3A North SemiState: Chatard at West Lafayette (Sectional 28 Redux)

[Lysander]

These two are old adversaries from Sectional 28 (the “Sectional of Death” as aptly named by Foxbat) although I believe they only played each other once during their shared time there - since Brebeuf and Guerin often interceded in preventing that anticipated WL/Chatard championship bout.

Chatard appears to have healed up some (though not fully) vs. their early season dings.  Last I checked, I think WL’s field is still grass which might have some effect on game play.  That said, I just haven’t seen any of WL’s games this year.

Thoughts on the game from those that have seen either or both?

[Bobref]

24 minutes ago, Lysander said:

These two are old adversaries from Sectional 28 (the “Sectional of Death” as aptly named by Foxbat) although I believe they only played each other once during their shared time there - since Brebeuf and Guerin often interceded in preventing that anticipated WL/Chatard championship bout.

Chatard appears to have healed up some (though not fully) vs. their early season dings.  Last I checked, I think WL’s field is still grass which might have some effect on game play.  That said, I just haven’t seen any of WL’s games this year.

Thoughts on the game from those that have seen either or both?

I haven’t seen Chatard this year, but I saw West Lafayette last night. Someone’s going to have to score some points to beat them. They are balanced. They go no huddle, hurry up. They are fast and their QB is very accurate with both the short pass and the deep ball. They have as sophisticated a passing attack as I have seen at the high school level, with their route combinations and play action. Multiple formations, motion and shifting. They are going to be a handful.

[foxbat]

2 hours ago, Bobref said:

I haven’t seen Chatard this year, but I saw West Lafayette last night. Someone’s going to have to score some points to beat them. They are balanced. They go no huddle, hurry up. They are fast and their QB is very accurate with both the short pass and the deep ball. They have as sophisticated a passing attack as I have seen at the high school level, with their route combinations and play action. Multiple formations, motion and shifting. They are going to be a handful.

 

2 hours ago, Lysander said:

These two are old adversaries from Sectional 28 (the “Sectional of Death” as aptly named by Foxbat) although I believe they only played each other once during their shared time there - since Brebeuf and Guerin often interceded in preventing that anticipated WL/Chatard championship bout.

Chatard appears to have healed up some (though not fully) vs. their early season dings.  Last I checked, I think WL’s field is still grass which might have some effect on game play.  That said, I just haven’t seen any of WL’s games this year.

Thoughts on the game from those that have seen either or both?

Saw them play at the start of the season against Harrison at LOS.  Will echo that they are fast and mix up the formations.  The no huddle offense also is not a gimmick for a series or two and then it goes back to normal play like you see some teams do.  If they start going to that no-huddle, make sure you lace up your track shoes because the only breaks you get are when you are on offense.

Passing attack is pretty good, but I will say that it's not necessarily the pass that gets you with them, but the threat of pass with Mullis taking off.  WL only had 100 yards passing against Harrison, but where they kill you is, on a 3rd and 7 with pass setup and then Mullis takes off for 10 yards and the drive continues.  Mullis runs more like a fullback or linebacker when he takes off.  He's big and hard to bring down which means, if he takes off on a pass play, you better catch him and hit him before he gets back to the line of scrimmage or you might as well just move the chains.  Mullis, as a QB, AVERAGES 9.4 yards a carry.

You have to play mistake-free ball with WL.  They tend to make you pay with mistakes.  Harrison was gritty enough, and big enough as a 5A school, to fend off giving the ball away four times against WL and only seeing two scores because of it, but those two scores were the difference in a 27-14 loss.

Biggest vulnerability that I saw, but mind you this was at the start of the season and against a 5A school, is that Harrison saw success running the ball between the ends in straight-ahead football.  That opened up the passing game.  I think Harrison abandoned/minimized the ground-and-pound running game too early and started resorting to outside speed stuff and passing.  Popp, Harrison's fullback, ended up the night with a 5-yard per carry average on 11 carries ... and he pretty much runs between the tackles and behind the guards a lot.  Not sure why they didn't continue to have him pound away because he was effective.  Don't know if that was tied more to Harrison or a fundamental chink in WL's armor and, even if so, has it been rectified by post-season. 

All in all, will be a good game.  I believe WL's field is still grass.  Has that really odd sideline-to-sideline crown too.  Have not seen it this season, but it has only seen one football game played on it since September, and that was in a 50-7 blowout of Twin Lakes, so I suspect it should be in pretty good shape.  Biggest thing you have to worry about on grass field that still has grass at this time of the season in Indiana is than any liquid on that grass makes the footing, with the frozen ground under it, treacherous ... as my dad used to say, "slicker than cat sh*t."

