vintage

Conner by 9+.

At the end of the game the announcer said Eric Thomas had 22, Nick Bershear (sp?) had 12, Jayce Jordan 10. There may have been others around 8-10 also but those are the ones I remember.

Conner's lead was by as many as 16. Around the mid point of the 3rd period, Conner got into foul trouble and had to go into a zone. Pulaski hit 4 or 5 three's in a row and Conner went cold. With a few minutes left in the game, Pulaski pulled up by 1. Conner took a gut check, played great man D in the final 2 minutes got the lead, hit their free throws, game over. Great game and great heart by both teams. Pulaski never gave up and Conner turned it up an even higher notch at the end.

Congrats to both teams for a solid year and good luck to the Raiders.

Last week's game against Scott should have been 28-0. The big change I talked about happened with a new quaterback starting, and he had two sure touchdown passes dropped, so the Cougar's had to settle for 14-3. If the offense can keep the mistakes to a minimum, the game will be closer than most people would think and Conner can win.

Look for a big change this week and Conner's offense to greatly improve. If Conner shuts down Scott's run game and gets ahead forcing them to pass, game over. Except for Cambell County (and we continually gave them a short field with 5 turnovers, 1 punt return and 1 interception return for td's), the Cougar's beat the other two teams that passed a lot. If they do not turn the ball over, I see them scoring 3 or 4 times and Scott scoring once or twice. Field postion will be key. 24-7 Conner.

Jayce Jordan starting for Conner at cornerback. 7 interceptions through 5 games and 6' with 4.5 speed.

Congrats to Dixie! They continue to move in the right direction and improve every week. They pounded us tonight, in a beautiful new stadium by the way, in every aspect of the game. They really did not need to throw at all, but when they did, whether by design or accident, they stayed away from our strength for the most part. We were on their side of the field maybe twice. They continually were given a short field to work with. It was the first game this year our defense did not create a trunover. Time to play spoilers Cougars. Seniors you need to keep your heads up and go out with a bang. Sophomores and juniors, you need to keep making yourself and those around you better. Anybody can do their best when it's good, do your best through this, and you will develope the skill and mindset of always doing your best. Shane Taylor, what a great example you are setting. You never quit no matter what the odds. Keep it up young man! I am proud of all the Cougars. No sign of quit. Keep it up! Go Cougars!!

:thumb:

Ryle by 2 touchdowns.

Point well taken Sandman. It did cross my mind that this would be more appropriate somewhere else but I thought others might benefit from the dichotomy, and in my opinion what we talked about is just as important as the game. Thanks for your patience. My heart goes with Conner because they are my guys, but Dixie is playing consistently better while we seem to be stuck. Our offense has to take care of the ball and not force our defense to defend a short field. 6 balls should have been caught that were not along with 6 turnovers. Even so, I believe we needed to start passing more and was glad to see it. I was told we actually had more yardage than Campbell County last week. If the offence can get rid of those mistakes and the defense plays as well as they have been, I’ll go with my heart and take my Cougars in a close one. I've been watching your practices Conner, you can do it! Go Cougars!!!!!

I do not have a problem with calling a spade a spade. We played badly over all and we must improve. I know that, you know that, the kids know that, and the coaches know that. I only disagee on the specifics. I don't believe in publicly critizing a coach or a player during the season. I have never seen it be constructive only destructive and I have years of experience in these matters. Go to him privately and do it all you want. It's one thing to say the team played badly but to start calling out the coaches publicly now is not going to help any of the players perform or play better. Keep it in house. You can get your point across very well without going too far, and I am sure you do not want to cast doubt in these players, but what you said can and will do that. As far as effort is concerned, if you are talking about the players as a team, I have not seen them quit yet. I think they have shown plenty of effort. If nothing else I guess we can agree to disagree on this. I really appreciate your passion for our team. They know they have areas that need BIG improvements. When they read this I want them to know that they can do it with what they have. I want them to know that I am behind them 100% and they will only loose if they quit giving 100%.

Point well taken.

Originally Posted by Cgrrrblu We care but I do not think the public forum is the place to air your problems during the middle of the season. What possible good will come from it at this time besides making yourself feel better and the damage it may cause is even greater. Nice assumption, easy way out. You get to voice you criticisms against faceless challengers without concern to the dissension it may cause during the height of the season. Who knows you might make believers out of each other. But no, it's easier to assume the worse and then act on that assumption as if it was the truth rather than find out what that truth really is. :confused: Really? What about all those athletes who were perceived to be too short, too slow, too dumb, yet went on to achieve greatness in their sports. Perception varies with the individual, the circumstances, and the situation and so on. Truth is reality. Perception is only the way we look at it. No they are not above criticism. But timing is everything. The middle of the season is not the time. For this team to improve, they or any team must come together as 1 unit. Do you really think criticizing the coach in public at this time will help that unity? :thumb: Well said. I can tell you are very passionate about the Cougars and care greatly about the team. When the season is over let's come together and address those answers we seek. And while we are at it, let's make sure we are asking the right questions. :dancingpa We can agree on that!!!

