foxbat

It's possible that LCC can come out of the North to be the representative, but there's still a couple of games that have to be played, and won, to make that happen. I haven't looked at North Judson yet or run any stats ... I'll try to get to that during the week ... but this year is not like previous LCC quests to LOS beyond sectionals. As I mentioned previously, I don't think LCC has ever made it to LOS when they've been behind at halftime in any tournament play. There are some observations from the first two tourney games and from last night's game, as well as a couple others, that illuminate the difference in this season from previous quests. Like the 2009 and 2010 seasons, this team is more of a no-name team ... meaning there aren't necessarily names of LCC players that those outside of the program or opponent coaches' recognition. There's no Coy Cronk or Danny/Jackson Anthrop or Ross Corcoran ... although you could argue that Mills had recognition back in 2009. Unlike those other seasons, LCC was not a brand that was mentioned from the start of the season ... and even now, it's still somewhat limited in mention. LCC finally entered into the Class A rankings about halfway or later into the season. Observations: LCC's offense has lacked the early punch in the last three games that have been fairly synonymous with previous LOS runs. LCC only averages one TD a game in the first quarter in the last three tournament games and they were TD shutout in the first quarter by TPC. The offensive gameplan for the first possession has also been fairly cookie cutter ... first play is a long incomplete pass downfield for all the marbles, second play tends to be a handoff into the middle that gets stopped after a couple of yards, then an attempt to convert on 3rd-and-long with typically very mixed results. In successful tournament runs, LCC has traditionally used a shock-and-awe approach to 1) quickly put up points on teams to make the game feel over early and 2) to employ a blunting defense to take away that type of reciprocal activity from teams that have been high scoring up to that point in the tournament; again to add a feeling of early denouement. LCC is deadly in the short-pass game and I would go with that for the opening couple of drives to force teams on their heals. I certainly appreciate the shock-and-awe potential of a three-play opening game plan where Play 1 is throw the ball deep for a TD, Play 2 is kick the PAT, and Play 3 is kickoff after score. But I also understand the feeling of accomplishment when other teams are able to defer and then force LCC to punt on that first possession. That left wheel route, which I understand has to be set up by some long pass attempts, has been particularly successful for LCC. I think it can be equally set up by some right-side or short-pass pass-option activity as well. I like the tandem backfield that LCC showed against TPC with Munn and Roach in the backfield to help alleviate need to be the workhorse. Although I like having Roach untethered near the line as a WR or slot. I'd actually like to see it run with Schrader and Munn back there with Munn in the roll of the fullback. I think it would give LCC more punch in the middle and also provide more opportunities for Schrader on the outsides. Getting to the outside has been mixed for LCC these last three games. Being able to use Munn to pick up that stray that tends to blunt the corner can free up Schrader when he gets to the corner and can turn up. Schrader's been very successful getting downfield when he's able to make that corner and runs like a fullback at that point punishing tacklers on that sideline. With that said, Roach has very nice moves coming out of that backfield as a scat back. Motion, motion, motion ... I'd like to see LCC do a lot more motion with the slot backs and WRs. TPC overdid the motion thing and got stuck for at least two or three penalties for not being set or for settling down in the wrong formation, but for the past tournament runs, LCC used plenty of motion to effectively pickup some mismatches. Putting Roach or Buche or even Schrader, in a tandem backfield in motion, provides for some options as well for so mismatches and missed assignments. Middle LB play seems more conservative than in the past and teams seem to be able to pick up bigger chunks in the middle and on quick outside hits with motion backs. MLBs are quick ... which can be seen on more traditional sweep plays where backs get a pitch, flareout, or deeper handoff ... but seem to be catching middle run plays and missing out on quick hits on the edges. Corners, or perhaps more corner/safety combo on sideline patterns, have been vulnerable, but also not yet burned too much. There are many plays in the past three games where receivers have been behind the defenders and the pass has been overthrown. Better passing QBs could convert those into quick strikes. Even not so great passing QBs can exploit that. TPC's Hart had a total of 5 completions on 15 attempts. One of those passed resulted in a 34-yard TD and another in a 32-yard gain. Hart's QB rating was 82.1 for the game and only 104.5 for the season on a relatively light schedule. The LBs have their fair share of picks this season from the underside, but that overside concerns me. Can we get Barrett to drop back just a bit? Forget two-step, three-step, and five-step ... it seems to be no-step. One of the things that I love about Barrett as he's emerged as a QB is his ability to make things happen with his legs. That nifty little two-point conversion rollout that he did against TPC shows some of that potential. With that said, I'm not saying turn him into a running QB, but dropping him back gives him more options to step up/out in/of the pocket when he needs the time or the pressure. With that no-step, when he flushes out of the pocket, he doesn't have many places to go if the line is collapsing. Would also buy him a little bit more time for that pass downfield when attempting it to increase the potential success rate of those attempts. Last-minute TDs. In the last three games, LCC has given up a TD with under a minute left to go in the game to all three opponents. I understand in one case that there were plenty of JV folks in there getting some reps and that's going to happen sometimes, but three in a row in the last minute during tourney is a bit concerning. With the above bullet-point said, I absolutely love the fire and focus coming out of the locker room for the second half. LCC's defense came out and basically smothered TPC all the way up until that last drive of the night in that second half consistently forcing TPC to be standing in their own territory most of that second half on both sides of the ball. As I tell my players though, if you keep the game close, you can kind of afford to do that; however, I'd rather have them doing that from the opening kickoff rather than after the halftime band performance. At halftime, I want that opposing coach talking to his team about moral victories in the second half and not about game victory. A little shock-and-awe on both sides of the ball early in a game goes a long way and also gives more opportunity to play more aggressively later to create additional problems for the opponent. I also know that Coach Nay is working to get back to the old LCC playbook of specialists playing one-way. Still a few folks going two-way, but being in his second year and transitioning toward that, I think he's going to need some time to get that fully-evaluated/implemented. I absolutely love what he's done to get the program back in the right direction in just a short time and back on the road to LOS. Just a few observations from the bleachers and with the caveat that I've only had a chance to see LCC play in person this season during these last three games and the BC game, but in that game I was wrangling cats, so didn't get to do much observation. Anyone else see similar or different things?

