MDAlum82

Looks like most of the games in Sectional 40 will end up as predicted. Win & advance...

My thoughts exactly...

MD > FP: 35 - 14 LS > TC: 28-14 NK > SS: 28-21 NP > CC: 42-14

Not certain how CalPreps does their predictions but last I checked, LS was @ +3 with a 31-28 final score, which sounds far more reasonable than what Sagarin shows. Not much of a sausage biscuit guy but I've had worse, so you're on! I should be in the stands for this one. I'll look for you running down the field with the flag... Linton plays in grass, correct? Let's hope for no rain & good weather conditions so both teams can play their best. If MD's defense gives up 31, LS will certainly deserve the "W". I will go with MD 24-14 but I am an unabashed "homer" and an eternal optimist - just like Miner Pride! Peace. 🏈

We rarely have what anyone would consider "city speed". Perhaps the last time was back in the Patrick Mallory days (2000). However, this year in particular, our line tends to be pretty quick for their size, esp. James Ralph. IMO, MD will go only as far as our D will take us. The offense has been widely inconsistent this year and has generally under-performed the perhaps too lofty expectations coming into the season.

The issue with current Sagarin numbers is unique to how they compare schools using their algorithms. Essentially, if Team A plays Team B, and Team B plays Team C, they can use their formulas to make an "educated guess" how Team A would fare if it played Team C, even though they have not played. It has nothing to do with teams playing out of their Division; ie when a 2A team plays a 4A team. When a group of teams only plays within its group, as is the case with the SIAC, there is no way to compare them to the teams outside of that group. This will fix itself - for the most part - over the next couple of weeks as the SIAC teams begin to play teams outside the SIAC.

The SIAC plays only in-conference so no way for Sagarin to accurately compare any SIAC team with a non-SIAC team. Once the SIAC teams begin to play outside the conference, then Sagarin ratings will change. No way to know exactly how that will affect Sagarin's view of the Miners vs Wildcats but with several SIAC teams showing up in the top 10 of 5A, 4A, & 2A, it seems likely all SIAC teams will see a jump in their ratings once this occurs. Tp put it another way, the current Sagarin #s put LS as a 21 pt favorite over MD; 23 if you add 2 pts for home field. How much would you be willing to bet on that line 'cause I would gladly cover that for you...all day long. LOL.

From BobRef: If the intermission ends, and a team is not on the field, that is an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty charged to the head coach. 15 yds. If the team is out there, but can’t take the field because of, for example, the band show lasting too long, that is. 5 yd. delay of game penalty.

I was told it was Delay of game because the halftime clock hit 0:00 before MD made it back on the field. @BobRef might be a good source for more insight.

While there are a number of issues on both sides of the ball, most of our struggles come down to poor execution, IMO. On offense, line blocking has been poor as has WR blocking downfield. Lots of offensive players standing around, watching people get tackled. On D, while our line is stout, we are having issues with our blitz pkg putting pressure on the QB. If we don't stop the run at the LOS, we are having trouble wrapping up & finishing tackles which has resulted in a number of longer runs on plays that could have been stopped for little or no gain. Staring off the season with Central, Castle, Memorial & Jasper - teams that traditionally have more size, talent & athleticism, has not helped but most starters are Sr's and Jr's who played a lot last year so they should know what to expect. The next 4 weeks will be telling. Hopefully MD can turn it around and get some momentum heading into the playoffs.

Mater Dei came into the season with aspirations of getting deeper in the 2A playoffs than their Semi-State loss in 2020. While it would be foolish to judge their playoff potential based on games against Memorial & Jasper, it is difficult to see them making any sort of a deep run averaging under 70yds rushing per game as they have the last 2 wks. Vincennes Lincoln held them under 100 yds, only MD's passing game allowed them to pull ahead. Most running yds seem to come on Jet Sweep type plays as actual holes btwn the tackles have been few and far btwn. MD does not have a powerful, Cody Hess type, back this year so the O line needs to open holes to allow RBs to get to second level, something which is simply NOT happening so far this season with any consistency. We will see what happens the next 2-3 weeks as the schedule eases a bit with North, Bosse, & Harrison leading up the season finale vs Reitz in the annual Battle of the West Side. MD offense has a lot to figure out in the next few wks.

