon, and probably a "QB controversy between Clay Bolin and Walker Wood (who looked really good as a Freshman, I mean REALLY good)....

I'm not saying they won't have a solid season this year. They have some All District players returning, including a very good QB. I've been told they have some good possession receivers that will step up, and I've been told they have some really good defensive talent. I bet they post another winning season and take their district again.

Missing some pretty good receivers from last year, and a good running back, and pretty much their entire starting offensive line. They graduated a lot of senior starters from what I understand.

Congrats. Brenan says he chose a DII school over a DI school because he would rather play in a championship game than a bowl game.

I think he will do great things at GVS. However, if this statement is true, then someone should have told him that there are plenty of D1 schools out there that compete for championships in the FCS.

Does anyone know why he has decommitted? I heard it was in the Courier Journal, but I can't find it...

Tates Creek: Graham Gordon, Martavius Carter, Jaren Shelby, Max Sweet

Here is a highlight video for Tates Creek Quarterback Graham Gordon. He has over 4600 yards passing and 44 TD passes in his high school career, with a 65.8 completion percentage this season. Very much looking forward to watching this young man play as a Senior next year. Class of 2015

Junior highlights

Is he being recruited for offense or defense or both?

You kind of answered your own question.

 

I think it is important to have balance and Tates Creek certain achieved that (29 rushes, 28 passes). Some nights the passing game is working and some nights the running game is working, but you do need both to keep a defense honest.

 

Maybe that kept running it in the fourth quarterback because Dunbar was in a nickel defense? Maybe they were an effective running team all season. Or they were maintaining balance.

 

I am sure Coach Harmon has a simple explanation.

I know I answered my own question... It was a rhetorical question, and if Coach Harmon has a simple explanation then he owes every Senior a huge apology. Honestly, there is no explanation. Rushing the ball and passing the ball an equal number of times does NOT maintain balance. Not when the passing attempts total 245 yards and the rushing attempts total 15 yards. 10 less rushing attempts with 10 more passing attempts would have given this team at least another 100 offensive yards and probably two more scores (maybe three if you take away the three rushing attempts inside the three yard line, all stopped for a loss resulting in a field goal). Any way you slice it, this was a bad call and I'm sure that every one who saw this game would agree with me. I mean they called a draw play on 2nd and 35 to go! Hello!?! Is anyone home up there!?!?

I said it in the prediction thread, and I’ll say it again here. If Tates Creek tries to run the ball, they will lose this game. What did they do? They ran the ball 29 TIMES for 15 YARDS! Why!?! This makes no sense to me. You have a quarterback completing 78% of his passes and you continue to run the ball (29 rushing plays to 28 passing)! Somebody please explain this to me! I understand trying to have a balanced attack, but when you’re at the end of the 4th quarter, you’ve managed only 15 yards on 29 attempts, and you’ve got 245 yards passing on 28 attempts, abandon the run and throw the ball!!! It’s what was working! INSTEAD, with 2:30 left in the game on their own 35 and needing two scores to win, THEY CONTINUED TO RUN THE BALL!!! LOL… Congrats to Dunbar and congrats to Tates Creek on a tough season with lots of ups and downs. Hopefully the Creek coaching staff will take a hard look at whoever is doing the play calling, and makes some changes for next year. Geeze… It was like watching Joker Phillips all over again… lol..

Henry Clay will likely be without standout running back Elijah Bell who provides over half of the total offense for the Blue Devils. Both teams had the final week of the regular season off. Madison Central has had a below par year but a first round win would be a great accomplishment and a provide something to build on for the 2014 season.

 

Who wins?

I heard Henry Clay appealed the call to the KHSAA and won. Bell will be on the field this Friday...

Creek wins this one... "IF", they get out of the gate early (which they usually don't), and "IF", they throw the ball in the first half (which they usually don't)... Good luck to the Creekers...

I agree... Clark County was very gritty, and showed up to play football.

Just out of curiosity... Why was Tates Creeks Graham Gordon on the sideline for the first half of this game? Was he still being disciplined for missing that Saturday practice? Or has he been replaced as the starter for Creek the rest of the season?