[Bobref]

23 minutes ago, foxbat said:

Passing attack is pretty good, but I will say that it's not necessarily the pass that gets you with them, but the threat of pass with Mullis taking off

If you play cover 1 or cover 0 against them, he can kill you with the scramble on pass plays.

[TigerFan20]

Another classic matchup

[Just a dad]

@Bobref I’ve watched all of Chatard’s games this year and have seen exactly zero snaps of cover zero or cover one. Those two coverages require some very skilled DDB’s. Guerin tried to do that in the playoff game against Chatard (sell out to stop the run) and got bombed repeatedly. I can’t see either team disrespecting the QB’s arms in this game.  Should be a fun one to watch. 

[Sledge]

This should be a great game. Curious to see if BC can slow WL's high-flying offense

[Coach Nowlin]

Chatard has seen their tempo before, they have seen these concepts before, both outstanding programs and coaching staffs.   

In the end, it will be about who's Jimmy's and Joe's perform better.   

sidenote, one constant over the MANY years of playing WL is their Offensive Line, shout out to former Boilermaker, Kelly Kitchel and the job he does each and every year 

[foxbat]

2 minutes ago, Coach Nowlin said:

Chatard has seen their tempo before, they have seen these concepts before, both outstanding programs and coaching staffs.   

In the end, it will be about who's Jimmy's and Joe's perform better.   

sidenote, one constant over the MANY years of playing WL is their Offensive Line, shout out to former Boilermaker, Kelly Kitchel and the job he does each and every year 

 

45 minutes ago, Sledge said:

This should be a great game. Curious to see if BC can slow WL's high-flying offense

Going to be tied to keeping Mullis from running the ball on pass plays or going to the backside when there's sweep motion.  This is where WL kills you if you are able to stop other elements of their game.  And that offensive line doesn't typically get pushed straight back into the backfield on passes and that provides options for Mullis to escape ... if you try to go around the blockers, he slips into the slot and takes off.  If the line gets your rushers funneled into the middle, he takes off on the outside.  He averages 10 yards a carry and his lowest average, when running five or more times in a game is 6 yards a carry.  3rd and long is pretty much nothing to West Lafayette when you have a QB back there that can do that ... and that's what gets to most defenses ... you've got WL backed up, 3rd and long, and then Mullis gets out and the chains move and you now have to go another four downs with them.  Mullis keeps drives alive when they look dead.  Defenses can be great for four downs, but when you give a team 7 or 11 downs, especially a team like WL, that's like adding extra bullets to the chamber in Russian Roulette. 

[Sledge]

6 minutes ago, foxbat said:

 

Going to be tied to keeping Mullis from running the ball on pass plays or going to the backside when there's sweep motion.  This is where WL kills you if you are able to stop other elements of their game.  And that offensive line doesn't typically get pushed straight back into the backfield on passes and that provides options for Mullis to escape ... if you try to go around the blockers, he slips into the slot and takes off.  If the line gets your rushers funneled into the middle, he takes off on the outside.  He averages 10 yards a carry and his lowest average, when running five or more times in a game is 6 yards a carry.  3rd and long is pretty much nothing to West Lafayette when you have a QB back there that can do that ... and that's what gets to most defenses ... you've got WL backed up, 3rd and long, and then Mullis gets out and the chains move and you now have to go another four downs with them.  Mullis keeps drives alive when they look dead.  Defenses can be great for four downs, but when you give a team 7 or 11 downs, especially a team like WL, that's like adding extra bullets to the chamber in Russian Roulette. 

 

Interesting! Thanks for the info - can't wait for the game

[Just a dad]

It’s tough to compare these two teams based solely on the “”eyeball” test. After all, quality of opponent during the time you put eyeballs on the team is really important. Some kids look big and fast against their competition but then, when they play bigger faster teams, they just seem average. With no common opponent how do you judge? From looking at Calpreps it is clear that WL scores a lot and gives up very little. They have some impressive offensive numbers. But then Calpreps shows that BC has played 7 games against opponents that are higher rated nationally (take this for what it’s worth) than WL’s toughest opponent. BC is 3-4 in those 7 games but the 4 losses are against teams ranked in the top 200 in the country. Sure, they got blown out by Cathedral and Christian Brothers scored a ton of points on them as well but those are 6A schools that are likely to play for their state championships.  

On any day any kid can have the best or worst game of their life. Cold can be a factor as some QB’s can’t throw as well in it and some kids don’t like to hit hard or be hit hard when they are cold. 