It's over. Somewhere Dandy Don Meredith is already singing: "Turn out the lights..."

In football related news, Jasper methodically taking Mater Dei apart. Aided greatly by poor M.D. execution with an early INT., a blocked punt by Jasper, and M.D. asleep at the wheel on a fake punt on 4th and 15, Jasper has all but put this away at half, leading 24 - 7. M.D. has more pts than 1st downs but does get 2nd half kick off.

Probably true, but... If your mental barometer doesn't tell you this kind of behavior is a bad idea, even as teenager, your life will be a never ending series of bad decisions with predictable outcomes. If this is a wake up call, will anyone answer?

Yeah, few things are as cool as vandalizing a public restroom. Who cares about TDs, tackles, or winning a football game when you can steal a fire extinguisher or destroy a soap dispenser or TP holder. Now THAT is cool! SMH Let's hope they learn a valuable lesson and that it doesn't cost them much more than a few meaningless "Likes", "Thumbs Up", or whatever the heck kids give them on Tik Tok... (dumb as a rock?)

I'm guessing he could tell us...but then he would have to kill us...😎

Agree. Brodie is what the Evans kids from Central aspired to be until they got loaded down with too much mustard...

One alternate view to the declining participation numbers is the growth in the number of options available. There is a club for virtually everything these days and only so many kids to go around. More sports, more clubs, more kids need to have a job, etc. Both COVID and convenience have contributed to kids gathering online without having to leave home. It is much safer, cheaper, easy to social distance but yet not be apart… The traditional clubs were geared towards social interaction and thus focused on gathering people together physically, that is no longer a req’t in the digital age.

Most of Memorial's damage via the run seemed to be on off-tackle plays where they crashed down on the DE and the lead back would take out the Mater Dei LB. This allowed #38 to get beyond the LOS - usually without being touched - and into 2nd level of defense. With his speed and evasiveness, Mater Dei's LBs & DBs could not tackle him without help. Lost count of how many times #38 broke through initial contact - which typ. occurred about 5 yds downfield, to gain an additional 5+, 10+ YAC. He was the difference maker in the game, IMO.

Couldn't agree more. Tigers totally dominated the LOS on both sides of the ball. I think MD only had one drive with more than a single first down all night. Tigers' D is strong. have to love the way their LBs & DBs come up to support the run but also cover like a glove on passing plays. Congrats to the Tigers.

I may not have written this clearly enough in my original post but my suggestion would be to make it an automatic first down, not more yardage. That would deter much of the abuse, imho.

Bob Ref: IMO, the one rule in high school football most in need of “fixing” is pass interference. As it stands, with a maximum penalty of 15 yds, this is one of the most abused areas of the current high school game. It potentially subjects offensive players to unnecessary aggression, especially when it benefits the defense. Coaches even teach DBs and defensive players to foul instead of giving up a long pass or a touchdown. I have routinely seen WR & RBs, get shoved, pushed, kicked, knocked down, and worse, often well beyond the 15 yd penalty area just to avoid an otherwise big play or TD. This limit on the amount of penalty yardage gives an major advantage to the Defense. Why is this rule still in place and what would it take to fix it?

There is never a shortage of willing sponsors for the Mater Dei & Memorial games. Same goes for Reitz. The issue seems to be that whenever the local TV stations get involved, they want/need to cover all the local teams, some of whom do not seem to have the sponsors to cover costs.

After being taken to the woodshed in 2018 @ 51 - 14, MD has given the Tigers 2 very close games in 2019 @ 10 -3 and 2020 @ 13 - 10, but coming up short in both games. I expect another low scoring game this season with both Defenses controlling the LOS...which likely means someone wins 49 - 48 on a missed PAT late in the game; - 8. Fingers crossed, MD finds a way to win 14 - 13.

Lots of young talent on the VL Defense. Seemed most were Sophomores & Juniors on D. DBs are very fast and come up on the run very quickly. They gave MD fits with the blitz the entire 1st half.