Compared to the teams I've seen Creek play, Dixie is the best, just edging out Station. Henry Clay isn't even in the running. Sorry, they got let off the hook by poor play calling on Creeks part, in my opinion. I hate to say that, since they are undefeated, but I just wasn't impressed. Bryan Station was good. They were fast, on both sides of the ball. SPEED is the only way to describe Station. Fast QB, Fast running back, Fast receivers, Fast D Line. Dixie, had their share of speed, but they were also big in the trenches. They also seemed more disciplined and prepared. Didn't seem to really make many mistakes. If they are better than Station, it's because of discipline, Station had to many bone head penalties that almost let Creek back in the game. Just my two cents... for what its worth, I saw the Clay and Station game first hand, but only watched the Dixie game on video.

CreekNation agrees Jake Ryan, the Senior QB, did look better and should have had more playing time. He moved the ball down the field, stayed in the pocket, got rid of the ball and the TC team looked like it had a common purpose. It wasn't the QB chaos we saw during the Bryan Station game and we had confidence we were getting ready to watch a great game of football. Instead, it was painful. "The Punter" as he was referred to in pregame talk is actually an athlete who can play multiple positions. Jake Ryan has been the QB for many of our Seniors for the last 6 years. He happens to be a QB who can kick and is clearly one of the best punters in Kentucky. This Tates Creek Senior class is full of great, talented, dedicated kids who are playing their heart out and they want to WIN games. This week, thankfully, Gordon did seem to learn some lessons by getting the ball into the hands of his teammates and not erratically running around the backfield the entire game. It still feels like we are seeing a repeat of last year when we had a losing season, multiple interceptions, QB fumbles, and weak throws until Gordon had to start sharing significant QB time with Ryan. Not only are there 3 very good QBs (including Sophomore Peyton Burke) but there's enough deep and capable Senior and Junior talent on this Tates Creek team there is really no excuse for not being competitive with Henry Clay, Bryan Station or Dixie Heights. The Herald Leader interview quoted Bryan Station head coach saying " he doesn't like pressure so we came with it" and you noted Gordon's inability to handle the pressure again last night. You are right, the pregame hype about Graham Gordon isn't translating on the field. It doesn't make sense that they keep letting him make the same mistakes over and over and leave him in the game. How could that not have a negative effect on him with college recruiters? It’s very basic - offense turning the ball over quickly means a tired defense stays on the field longer and opposing teams are able to run up the score. We have smart coaches and great players. A mid season QB change may be painful but this is a team sport - not just about an individual's personal stats. With the season marching to an end, I hope the TC coaches take a hard look at this situation and don't waste the talent standing in front of them. And, the loss of talented Senior Marshall Gant to a possible season ending ACL injury is a blow to our team as well as Marshall and his family. Great kid, great athlete. Congrats to Dixie Heights - the kids played strong solid football!

Initially, I wasn’t even going to respond to this. But, I just couldn’t help myself after watching the video of the game. If you think a change at QB is the answer to all TC’s problems then you are crazy! I’m sorry if I hit a sore spot by calling #6 the “punter”, I wasn’t trying to knock on the kid at all. Clearly you are either his dad or a close relative, and I didn’t mean to offend. But, since you went there, I’ll chime in. I didn’t get to go to the game, just watched it on hudl, so maybe you saw something first hand that I am missing. I saw #6 throw two good passes over the middle of the field. Everything else were little dink passes to receivers in open space, which did move the ball effectively and some decent running plays. The two times #6 threw the ball down field, he was way off the mark. Once they got down to the ten on that first drive, he fumbled the ball (luckily recovered by #53), missed two receivers in the end zone, and took a 4th down sack that probably could have been avoided if he were a little more mobile. Then he had a 4 and out in his second series, that ended with a deep ball that was way off mark. Interesting that you point out how impressive he was (over Gordon), when the team went down 21 to 0 with him starting (which was worse than I predicted in the prediction thread)… All that said, #6 appears to be a very good athlete, I noticed he’s been playing some receiver in previous games as well as punter and kicker. I’m just pointing all this out, because I didn’t see anything special that set him apart from Gordon. Obviously Gordon had a bad game as well and I’m going to credit a big strong defensive front for that. It’s hard to get set up and throw down field when the pocket collapses inside of 2 seconds. In my opinion, they should have just left Ryan in the whole game. Sticking Gordon in there in the 2nd quarter, down 21 points didn’t make much sense to me. It was Ryan’s game down 21 to 0, just let him ride it out.