What I do see is that WL seems to have a very talented kid playing QB. BC has no “stars”. Can BC stop Mullins? If so, who does WL have to carry the load?  They seem to have a good RB but can he be “the guy”? BC’s QB has thrown for nearly 3,000 yards and 30 TDs (similar numbers to Mullins) but no receiver has over 800 yards or more than 10 TDs. Four kids have over 30 catches. They typically play 3 RBs during the course of a game. This weeks leading rusher had 150 yards on 19 carries and 4 TD’s. It seems that there is more for WL to worry about shutting down but, again, I only see what is on film for WL. What I do know is that few teams are able to sustain multiple drives against BC in any game. Their weakness is in giving up the big play. If they (and the weather) force WL to sustain drives to win this game then I do’t see WL achieving their goals. If they can pop 1-2 big plays then it’s a whole different ball game. 

If Temp knows what he is talking about, he has WL ranked just behind Brebeuf and Chatard beat Brebeuf pretty handily in the first game of the season at LOS (at least according to my eye test). 

My guess is that it will be decided by less than a TD. Either way, the winner will deserve their shot at the state title and likely be the favorite to win it.

Good luck to both teams and lets all get home with great memories and no injuries. And a BC victory would be nice.  

[Titan32]

Go WL!

[scarab527]

I'll take Chatard 28-21. 

[dazed and confused]

3 hours ago, foxbat said:

 

Going to be tied to keeping Mullis from running the ball on pass plays or going to the backside when there's sweep motion.  This is where WL kills you if you are able to stop other elements of their game.  And that offensive line doesn't typically get pushed straight back into the backfield on passes and that provides options for Mullis to escape ... if you try to go around the blockers, he slips into the slot and takes off.  If the line gets your rushers funneled into the middle, he takes off on the outside.  He averages 10 yards a carry and his lowest average, when running five or more times in a game is 6 yards a carry.  3rd and long is pretty much nothing to West Lafayette when you have a QB back there that can do that ... and that's what gets to most defenses ... you've got WL backed up, 3rd and long, and then Mullis gets out and the chains move and you now have to go another four downs with them.  Mullis keeps drives alive when they look dead.  Defenses can be great for four downs, but when you give a team 7 or 11 downs, especially a team like WL, that's like adding extra bullets to the chamber in Russian Roulette. 

 

[HHPatriots]

1 hour ago, Titan32 said:

Go WL!

Indeed, but if BC wins and then wins regional next year (both likely) they are out of 3A for at least a couple years, not the worst thing that could happen.

[Just a dad]

Went over to MaxPreps and looked at the rosters for both teams. WL only has 2 players listed above 230lbs (one is a massive 290+). Their DL look to be under 200 lbs and their safety's are about 150 lbs. How did they hold up in their first game (can’t find the film on yout*be)? Have they played anyone who has more size and has had success running on them? I’m sure that Roncalli’s line (or Cathedral’s or Elder’s) isn’t an even comparison and I know how BC did against those teams. Jut curious as to how well they handle thee running game. Thanks

[ragdoll]

3 hours ago, Just a dad said:

Went over to MaxPreps and looked at the rosters for both teams. WL only has 2 players listed above 230lbs (one is a massive 290+). Their DL look to be under 200 lbs and their safety's are about 150 lbs. How did they hold up in their first game (can’t find the film on yout*be)? Have they played anyone who has more size and has had success running on them? I’m sure that Roncalli’s line (or Cathedral’s or Elder’s) isn’t an even comparison and I know how BC did against those teams. Jut curious as to how well they handle thee running game. Thanks

Were Hanover Central and Knox just that small, weak and slow to be thrashed by WL or is some data off and/or missing?

[Bobref]

29 minutes ago, ragdoll said:

Were Hanover Central and Knox just that small, weak and slow to be thrashed by WL or is some data off and/or missing?

West Lafayette is just really good at football. Their coaching, play design, play calls, all really top notch.

[foxbat]

9 hours ago, Just a dad said:

Went over to MaxPreps and looked at the rosters for both teams. WL only has 2 players listed above 230lbs (one is a massive 290+). Their DL look to be under 200 lbs and their safety's are about 150 lbs. How did they hold up in their first game (can’t find the film on yout*be)? Have they played anyone who has more size and has had success running on them? I’m sure that Roncalli’s line (or Cathedral’s or Elder’s) isn’t an even comparison and I know how BC did against those teams. Jut curious as to how well they handle thee running game. Thanks

Harrison's front line was pretty good sized and Harrison had success going up the gut.  Fullback carried 11 times for an average of 5 yards a carry.  For some reason, Harrison moved to trying to get on the outsides with speed back and putting the ball in the air.  Resulted in a fumble and two picks.