jpa2825

Ashland played very well. Defense forced HHS to punt at least the 1st 2 drives of the 2nd half. Baker got through the line and ran away from folks. He also had some good moves at the LOS that if he had some better holes to run through, could have resulted in nice gains. Also thought #32 for Ashland played well on both sides of the ball. Very fired up. HHS was sloppy in execution. 2 drives inside the 5 stopped on fumbled snaps (1 under center on 4th down and 1 in shotgun). Another drive took 4th down to get the TD. Missed FG in 1st half of was poor execution getting close to make FG more reasonable. Last drive of the 1st half was poor execution of time management. Clock was wound after 1st down marked off (looked like it was OB to me, but zebra ruled forward progress). No reason for a shovel pass in the middle of the field on 1st down with no timeouts. Spike the ball and talk it over. If you are not sure you can score TD, kick the FG before half. Need to be better in the next game. Hopefully they will be. Got to remember these are kids and not robots. They did enough to win and, ultimately, that is what matters at this time of year.

That may YOUR perception, but it is not the perception of most of the players, parents, coaches or community. For those that do have that perception, they don't understand the true importance of HS football -- at HHS or across the country.

Hard to believe no one has mentioned the "tradition breaking blasphemy" of allowing the senior players to walk out with their parents on Senior Night! What's next, homecoming candidates?

If HHS defense controls the QB running (either via designed draws OR once protection breaks down on passes), the game will be close. Fail to do so and Elder simply converts too many possessions into TDs. HHS will have to work for every possession to convert it into points. Cannot give away any possessions to Elder. For the same reasons, as always, penalties, turnovers & special teams will be critical. Defensive penalties can keep possessions alive and offensive penalties can stop a possession by creating tough down & distance. Should be a good one.

Beechwood v. Bardstown, I think. Beechwood won as whistle controlled over correct call. Probably appropriate outcome even though a terrible play by the QB to toss the ball when the horn went off.

If you are going to kick the FG from that close and the ball on the hash, you are always better off taking 1 or 2 5 yd. penalties to make the angle better. Whether real or perceived, a short FG (ball snapped from inside the 10 or so) from a hash is a very difficult kick. You feel like you are trying to slide a quarter in the slot of a soda machine!!!

#50 is SR Lou Bunning. Out of football for a few years with a concentration on baseball, I understand he returned for his SR yr to help the team, his friends and his school. I made the same comment during the game - huge chunks of yardage over the left side. Good story for a good kid.

So the same people that are upset would be OK if the Head Coach read from the Quran and/or went to a synagogue for the pre-game meal? I doubt it. This is less of a "freedom of religion" issue than an "establishment clause" issue. Teacher / Coach of a public school system clearly has, and should have, influence over the students. It should not be clouded with religious overtones -- regardless of if that religion is the same as the overwhelming majority of the students.

We went early, ate at Traditions (across from AJ Jolly) and then came in the back way. The car literally did not stop rolling until we pulled in our parking spot. Quick walk and we were in our seats. Did notice the cars coming in off 27 and parking along the drive well into the 1st Qtr.

Soooooo, the NAIA, Div. III, and FCS champions in college football aren't "top tier" teams, right? And Trinity should be judged equally against Highlands despite the fact that virtually any student athlete that can afford to attend and get admitted can choose to play there? Similarly, the Beechwood, NewCath, Belfry, Central, etc. teams of recent pasts were not "top tier" teams despite their enrollment and other limitations compared to the >1,200 males enrolled at Trinity, right? Trinity is great at what they do. They are to be admired. That said, under your "absolutist" theory, HHS is not "worthy of all the phrase." Gotcha! :ohbrother: BTW -- out of the approx. 450 males 9-12 at HHS, they dress about 100 each week.

On your 1st point, I have spoken with last year's QB. He said he repeatedly tried to overthrow Veneman in practices and in some games. Could not do it. Like you would expect from a good CF, he simply outruns the ball to the spot.

As usual, the answer is somewhere in the middle. Do they want to win every game they play? Absolutely. Very few people I know are more obsessed with winning or upset at losing than JB. That said, do they play a soft schedule to get Ws? Obviously not. Was there experimentation in the lineup, rotation and bullpen throughout the season to see what worked best? Yes. However, it was "tinkering around the edges" rather than wholesale changes. 3B, RF and 1B were the primary areas where this showed up. The other 5 positions were fairly consistent all year long. Rotation varied only slightly after JR Jones was injured and several different arms were tried out of the bullpen for various reasons. Introduction of Raisor into the starting rotation due to saving other arms at District level and the other 3 usual starters being burned in the 1st 2 games of the Region was all timing. JOAT is correct that last season is a better example. Ramey did not play Varsity until 1/2 way through the season and then ended up hitting 3rd in the District and Regional tourneys.