I would agree with this. I'll post later on takeaways/observations, but just wanted to say that, for all of the talk of strength of schedule and team sizes, etc., I have to give props to Traders Point. They dressed about 19-20 and may have had a low schedule strength ... as a matter of fact, their schedule strength was 310 out of the 321 teams listed on Sagarin and that's with #1 1A Indy Lutheran on their schedule. None of that mattered in their play. They were well-prepared and fairly well-disciplined in their execution. They sent LCC to the locker room at half down 10-9. Outside of Pioneer the last two seasons, the last time LCC went into a locker room down during the 1A tournament was all the way back in 2008 with Sheridan. TPC played a good game, but halftime adjustments by LCC and just sheer getting worn down sealed their fate in this. Outside of that, I think that they are a good team and I'd like to see them perhaps play a stronger schedule to perhaps get more notoriety as they tend to be overlooked. Having seen them play with their numbers and schedule, I think other teams playing them might overlook them them at their own peril.

LCC 34 TPC 16 Final

LCC 27 TPC 10 Start of 4Q

TPC 10 LCC 9 Half

I wasn't questioning Chatard's O-line. Merely stating that it's less a question of how Chatard's QB/WRs match up with West Lafayette's secondary and the focus should be on the line. There are many times where a secondary helps the line by creating the ability for coverage sacks; however, West Lafayette tends to be the opposite of that where the D-line makes its own sacks regardless of secondary activity. West Lafayette's D-line has been the focus of that team for a while and this year isn't much different. Keep them off of your QB and you will end up with yards and TDs on their secondary.

I'll be down it Whitestown tonight for LCC-Traders Point Christian. All the cool kids are doing it!

Assuming that you'll be setup near the Hi-Pod X31?

I would say "yes," but the bigger question is less QBs and WRs and more the West Lafayette D-line. West Lafayette's D-line is a tremendous asset to their secondary's performance. There are plenty hurries and just plain old bad passes thrown because of the pressure from West Lafayette's front D-line. From my perspective, the question is less about West Lafayette's secondary and more about Chatard's O-line. Can they keep WL's D-line off of the QB so he can find the WRs? If they can, the WL secondary will give up yards and points in the air. If they can't, then the secondary only needs to be average.

Maybe @Coach Nowlin will need to revive a lost thread from crashed GID forum ...

I expect that Harrison will likely emerge from that meeting on to regionals.

