Youth Football- HS and Younger (1 Viewer)

[Chadstroma]

Perhaps the coaches don't have faith in the 2nd strong to execute without making mental or physical mistakes? Risking a fumble or forgetting who has outside contain could cost them the game. Keeping in the players that were executing without errors but physically gassed might have been less risk.

Obviously the coach has his reason(s). Your guess is a good one but I find it hard to believe that no one on the team is close enough to the starter that a snap or two to get the starter a breather would collapse the entire team.

Using my son as an example, as I know one of the RB's very well and his abilities. Really, if you matched them up there is very little overall skill difference and it is more about what do you- a small, quick RB that is a little faster or a bigger one cut power runner. Or to replace the other RB who is same type of RB but bigger and slower. There is a lot of practice I don't see even though up to last week we were on the same field practicing but the couple of times I caught my son get a snap, he had long runs (really didn't see long runs from others), at the jamboree- the only time we effectively ran was with my son (caveat on that being that that was 2nd string against 2nd string) but the most important was twice I caught my son explaining the play or moving someone into the right place. I use my son as the example since obviously my attention is mostly on him so my observations are largely based around him.

Also, the starters are all 8th graders with one exception other than a couple of 7th graders on ST.

It is what it is. But man... we got lucky last night. If their kicker didn't shank the extra point and then later the FG which he had plenty of leg for.... it would have been a loss. If we they made that extra point and we went to OT, it would have been a loss. The more the game went on the more that they were dominating.

I just think you really got to find a way to get some subs in there. If you have almos the same 11 on the field the whole game like that, we are going to lose some winnable games for sure. I mean, on our munchkin team where we have 18 players total and played with 16 in our first game (one boy is still out with a broken arm he suffered before football and the other was sick) with some big difference in ability/skill/understanding and we still got most of the boys a breather.

This is the reason my son quit football in 10th grade.. They had 8 or 9 kids play both ways like your son's team did & lost every game that year. They were always winning or close in the 1st half then the kids got smoked in the 2nd.. Coach kept playing the same kids & they were all gassed.. It was really frustrating

It is hard. And it is always easier to coach from the stands. My son has been on both ends of this... last year in the championship game he was starting as RB and OLB (though moved around a little to WR and DE too) as well as all ST formations. He had over a 100 yard rushing in the game and they spelled him but every time they did the offense faltered and stopped. We lost 6-0. There is a huge preference to play upperclass players and not play underclass players for this and it makes sense as that one year difference can be huge. Our munchkin team, we don't have much of an option as we have a small team so the underclass players are getting plenty of playing time. The JV has 50 kids and I don't know if any underclass players played last night. Varsity has about 35ish with one player starting offense and defense from 7th grade and one player playing on a ST. The rest of the JV didn't play. If they don't figure out a way to get some subs in though, no doubt we are going to lose games late as the players have nothing left.

 

[nirad3]

Son's official first game (even though it's technically called a "scrimmage") is Saturday. They've been practicing hard. He's been getting time at end on defense and TE and tackle on offense. He actually got split out wide on a few plays the other night, and last night he ran a pretty deep route (for a TE) and made a great diving catch. He got on himself, though, saying he shouldn't have fallen and ran through instead. But it looked like a great catch.

 

[acarey50]

Game 2 in the books, and they won 24-0. We had some fumbling issues early on, luckily recovered all but one, but it looked shaky at first. But then our defense had a very strong stand stopping them on 4 downs in the red zone which hyped the team up. We beat them primarily with the ground game, with all 3 scores coming on the ground, including one where we bullied it in from the 2 yard line after our line got a huge push from the 7 to get us down to the 2. Definitely more of an old school grind it out game. We completed 3 or 4 passes, so up a little from the last game, but when the other team was not making any adjustments and was just sitting in a cover 3 while we were just running it on them, there was no need to pass. The one time they brough a couple guys up we caught them with a nice play action pass to my son for a nice 7-8 yard gain.



But, the more fun, exciting news is that my son was told today that he is one of 4 freshman being brought up to varsity for tomorrow's game. Zero expectation they actually get in the game, but the game is being played at SoFi, so they get to dress out with the team, travel with them and be on the field, etc. for the game. He's really excited even though he knows the only chance he sniffs the field is if it is a blow out.

