All Play No Work

Basically the game came down to two things. 1. NCC could not get enough stops on defense (and never did stop the run) to make Fort Campbell punt because special teams play kept NCC in the game. 2. The Fort Campbell defense was able to hold NCC out of the endzone on what like 27 plays between the 10 and the goaline before forcing a fumble with the score 14-7 and five minutes left. If NCC scores there to tie it with 5 minutes left, I think they may have gone on and won it. Which would be a shame in a way because they had been out-played by Fort Campbell on offense and defense and only two bad punt plays had really kept NCC in the game. The two endzone calls were of course huge but in the end NCC had every chance in the world to tie the game and just could not get it done. BTW, the replay on the first TD was not shown inside the stadium on the scoreboard for good reason. It was shown on the TVs at the concession stands and the ball bounced before being caught. On the other call, unknown if the NCC receiver caught the ball in the endzone or at the 1. Still if you can't make a yard, you don't deserve to win. Fort Campbell was just a little bigger upfront on offense and just a little quicker outside. On defense they covered well and put pressure on the QB all day. Take away the bothched punt and the stupid play call that left Fort Campbell in a 4th and long whereby they punted 4 yards and NCC might have not scored or be in position to score.

Is it unfair to compare teams? Of course, but what the heck. Here's my take. Most would consider the 98 Lorenzen/Smith team as one of the best teams ever but I actually thought it was unfortunate that they never got that one big out of state test that so many other Highlands teams were fortunate enough to get. Because I think they would have done quite well. You could argue that the season openeing win over Male (who went on to win Class AAAA) was proof enough that this team was the best ever. Now this Highlands team also had the misfortune of not playing in that big out of state contest too. Trotwood was a very good team but their failure in the Ohio postseason shows that they were not a truly supreme team. It would have been so much fun to see Highlands take on a Colerain or Cincy St.X this year or even a Trinity or St.X because again I think they would have performed quite well. So basically through schedule quirks I would rate both teams equal and I would throw the 99 and 00 teams in as well because of the schedule they both played.

Question: On the 4th and goal when the FG was not attempted......was the ball in the center of the field?

Just for fun here is the first 5 years coaching record: 1966 GCL record 5-2, other games 3-0, overall 8-2 1967 GCL record 2-5, other games 2-0, overall 4-5 1968 GCL record 2-5, other games 2-1, overall 4-6 1969 GCL record 2-5, other games 1-2, overall 3-7 1970 GCL record 0-6, other games 2-2, overall 2-8 I don't believe Coach Schneider ever beat Moeller or St.X in the GCL. I believe most of the wins were against LaSalle and McNicholas. Maybe a win over Purcell or Roger Bacon. A lone 27-14 win over Elder that first year by holding Elder to a minus 8 yards rushing.

I'm sure coaches like Schneider and Mueller could have made much more money coaching "up the ladder" or even teaching somewhere else or in another profession. But dedication to doing something you love that makes a difference in others is hard to beat.

Augusta should put George Clooney in. St. Pat's takin' care of bizness.

Nail-biter with Brossart winning by 2.

NewCath 48 Conner 44 Connor scored the first 9 points of the game and then widened that lead to 27-13 at the half. Somehow NewCath rallied in the fourth period behind Geisler and Doyle despite only using 6 players and facing a full court press the entire game. Took the lead with 1:22 left. Conner has a decent team. Good pressing team as they pressed NewCath into turnovers the entire game and NewCath never pressed. They go fairly deep. No real size but they rebound fairly well. NewCath has two scoring options basically and some role players. They don't handle the ball real well but rebound okay. If Cain and/or Kelly join after football is over they should be a little deeper and a little better.

Advanced Placement English which obviously is not for all.

I just think none of the good teams will want to commit to the games and the time span. That's prime time to play in tourneys against other good Louisville, NKY, and Ohio teams.

I think the NCC record is 11 or 12 threes when Dawn dropped 55 on Beechwood in the All-A.

2005 was speed on offense and defense and fairly deep. 2006 was size on the lines and at QB. 2007 is speed and depth and special teams. Maybe faster on offense than 2005, not as big as 2006.

I'm going to guess that some of the NKY and Louisville schools that are eligible for the All-A will not play in it.

This will be a better game in January if they meet again in the All-A. Right now NCC has no size. Wins will be tough to come by until after Christmas.