Participation in high school activities in Colorado hits an all-time high ... https://chsaanow.com/2019-07-15/participation-in-high-school-activities-in-colorado-hits-an-all-time-high/ FTA: This year, a total of 82.53% of the total membership enrollment participated in high school activities in one form or another. That includes 59.35% in sports, and 23.18% in activities. This marks the 21st consecutive year that sports participation has been above 54% of the total membership enrollment, and eighth of the past nine that it has surpassed 58%. CHSAA's largest activity is music, with 41,499 participants. Football is the second-largest with 16,888 participants, the sport's highest figure since 2012-13, and is followed by boys basketball (11,723), girls volleyball (11,672), boys track (10,243), and girls basketball (9,045). Boys basketball saw the largest increase in terms of percentage, growing 27% from 2017-18 to 2018-19. Girls basketball had the second-biggest growth, jumping up 24%. Girls volleyball showed the third-fastest growth (23%) and hockey and spirit (both 13%) were fourth. Overall, 14 sports and two activities showed growth from the previous season.

That video is something that all players, coaches, fans, communities, etc. should watch regardless of program origin. There's much more going on than what the game tape or the scoreboard shows. Sometimes need these kinds of things to remind us to stop and take a breath and to be grateful for whatever program we have. I kept listening to the kids in that video and, despite everything going on that they deal with ... whether its classes, jobs, mistakes, family situations, etc. I just kept hearing hope, positivity, and character. If you haven't watched the video, like @Coach Nowlin said, I'd highly encourage you to spend the 17 minutes to watch it. I won't lie, it is emotional in many directions ... but well worth the watch.

Likewise!

I lived a couple of exits south of Moore in Norman and it's named Moore because it's "moore" likely to be hit by a tornado than Norman.

@Coach Nowlin ... any idea when the Booster tags go on the accounts? The ads hadn't bothered me much on a PC, but I recently broke down and got a cell phone and they take up a decent amount of real estate there, so having them gone, via the member status, would be particularly advantageous on that platform.

That was a while back, ...

Yeah, but think of the IHSAA as the gift that keeps giving ... GID's thread count would be halved if the IHSAA changed things.

Anyone know the actual address for Traders Point's stadium? Do they play at the Christian Schools / High School address, 5608 Whitestown Parkway, Whitestown, IN 46075, which is what MaxPreps shows for the school location or is it the Academy address which is 5770 Whitestown Pkwy, Whitestown, IN 46075 per Google or is it 6600 S Indianapolis Rd, Whitestown, IN, 46075 which pops up in Outlook when you type in Traders Point Academy and also what John Harrell has listed on his site when you click "Map to School"? They are all in proximity to each other, but I'd prefer to not spend extra time seeing the sights in Whitestown.

Once you get to tourney season, it's all about the point in time as opposed to a stretch of time. If you can't muster enough to be the better team by the end of the gametime, all the stuff before or after doesn't really matter to that final score. Similarly, if a team has struggled all season long, that doesn't matter if you can get it together for 48 minutes on that one night. Of course, to stick around, you have to get it together for the next time too. I'll tell the players that I coach that they should be humble in victory and gracious in defeat. The gracious in defeat means not taking away from an opponent's victory over us by making excuses or talking about luck or talking about what might happen next time ... it ultimately comes down to the opponent was the better team when it mattered; when the game clock read 0:00 at the end of the 4th quarter.

Might want to reconsider that. The Falcons have something the Wolfs don't, and it's a game-changer ... a Hi-PodX31 endzone camera.

Almost not even worth pulling the bus out of the garage.

Are you threatening me?

Being a somewhat homer ... although I have ties to three different schools ... I'm most interested in seeing how LCC-Traders Point plays out. The convention wisdom said that LCC would walk through sectionals; however, Traders Point is 10-1. While their schedule strength is relatively low, they have played Class A #1 Lutheran ... although it resulted in their solo loss, 63-27 at the end of the regular season. They are a relatively unknown quantity in terms of IHSAA play having just played in their first IHSAA tourney last season where they made it to a sectional championship game before being unceremoniously bounced by South Putnum. I'm interesting in seeing Traders Point play given that they are appearing in the second sectional championship in the two years that they've been IHSAA-eligible.

Knights will be OK on penalties. There were at least three last night that were, and I'm being kind, questionable; including an interference call on a tipped ball. There was also a little extra-curricular activity that seemed to be overlooked. On one play, there was extra-curricular activity that ended up with both players crashing to the ground, a flag came out after the play, and the call was 5-yard facemask.