Well said. Work it out in house Cgrrrblu. If you truly are a supporter then support. Airing out your sour grapes for all to see does nothing to instill confidence in a team when it is struggling. Have you gone to the source and talked one on one with the coach? At least show the coach that much respect. If you have, and did not get your way, be mature enough about it to move on and find positive ways to make a difference, or at least wait until the end of the year and work it out in house. This situation at Conner is a test. It is an opportunity to learn perseverance and character. Anyone can have great character when things are going well. The real question here is what kind of character do you want to instill. What kind of example do you want to set for our players? Gripe, carp, and complain to try and get your way even if it means tearing a team apart? We have enough of those “me only” sports stars already, just ask Mr. D. McNabb. I suggest a better example. Let's try our best even when we are not getting our way. Let's try to constantly be improving ourselves and our team even when things are bad and the sky is the darkest. Let's find positive ways to make change if and when change is necessary. That is true leadership and that is a much better life lesson for these young men to learn.

6 or was it 7 turnovers by Conner? I lost track. 1 was a fumble by the quaterback on the exchange and the rest were interceptions with at least 3 underthrown to wide open recievers. Two others were overthrows into double coverage. This is not to take anything away from Campbell County they deserved every point they got, but it helps when they are getting great field position to start most drives from Cougar mistakes. Still it was up to Cambell County to take advantage of Conner's mistakes and they did. They had a great punt return for a TD by the way. There are a couple of bright spots for Conner. #30 Sr running back Shane Taylor had to have another 100yard game or close to it, #59 Sr Kyle Scruggins came into the game leading the state in tackles, and Soph cornerback #8 Jayce Jordan picked off 2 more passes.

Same story for Conner as before. Can their defense stop Campbell's running game giving their secondary enough chances to make plays and can their offense score more than once and take care of the ball. I really believe they are almost there on offense. This would be an upset in most people's eyes but you can do it Cougar's! Throw a wrench in the 4A works. Win this game and you are right back in the hunt. Conner by 3.

More fuel for the short sighted type coach to try and persuade the basketball athlete not to play football. It's a terrible idea.

Thanks, and good luck the rest of the year.

Maybe. But Conner was suppose to be 0-4 right now and probably only winning 1 game all year. The Cougar's were supposed to loose to Highland's by 60 or 70 and get blown out by Fern Creek and Holmes. Instead, they are 2-2, came very close to beating Fern Creek by 4 touchdowns instead of 2, and in the Holmes game with 1:37 left, they had a receiver running free down the middle who was badly overthrown. I believe they are only 1 player away on offence. If they can improve their offence enough where they are scoring 1 touchdown more per game than they are now with the defense they have, I believe they can upset a couple more teams and make the playoffs. That may not happen, but it's not that hard to imagine

Very nice win for Ryle!

Way to be a man and own up fballstud06. It was a tough hard game hard fought on both sides. Congrats to Holmes. When they finally scored, their defense really got fired up and shut down what running game Conner had in the 4th. Conner's defense did a great job. They held the number 2 4A rushing offense to under 170 yards rushing when they were averaging 380+. Holmes was also number 5 in scoring with 42+ points per game. As I said before, to win this game Conner's defense needed to stop the Holmes running game making them throw into Conner's secondary, and the offense needed to take care of the ball. The defense did this but the Cougar's never had more than a one touchdown lead (6-0) for almost 3 quarters. The Bulldog's never panicked and stayed with their running game (they threw the ball maybe 5-6 times completing 1 or 2). The Cougar's defense also made the big play they needed by forcing a safety late in the 4th and after the free kick and personal foul they had the ball at the Holmes 28. With around 5 minutes left in the game, and only down 13-8, they had their chance but turned the ball over in the next play or two. That in my opinion was the difference in this game. Conner's offense did not take care of the ball with 4 turnovers, 3 in the 4th quarter. Hats off to Holmes they were a class act and deserved to win a tough game. Conner did have 130+ yards on the ground and they are as good or better than any 4A school in NKY on defense. They are right there but they have got to find something more on offense.

SK by 6.

You have my prayers!

Good points all. I've seen Holmes twice this year and last and I've see Conner three times this year. Holmes does appear to have more weapons than last year on offense and when they do not shoot themselves in the foot they are improved, but Conner has improved a lot on defense especially in the secondary in the speed department. The secondary is their strength with 9 interceptions in the first three games attesting to that. Add another 5or 6 fumble recoveries, and you have a defence that has really stepped it up. Both sides of the ball have had few penalties for Conner and the offense has taken good care of the ball. I believe Conner will win this game if their offense continues to take care of the ball and their defense can kept up their big hits and force the 3-4 turnovers they have been forcing. If Conner can stop the run and force Holmes to throw a lot, I see it happening. Last week was the first step in regaining some respect and this week is even bigger. A home game for Conner after a big road win. It's a chance to go 1-0 in districts and gain some payback. Hey Cougars, is your defense for real? Answer yes to that this week and you get a big home win.