Some great games this year: Bellevue holding off Newport by getting turnover after turnover clinging to a 13-7 lead. Dayton beating Holmes on a long punt return that set up the TD and then getting a two point conversion on a botched PAT to win 21-19. Dayton beating Lynn Camp 20-15 when Lynn Camp drives to the one foot line on 4th and goal. Ryle beating NewCath by intercepting a pass in the endzone on 4th and goal with seconds left. NewCath beating Campbell County in OT after taking the tying FG off the board and accepting a penalty. Dayton beating Beelvue in the regular season in a great atmosphere and then Bellevue beating Dayton in the playoffs. NewCath beating Beechwood in a wild 4th quarter that saw Beechwood come back from being down 31-14 to make it 31-28 only to have NCC score 10 more in the last two minutes.

I don't know about using the Lloyd games for decision-making. Didn't LCA score the first 30 something points of the game versus Lloyd? And then somebody (maybe the QB) got hurt? And didn't Beechwood kind of bore us with the 20-0 win over Lloyd that was 10-0 forever? I'd instead point to Beechwood coming back and beating Dixie, or coming back from the dead against NewCath to make it a game, or beating Prestonburg on the road, or routing Dayton and Frankfort as their signature games. As for LCA I'd sight the turnarounds against Hazard, and hope the somewhat inconsistancy shown throughout the year does not come back in the title game.

Very possible NCC could be way under .500 in the first brutal part of the schedule. Possible that a win does not come until after Christmas.

From the start of the season, Fort Campbell High School’s football team has been focused on one thing and one thing only — winning a state championship ring. After traveling more than two hours to Metcalfe County Friday night, the Falcons are now just one win away from reaching their goal following a 24-15 Class 2-A semifinal victory over the Hornets. “Every year we make a slogan. This year it was ‘For the ring,’” Falcons’ senior quarterback C.J. Croft said. “We haven’t broke it down on ‘For the ring’ all the season, but now we finally get that chance.” http://www.kentuckynewera.com/articles/2007/12/01/sports/free/doc4751081b5b19b551618736.txt

Several Beechwood game video highlights. The NewCath / Beechwood game is the entire first quarter. http://www.local12.com/mediacenter/[email protected]&navCatId=90

20-0 St. X with 6:37 to go in 3rd.

# Player Grade Height Weight Offense Defense 2 Richie Williams 12 5' 3 138 WR DB 3 Matt Rigdon 10 6' 0 155 QB DB 4 Tommy Bankemper 12 6' 1 209 RB LB 5 Alex Downton 11 6' 1 160 WR DB 6 David Spence 11 5' 10 173 WR DB 8 Jeff Buckhout 12 5' 10 192 OL DL 10 Kody Klug 10 5' 8 132 WR DB 11 Corey Schuler 10 5' 9 145 WR DB 12 Ryan Amelung 12 5' 9 173 RB DB 13 Cody Elliott 12 6' 1 165 QB DB 17 Nathan Cahill 12 5' 9 182 WR DB 18 Ty Youtsey 10 5' 1O 142 WR DB 19 Cullen Burke 11 5' 11 185 K DB 23 Joe Daniels 11 6'3 208 WR DB 24 Jacob Maus 10 5' 10 174 RB LB 25 Nick Hibbard 11 5' 11 151 WR DB 26 Drew Davis 12 6' 3 238 FB DL 27 Brady Slusher 11 6' 2 212 TE LB 30 Peter Bradley 11 5' 10 150 WR DB 31 Kevin Kelly 11 5' 10 145 WR DB 32 Grant Peach 11 5' 9 125 WR DB 34 Kyle Daniels 10 5' 10 191 FB LB 35 Joe Colosimo 10 5' 10 190 RB LB 42 Jared Keith 12 5' 10 192 FB LB 44 Neico Teipel 11 6' 2 206 RB LB 47 Stuart Jackson 12 6'4 195 TE DE 50 Joe Goetz 11 6' 0 230 OL DL 51 Jake Besse 12 6' 6 195 OL DE 52 Chris Hoffman 12 6'3 265 OL DL 54 Alex Morehead 12 6' 2 207 OL LB 55 Ron Kenning 11 5' 9 204 OL LB 56 Dominic Mainello 11 6' 5 257 OL DE 57 Michael Porco 10 6' 1 200 OL LB 58 Zack Burns 12 6' 1 242 OL DL 59 Patrick Kazen 12 6' 0 245 OL DL 61 David Hood 11 6' 1 195 OL DL 66 Matthew Schultz 11 5' 8 231 OL DL 67 Kory Bailey 12 6' 3 278 OL DL 72 Zack Sweeney 12 5' 8 162 OL DL 75 Jake Maricle 10 6' 0 212 OL DL 77 Matt Miller 11 6' 4 258 OL DL 78 Evan Proffitt 11 5' 8 192 OL DL 88 Tyler Winch 11 189 TE DE

