SECTIONAL 40 ROUND 2

[Miner_Pride]

As for this week's Championship.... I will be pulling for North Knox.   I've nothing personal against Mater Dei.. and whomever wins here will have my support moving forward.  I always want to see teams we play have great seasons, and always like to see anyone from our area do well in postseason. That just helps our schedule outlook... well.. maybe not the Arrows... LOL.. just kidding!   I think NK will have to play their ultimate game and get some help... just as I said about my Miners.  Mater Dei will have to come to Warrior Field out in the midst of nothing between Bicknell and Freelandville.  There will be an insane environment waiting for them.. course, I don't think that will have any effect on a team that played in front of a packed Reitz Bowl a few weeks back.  Obviously MD is coached well, and has great kids on that field. A lesser team would probably look at the Linton-NK game midseason and think.. ok....Linton beat NK 28-13, we beat Linton 44-21...    the same offense we just shut down completely put 299 rushing and 137 passing on the Warriors....  A lesser team I would wonder about over-confidence on the road... thinking ahead rather than the task at hand.  I don't see that with Mater Dei though.  But you know it's gonna be cold by Friday, if by chance the rain moves in and makes things muddy and nasty (no field turf in our neck of the woods)... which all plays into NK's style of play... things can change so fast in football.  This is the best Warrior D I've seen come out of North Knox is many years, a lot of seniors and leaders.   I wish them well, and it won't surprise me if they surprise MD early on... unless NK pulls a turnover feast like Linton did, and gets down early.  Then it could be a long long night. 

[Miner_Pride]

LOL.. well ...  lemme clarify something---   I was born at Deaconess in Evansville... way back.   But my youngest years were spent in Henderson Kentucky where my Dad was 1st Assistant to Bull Dawson at Henderson City High.. home of the Flash.  Dad was set up to take over for Bull.. but every year he'd decide to stay another year.  Finally Dad took a head coach job in Sullivan.  I was in the 3rd grade.  Everything was different.  Henderson City was a serious football team, and dad was a serious coach.  He lasted 3 years before getting the axe.  We ended up in Linton... 15 miles to the east, as Dad was Athletic Director/Ass't Principal.  So quite naturally, and despite having several close friends from Sullivan... I goal was never ..ever.. to lose the the Golden Arrows.  Which I'm proud to say in my years never happened.  So.. yeah.. I might not root for the Arrows ALLLLLL the time, but I not as stringently full of hate as I was all those years ago either!!  And I like Blaine Powell.. so that makes it easier!

[ts32]

17 hours ago, Miner_Pride said:

 I have no doubt that Mater Dei's schedule prepares them well for when they play 2A post season.  We have beefed up the schedule at Linton...but I don't think we would ever have the schedule MD, or Bishop Luers, Andrean etc are going to play in the bigger cities.  

 

Exactly.

There was a lot of discussion last week on Mater Dei’s strength of schedule. One thing to keep in mind - those games against the big Evansville schools are conference games. Basically Mater Dei’s been playing the same schedule since before Bob Griese was quarterbacking Rex Mundi. So they’re used to it.

Linton I think does about the best it can with its schedule. Maybe you could tweak it a bit, drop a game or two and find a quality replacement. But it’s not like the Bloomington schools or the Terre Haute schools are gonna schedule Linton.

[lp3coda]

Ugh....even the faint smell of Sullivan love leaves my stomach feeling like I ate a Tanka hoagie. 😨

I'm still not really sure how to put that Linton/NK game and score into context for the NK/MD game. IMO, North Knox really made it a game against Linton, and the Miners didn't get a foothold until the 4th quarter.  Until that point the defense for both teams were the highlight of the game for me. 

[Miner_Pride]

2 hours ago, lp3coda said:

Ugh....even the faint smell of Sullivan love leaves my stomach feeling like I ate a Tanka hoagie. 😨

I'm still not really sure how to put that Linton/NK game and score into context for the NK/MD game. IMO, North Knox really made it a game against Linton, and the Miners didn't get a foothold until the 4th quarter.  Until that point the defense for both teams were the highlight of the game for me. 

Yeah I agree the game was genuinely up for grabs at 21-13 until Linton scored at 2:43 to go.  By the most competitive Warrior-Miner game in several years.  Their defense kept this one tight, as did the Miner D.  Linton scoredon 3 of their first 4 drives, with the one failure ending on the Warrior 9.  NK scored on their opening two drives then that was it.  NK certainly won that 3rd quarter in terms of yards.  They went 61 yards in their first drive of the 2nd half before a 4th and long pass was intercepted at the L26.  The Miners got to the NK 26 twice in the 2nd half.. Goodman's pass tipped off a wide open Dyer, that was picked at the Warrior 13.  Early in the 4th Lannan was stopped at on a 4th and 2.   It was a solid effort by NK, but 299 in rushing by Linton and another 137 in the air was a lot of yardage surrendered.  NK Defense made the plays when they needed them.  The rush offense that is NK's bread n butter was held in check, with QB Hammelman providing the bulk of offense with his legs (11-54 rushing, most on scrambles) and thru his arm (10-24-154).. and 40 of that came on a TD pass to Doades for their 2nd score.    

Course this was week 7? and NK has rolled pretty smoothly improving in all aspects of their game.  I can definitely say that Mater Dei a staunt defense.  Linton finished with 232 yards for the game but honestly 124 came in the 4th against MD reserves.  That leaves 108 over 3 quarters for an offense that  was pretty impressive this season.  NK seems more power orientated.. trying to pound the yards.  Linton is more misdirection, and MD was very disciplined.. back side did not chase, they did not take themselves out of the play, and their D line was constantly busting up the gut before anything could develop.    MD's offense has a lot of misdirection too.. bringing a slot in motion sometimes from all the way across the field and taking the handoff, or McGrew going against the grain...plus in our game..several times QB Happe kept it and had big gains getting outside on the back side.  They were almost always 4 receiver sets... 2 per side.  This spreads out the defense pretty thin.  And if not faced it much.. you don't know how you'll react.  Happe had some key runs out of a passing situation.     Knight and Folz are great LB's.. very quick to the hole. Lannert from safety is their leading tackler for a reason.. all of their Dline were quick on their first moves.. beating our guy to the spot.  And add to it 6'5 MOney and 6'1 Davidson at DE's both got tipped passes at the line.. one ended up a defensive score.   

My hope for the Warriors is they can use ball control to keep MD offense off the field, but they gotta convert those drives into points.  I also hope they can catch some breaks, of which Linton got one (the punter dropped the snap which gave us the ball at MD's 21..and we scored on a pass just before the half)….They are gonna have to prove that the passing game can be dangerous..because MD will just sit 8-9 in the box and beg them to throw it...    

[ts32]

20 hours ago, Miner_Pride said:

 

One positive from last Friday at the Reitz Bowl...they played Santana’s “I’m Winning” over the PA after the game. Instead of that tired old “We are the Champions.”

More schools should take note and follow suit.