Again, sorry to offend you, I’m sure Ryan is a great kid and I agree with you completely, a very good athlete. I’ve been trying to keep up with Tates Creek, since the coaching staff forced Gordon to transfer back to TC. I’ve been very critical of what they are doing, because, I want to see if they forced him back for their own selfish reasons, or because they thought it would be better for Gordon. (I noticed Clay Bolin transferred from Catholic to Lafeyette with no problems). I never had any intention of belittling Ryan’s talents.

I’m not even going to address your negativity towards Gordon, I’m sure it comes from your relationship with Ryan, and dissatisfaction that he isn’t the starter. But I will say, that Western, Nebraska, Vanderbilt, Ole Miss, Illinois State, and EKU completely disagree with you on Gordon’s talent.

From what I understand it's not near as dastardly as it sounds. Apparently Gordon missed a film session. So he isn't starting. No big deal. Sit out a series or 2, then get in and work out.

The story I heard, is that Gordon's little brother had a pee wee game, and his mother couldn't get to both places at once. So Gordon had to rely on a team mate to get him to practice (as he doesn't have a car). The team mate was late, so Gordon was late. I think a sad excuse to bench a kid under circumstances he couldn't control. And I respectfully disagree... two series can be a big deal. It sets the tempo of the game. To far for me to travel, but I'll be interested to hear how things shape up. If Creek goes down by 2 TD's in the first quarter, this decision might look like a bad one. Good thing their defense matches up well with DH...

In that case then, I guess let the coach make the decisions he thinks are best for his players. Still doesn't always boil down to wins and losses. And if would have helped if your first post mentioned the Station game or what you thought the reason may be, even if you think it's a "weird attempt to motivate".

 

Anyway, knowing nothing about Tates Creek's team and after watching the various weapons that DH has, I like the Colonels tomorrow night in front of their home crowd.

Obviously it doesn't boil down to wins and losses... for Creek! The fact that DH has all those weapons, is exactly why you "should" put your best team on the field. The fact is, anyone that has been following Creek, knows that Gordon transferred to Madison Southern to live with his father last winter. The Creek coaching staff challenged the transfer, and had him ruled ineligible, unless he transferred back. As "punishment", they didn't start him the first game of the season against Dunbar (which almost resulted in a loss) and made him split time with the punter the first 3 games of the season. This drama can only be distracting for the team, and will certainly result in a loss tomorrow night... no knock on Dixie, they have a solid team... but if this Creek team was coached by grown ups... they would be contenders...

Could be a discipline issue (since it sounds like a two series thing) which if that's the case good for the Tates Creek coaches for doing the right thing instead of just worrying about wins and losses.

No... It's not a discipline issue. Gordon had a tough time adjusting to Stations speed last week. After he did, he threw for 200 yards in the second half. This seems to me, like a weird attempt to "motivate" Gordon to play better. Doesn't matter... Creek can lose this game, and still win their district and get a good placement in the playoff's... the Coaching staff knows that... sad... but true... Bad call on the Creek coaching staffs part. Dixie Hieghts will get ahead early, and stay ahead...

I was just told that Graham Gordon (over 1200 yards passing this season) will not be starting in this game. Jake Ryan, the back up OB and punter will start the game. I was given no reason for the change up. I was told that Gordon may get in after the second series, depending on how the game is going. Am I a football idiot? or is the coaching staff at Tates Creek the biggest group of morons on the planet? Dixie Hieghts will blow this team out of the water with Gordon on the sidelines... Even if it's just for the first two series...

Bryan Station is better than Henry Clay... trust me...

Two teams that like to pass, and are good at it. Normally a high scoring game, but Creeks defense will be to much for Station. I see a Creek victory here.

I thought this was worth noting. Of the QB's in the state that are reporting stats to the KHSAA, that have thrown at least 100 passes half way through the season, only one QB in the state has a better completion percentage than Graham Gordon's 68.3 percent completion rating. And that QB is sitting at 68.7... I'll be excited to see how the second half of the season plays out for this young man.