NewCath Roster Player Grade Height Weight 5 Pat Collopy 12 5'9 173 RB E 7 Aaron Hitzfield 11 5'10 155 WR DB 9 Jake Lohr 11 6'1 175 QB LB 10 Ben Parr 11 6'1 175 QB DB 12 Burke Beiting 12 6'3 185 WR DB 15 Wes Diehl 12 5'10 165 WR LB 16 Nate Rawe 11 5'7 135 WR DB 17 Chris Grosser 11 5'11 175 K K 18 Vinny Ciafardini 12 5'10 160 WR DB 20 Rob Kues 11 6'1 160 QB DB 21 Matt Eviston 11 6'0 150 WR DB 23 Alex Pangallo 12 5'11 175 WR DB 24 Mark Kelly 11 5'10 175 RB DB 25 Matt Ritter 12 5'11 165 WR DB 27 Mitch Buller 12 6'1 175 K K 28 Nick Westcott 11 5'7 165 WR DB 29 Devin Brinkman 11 6'0 168 RB LB 31 Ryan Brueggen 12 6'1 165 WR DB 32 Mike McGarr 12 6'1 175 TE LB 33 Greg Willett 11 6'0 190 FB LB 34 Mike Smith 10 5'9 165 WR DB 35 Austin Siemer 10 5'11 150 WR DB 36 Clint Nessler 12 5'10 160 WR DB 37 John Pabst 12 6'1 195 FB LB 40 Bob Estes 11 5'9 165 WR DB 42 Nick Franzen 12 6'0 203 FB LB 43 John Brennan 12 6'3 190 TE E 44 Logan Ferrara 11 5'10 170 RB LB 45 Justin Jones 11 6'3 180 WR LB 47 Brian Wrobleski 12 6'0 165 WR DB 50 Joe Burks 10 5'10 195 G LB 52 Sean Doyle 12 5'10 180 G T 56 Steve Eviston 12 6'0 265 T T 57 Brad Futscher 11 6'2 235 G T 58 Kyle Biggs 12 5'10 230 G T 59 Eric Wedding 12 6'0 215 G T 60 Joe Brennan 10 5'11 190 G E 62 Josh Schmitt 12 6'2 225 T T 63 Jake Kiernan 11 6'4 307 T T 64 Zack Grosser 11 5'11 190 C T 65 Jake Smith 10 6'1 218 C E 66 Ryan Kruer 12 5'11 240 G T 67 Ben Gerrein 11 5'11 205 T T 68 Mike Leopold 10 6'0 215 T T 70 Zach Russell 10 5'6 172 G T 71 Adam Ulbricht 10 6'0 175 T T 72 Chris Flaherty 12 5'9 205 G T 73 Brian Reardon 12 6'2 205 T E 74 Paul Eviston 10 5'10 220 C T 75 Steffen Roll 11 6'3 215 G T 77 John Keating 12 6'1 245 G T 78 Garret Brown 10 5'10 215 G T 79 Joe Cox 11 6'4 240 T T 82 Mario Escalante 11 6'3 170 WR DB 84 Stephen Young 11 5'11 170 TE E 85 Matthew Johnson 11 6'0 200 TE LB 76 Dustin Giesler 12 6'5 215 T E

St. X FG on last play of half. 17-0 St. X leads.

St. X up 14-0 late in the first half on a snowy, windy field.

FORT CAMPBELL CAPSULE Head Coach: Shawn Berner, sixth year, 48-13 at Fort Campbell (48-13 career) Returning Starters: 14 Starters Lost: 8 Fort Campbell will win region if: The Falcons can get through a brutal first-half of the season. Fort Campbell takes on just about every class this season as Kentucky moves from a four-class system to six. But the true test will be on back-to-back Friday's when Berner's crew faces Owensboro Catholic (a district matchup) and Trigg County (a region battle) in late October. Coach's Comment: "I don't think we over-scheduled ourselves. Each one of our first four or five games will be extremely challenging but we want that challenge. I feel that if we can make it through until districts, we'll have a great shot at going a long way." What You Should Know:Fort Campbell will have to adjust to playing a seven-game district schedule to playing a three-game district slate which makes the Falcons have to schedule tougher non-district opponents like Trigg County, Paducah Tilghman and Graves County.