Anyone get rosters for either the JR or SR squads?

If Ashland's Coach KNEW it went over and argued for a double - shame on them. If Ashland's Coach asked the CF and RF if it went over and they gave a false answer -- shame on them. (Much less shame, of course, considering they are in HS.) Definitely a teachable moment and they appear to have taught the wrong lesson -- (get away with whatever you can sneak by). Very much like the basketball commercial where the kid knows it went out off of him and he has to go tell the ref. (See the 'Sportsmanship' commercial about an honest basketball player | Values.com)

Pretty sure HHS saw North Bullitt a few times at Ripken in Myrtle Beach during Spring Break. They did not play, but looked solid in the innings I saw waiting for our game(s) to start.

No doubt. Quentin Murray was "on fire." I remember Scott's head coach yelling across the field after the 5th or 6th out to simply stop leading off. It was like softball or Little League!!!

Hope it is a trivia question some day (because I know the answer ). "Who got the 1st win in the history of HHS Frosh Baseball?"

Tates Creek was the best among several VERY GOOD teams HHS saw this year. It was only 1 game and in this format there is no guarantee of anything.

Congrats to Arlo & Conner. Don't know the man, but trust the people who do. They, uniformly, view him as a great coach, leader, teacher (of the game -- no idea if he is also a teacher by profession) & person. Represent the 9th well. I will analyze the game in detail when it is less painful to do so. Until then, thanks to those who do so much for our kids. Many of these same kids went through a similar disappointment in December. I said it then, and will repeat it now, there are not 2 better men I would trust my kid to go through this with than Dale Mueller and Jeremy Baioni. If you leave the program better than you found it, you have done good work. These seniors have done so. I trust that those that come behind them will discharge this obligation just as nobly. The Birds have knocked on the door the last 3 seasons, a little harder in 2012 and 2014. That doesn't seem to work. In 2015, I recommend they simply kick it in!!! TR said it best: "It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."

General guideline umps use is grass v. mound. If he was on the grass, no problem.

Mod needs to merge threads.

Dixie made errors. In tennis, there is a difference between forced and unforced errors. Many of Dixie's errors were forced. Speed is disruptive. It throws off your timing. It makes you think. It makes you uncomfortable. It changes your rhythm. Putting players in motion speeds up the game. Classic example and great coaching move: Baioni does not run for JR Mills when 1B & 2B w 2 out. JR Hennigan drives in JR Ramey with a clutch 2 out hit. Pretty basic move to courtesy run for Hennigan with SR Gesenhues. Genius was to pinch run for Mills with SO Beal. Beal has a much better chance of scoring on another 2 out single than Mills, particularly on turf. As it turns out, Beal and Gesenhues attempt to steal. Beal gets a great jump and slides into 3B. Gesenhues either gets a bad jump OR intentionally gets hung up between 1B & 2B. Caple does the right thing by running at him. Beal pops up and starts down the line. Niehaus is not covering home. It was like a slow motion car accident -- Caple is maybe 20 feet from home at a dead stop & Beal is 40 feet from home on a dead run. Caple hustles but after his first few steps and Beal's first several steps -- both in the same amount of time, even Caple knew he didn't have a chance of beating him to the plate. HHS up 2-0. Echo Horst's S/O to SR Vermeil. When asked to perform, he has done just that. Getting the B6 started with a sharp single was huge. "Add on" was definitely needed and that set the tone. Interesting postseason facts: * - until Dixie scored 3 runs in the top of the 5th, the Birds had pitched 20 shutout innings in postseason play. * - if you add in the JV Tourney run, it was 45+ shutout innings in postseason play. * - after Dixie scored 3 runs in the top of the 5th, that was the 1st time the Birds had trailed in postseason play (JV or Varsity) * - Birds have not trailed after a full inning in postseason play yet (JV or Varsity)

CCH and HHS will be home teams tonight. Winner of CCH v. Conner will be home team tomorrow night.

Generous description of the play at 3B on the #9 batter. As I saw it, looked like a routine grounder the 3B played off to the side rather than in front of him and went right past him. A critical point with the leadoff batter coming up. Boone OF was playing deep with runners on 1B and 2B to, correctly, prevent a double from scoring the winning run. As it turns out, that depth was exactly what allowed the runner to score from 1B. That's baseball. Cruel game sometimes. Excellent effort by Dixie to hang around and work hard to allow something good to happen against a great pitcher. Excellent effort by Ganns as well.

1-0 Boone top 7. Caple got tossed / restricted. Tried to go to 2B on a ball that squeaked away from the C. Dixie sent a runner from 2B on a single and he was thrown out. Would have had bases loaded w 1 out. Not sure why you don't run for Caple with a courtesy runner in the 5th.