81beechwoodtiger

All I'm saying is that HC played this team MUCH tougher than NCC did. The game went down to a last second intereption by the HC QB. The regular season game between NCC and HC has nothing to do with this. Yes HC was embarrassed in that game, but they were DEFINITELY the better team at the end of the year. Probably would have beaten NCC by 2 TD's had they played.

Wow! Holy Cross fought these guys tooth and nail until the final seconds...and should have won the game (despite their inept coaching). I guess NCC just wanted the season to be over! Pretty sure that HC would have beaten NCC handily this time...had they met of course. Oh well, a down year for both programs. At least NCC was expected to have a down year. HC expected to have their best year...and ended up 6-6. Just proves that talent alone can't overcome bad coaching.

At the request of the HC coaches, I have been silent for a good while. Now, consider the silence broken. It is obvious that the success of this team took a back seat this year on the coaches list of priorities...to the success and featuring of the individual (Markel Walker). Yes, he is a phenomenal athlete, but he is only one individual and football is not an individual sport. How can you have the talent that this team had...and only end up with a 6-6 record and yet another 2nd round playoff exit? Can you imagine what Noel Rash and his staff would have done with this kind of talent? We have sat by quietly over the last 4 games and have seen the two senior receivers (Norris & Ziegler) almost completely ignored in the passing game. The coaches KNOW that all they have to do is throw the ball deep to one of those two receivers and good things will happen. But, that is what we get for opening our mouth's...coaching orders to Markel: Thou shalt not throw the ball to Norris & Ziegler! It became obvious to me after seeing them repeatedly wide open down the field and not even being looked at by Markel. A painful example of this was on HC's last play last night...Ziegler was once again, wide open...I mean WIDE OPEN, and the ball was thrown to one of the short receivers. The result was the interception that ended the game and the promising career of these seniors. When I saw those young men crying on that field last night...my heart went out to those seniors (once un-defeated as freshman). Knowing that they had such high expectations for this year...yet not being allowed to realize their full potential.

There is the understatement of the year! Yes, you can blame the coaches all you want (as I do). But when it comes down to it...players need to have the heart and guts to not give up 300+ yards on runs up the middle all night long. As mentioned, NCC did nothing fancy on offense...didn't have to. Just like the Beechwood game...STOP THE RUN!!! All that takes is heart, guts and desire. NCC & Beechwood had that (always will) and HC players did not...simple as that.:isurrender:

Yes, to the nuetral observer, I could see where one might think that. But to the HC fan over the last 4 years, you know that is not the case. You think, OK...they will pull out all the stops in the next game...WRONG! Same bad play calling, same refusal to consider assistant coaches suggestions. Typical sideline conversation (from inside sources, wishing to remain anonymous)... Assistant: Coach, they have a lineman guarding one of our receivers! Coach: Ugghh, hmmmph. Assistant: Coach, we need to throw it deep to exploit this mismatch! Coach: Me no throw ball deep. Me no like one play TD drive. Me boss, not you.:ohbrother:

Those four words..."I don't get it"...are used quite frequently when discussing HC football: Arlinghaus experiment did not work last night, yet it took almost 2 quarters to figure that out..."I don't get it". Team plays with absolutely no emotion in their "supposed" biggest rivalry game..."I don't get it". Team has 3 receivers 6'3" and over, yet they absolutely refuse to throw the ball deep and take advantage of size mismatches with 5'9" DB's..."I don't get it". So you have just summarized HC football with four simple words.

Actually, this is a perfect example of the liberal bias in the media...especially the Enquirer. Give the press coverage to the inner city public school and ignore the conservative parochial school...typical.

I predict alot of facial masks!

Coach Koz from Holy Cross definitely ranks among the top all time coaches.

Another thing I noticed since the Beechwood game. That #25 kid did not rotate in and out that game and had a great game. Now all of the sudden Koz had him in this crazy rotation. Is that kid a screw up, or in Koz's doghouse? One more thing, that big running back #32, doesn't seem to be running as hard as he did last year.

I believe you may be right. Arlinghaus got yelled at by Koz for making the long pass attempt to #25. I was like, man that is crazy! Any other coach would be drooling to have 3 six foot plus receivers. They would be bombing it downfield every chance they get. Not Koz...throw 'em screens, let's get 'em all killed.

I too got the feeling that the Cougars took it easy on HC. I think they could have scored at will on the Indians, but did not release the hounds...mainly wanting to avoid injuries for next week's matchup with SK. As for the Indians, well when you throw 10 screens during a game, your opponent eventually catches on (as did Conner after about the third screen). But no, good ole Koz kept them coming...all but abandoning even the remotest thought of throwing the deep ball. Until the backup QB came in and connected on a perfect strike to #3. Is it that Markel can't pull the trigger, or that the coach disdains the deep ball? From the coach on Conner's offense: "Their offense is very hard to defend because they have so many weapons"...WOW, novel idea there, huh coach? HC has so much talent on offense, but rarely uses it. One thing I did notice was that Arlinghaus is a better pure passer than Walker. Obviously Walker is the better athlete, but Arlinghaus makes quicker decisions and get rid of the ball immediately. One more time, I'm begging you coach...throw 8-10 deep balls a game and get that stupid screen pass out of the playbook. How many TD's have we scored on screens this year vs. TD's on deep balls?:idunno:

Wow, not much interest here. I am a HC fan, but I am also realistic...Conner by at leat 30. HC defense is horrible; coaches still won't throw the deep ball enough; special team coverage is terrible, etc, etc.:isurrender:

When you are a contender, you have been there and know how to win these kind of games. You have the tradition of a great program to fall back on, you have passion instilled into you by a great coaching staff. This is what allows you to win ball games when your opponent may be bigger, stronger or more talented. Beechwood will alway have this. When you are a pretender, your cheeks tend to tighten a bit in these situations and you may not always do the right thing. You have a coaching staff that pampers the "superstars" and chastises the hard working support players...not realizing the kids see right through this and disrespect the coach for it. A pretender changes their offensive formation, but not their offensive philosophy. Yes, that is why in the ongoing battles between contenders and pretenders, the contenders will win the vast majority of these games. Or in this case...all of them since 1998.

Definitely a hard one to predict here. I know Beechwood will be hungry. HC will have to come out even hungrier and play with passion for 48 minutes to win this one. The HC seniors are a tremendous group of kids and want this very bad. One thing is for sure...it doesn't get any better than this! I can't wait either NKYPete...see you there! I will predict one thing...POINTS, and lot's of them! ________________________________________________________________ Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free. The Ole Gipper