Bluerunner

HHS, PLEASE WORK ON GETTING BETTER FIELD POSITION. It is an uphill battle when the worst field position the Colonels had all night was on the 35 yard line. Also do not continue to let the fullback and tight end release without being touched. FUNDAMENTAL FOOTBALL. You can get by with this against teams that have far less talent, and are not well coached. Cov Cath is neither. Go Birds!

What's up with Highlands giving the ball to Cov Cath on about the forty on every kickoff. That was mighty nice of them, seeing that Cov Cath has the best kicker in the State. HHS started virtually on the 20 on every posession compared to Cov Cath on the forty. I'm sure they gave up at least 100 yards on the kickoffs alone.....Highlands linebackers were 3 yards off of the ball all night, and would get stuck inside on the Cov Cath runs (not able to scrape). Obviously Cov Cath came in extremely well prepared. HHS has too much talent not be put in the right position to win games like this. I guess at least HHS has some tape to watch. Go Birds!

SOHS: 45 GCHS: 14

HHS 24 CCHS 9. Game actually closer than this score. HHS needs to hold on to the ball this week or it will be too close for comfort.

Motivation for this game is stat building. 56-0 at the half; 63-14 final. JV will give up a couple.

The Birds were just fine. I know they were showing and working on some things. I do know that Cov Cath had an off week. The Birds had this on in the bag early, and it was time to do a little rehersal for the Colonels.

The whole thing is tragic. Duffy is easy to pick on. He can be distant and thought of as disrespectful to his peers, but I know first hand he had a lot of tough love for his players. You practiced hard, but they were quick and to the point. Not a lot of down time. Water was always given frequently throughout practice. You might even get hosed down like cattle. Calling him names and passing judgement on a situation you are not familiar with doesn't benefit anyone. I don't know much about that day or of the situation, but I know that no one wanted the outcome.

While meandering along the DeSales sideline (HHS stands) I heard several players and coaches mocking the Birds last year. I would be put on suspension if I wrote the comments verbatim (the theme was an overrated, crappy hillbilly team from Kentucky, and that they had forgotton more football than HHS knows). I'm sure HHS will have this loss fresh in their minds. Highlands is too strong up front on both sides of the ball to get whipped. I say HHS 28 to 14.

St. X by at least two scores. HHS gave two scores to Elder on special team mishaps inside the 10 yard line. Elder had 145 total yards against the Birds. God Bless the Catholics or else the Birds would never lose.

HHS names the score. SW MAY score on the JV. Good luck

This line is the best all around that Dale has had. I believe the '92 line was the best in at least the past 20 years. My knowledge of HHS football doesn't allow me to comment on lines before 20 years ago.

The 'runner will be there with earplugs.....BOOM!!

Duffy's personality leaned toward that of an army general, where Dale's leans a bit toward Mickey Mouse (Point being these guys are polar opposites). That is not a knock on Dale or Duff, both guys win football games. Here is a brief run down of Duffy's conditioning program. Beginning is December you had 4 day a week "voluntary" weights/agility workouts, triple sessions for summer workouts with a.m. "County Fair" before start of practice (grueling agility drills with 4 station, 4 sets positioned on the four corners of the field/don't loaf or you'll get the crap whistle and take it from the top). Triple sessions were offense or defense a.m./p.m. midday special teams. It was required for you to run 20 "Jingle Jangles" (40 yards up and back) in a certain time in order to receive your equipment prior to summer practice. I believe it was 16 seconds for backs and receivers, 19 seconds for linemen. In the 1992 state season we had several large linemen (Schlarmen, Reynolds, Berringer, Herfel....) who might of had a problem with the times, Duff made a concession for these guys and made them break down the field after every summer practice. (Field Breakdown: 10 yards up with one push up then back with one sit up...then two...three and so on). This coupled with lack of social reverence made Duff a social leper and a legend. Is this better than what Dale does? Or was it overkill? I personally believe with more participation Duffy would have had more state titles than he did (38 players including 8 seniors on '92 team)....Just wanted to give you a first hand acount of what was going on those days. Go Birds!!

1992 playoffs, Highlands over Covington Catholic at Cov Cath (14-7). Cov Cath had defeated HHS by three touchdowns in the regular season, and Cov Cath was undefeated with wins over Cincy Moeller and eventual state champion Beechwood (blowout). Cov Cath seemed a safe bet to win it all, they even had their QB on the cover of state championship programs.

Thanksgiving day in 1992. Dudley was giving the home folks something to do on Turkey Day. HHS defeated the defending state champs. Boy was my turkey sandwich on the long bus ride home good. I do have lots of respect for their team. It was the hardest hitting team I ever played against.

Numbers, no title IX issues along with parental involvement and hardwork= being good every year. Never should be a year without at least one of these teams in a final.

1992 Highlands team won state under Duffy running the Wing T. This was the second year this offense was run. HHS had a coach or two from the Clark County that had won state running the same offense help implement the system over this two year period. I don't believe the system won the title for the Birds.

Leatherneck...I'm even more excited about next year. Should be the best all around team HHS has had since the Gino years.

Ft. Thomas Catholic wins this one easy. Catholic can run and stop the run.

JBWill, I heard of plenty of grumbling all season long. Lots of people putting ideas of entitlement into many of the kids heads. I believe most of the issues were resolved by season's end. The bluebird faithfull should be encouraged by the talent coming up through the system. I know this group this year had the talent to make this a game, but I do not believe the team was put into position to do so. HHS was lucky the game was as close as it was. You cannot lose the field position battle like they did on Friday. NO adjusment of any consequence was made at the half by the Birds. This staff believes that its game plan is infallible. Lex Cath is too good of a team not to have a contingency plan. I do believe this loss will be treated like the Boyle loss of a couple years ago. Birds will be back in '06. It is a tough lesson in life for the seniors involved, but for all coaches and players returning...Go elephant and never forget!

Highalnds went small and quick on the D-line and kept the pressure on FC's QB. Mistakes happen when your rushing decisions in the passing game. We'll see what Dale has in his bag of tricks this week. HHS- 38 Lex Cath- 28