 

[Chadstroma]

Game 2 in the books, and they won 24-0. We had some fumbling issues early on, luckily recovered all but one, but it looked shaky at first. But then our defense had a very strong stand stopping them on 4 downs in the red zone which hyped the team up. We beat them primarily with the ground game, with all 3 scores coming on the ground, including one where we bullied it in from the 2 yard line after our line got a huge push from the 7 to get us down to the 2. Definitely more of an old school grind it out game. We completed 3 or 4 passes, so up a little from the last game, but when the other team was not making any adjustments and was just sitting in a cover 3 while we were just running it on them, there was no need to pass. The one time they brough a couple guys up we caught them with a nice play action pass to my son for a nice 7-8 yard gain.



But, the more fun, exciting news is that my son was told today that he is one of 4 freshman being brought up to varsity for tomorrow's game. Zero expectation they actually get in the game, but the game is being played at SoFi, so they get to dress out with the team, travel with them and be on the field, etc. for the game. He's really excited even though he knows the only chance he sniffs the field is if it is a blow out.

That is cool experience for him! Good for him!

 

[Fantasy_Freak]

Tough game tonight for my son, their team plays the #3 ranked team in the state. Great experience for him to go head to head with talent. Their game tonight features some of the better junior class offensive line talent in the state in one game. The opponent has a set of twins, juniors, that have offers from 5 BigTen schools, they are ranked 4 and 5 for o-line in the state my son is at 13, a teammate at 21 and another around 30, all juniors. I told my son and his teammate play as if a coach is watching from one of the schools and make them regret picking those boys over yourselves.

Off to Purdue at 4 am for a game day visit against Ball State in the morning. Even though we have been to Purdue twice in the past year, I am doubting much delivers on this recruiting expedition. Good experience for my son and maybe something develops.

 

[acarey50]

I told my son and his teammate play as if a coach is watching

This is always great advice. My older nephew (who ended up choosing to play in the Ivy League) received a full offer from an ACC school very late in the recruiting cycle, largely because the coaches saw him in a few plays on the tape from another kid they were looking at. It truly is a case where you never know who is watching.

 

[Chadstroma]

I told my son and his teammate play as if a coach is watching

This is always great advice. My older nephew (who ended up choosing to play in the Ivy League) received a full offer from an ACC school very late in the recruiting cycle, largely because the coaches saw him in a few plays on the tape from another kid they were looking at. It truly is a case where you never know who is watching.

Yes, one of the big reasons why I am leaning towards one of the private schools that are consistently top programs over our local HS as there will be more eyes on the team from college coaches. Maxpreps has the school we are leaning towards now at 15 and that is the lowest I recall them over the last few years. Their schedule plays the 7th, 10th, 23rd, and 9th ranked schools in their first 4 games before playing teams not ranked in the top 25 to finish their regular season year (though two of those games are not 'easy' going against 27th and 37th ranked teams). Whether it is a teammate or looking at players of the opponent it is a higher level of exposure and as you said, you never know who is watching.

 

[acarey50]

I told my son and his teammate play as if a coach is watching

This is always great advice. My older nephew (who ended up choosing to play in the Ivy League) received a full offer from an ACC school very late in the recruiting cycle, largely because the coaches saw him in a few plays on the tape from another kid they were looking at. It truly is a case where you never know who is watching.

Yes, one of the big reasons why I am leaning towards one of the private schools that are consistently top programs over our local HS as there will be more eyes on the team from college coaches. Maxpreps has the school we are leaning towards now at 15 and that is the lowest I recall them over the last few years. Their schedule plays the 7th, 10th, 23rd, and 9th ranked schools in their first 4 games before playing teams not ranked in the top 25 to finish their regular season year (though two of those games are not 'easy' going against 27th and 37th ranked teams). Whether it is a teammate or looking at players of the opponent it is a higher level of exposure and as you said, you never know who is watching.

The caveat to that is that you also need to be on the field to be seen. Have to consider if it is more advantageous to be one of the better players at a slightly lower level team, but in a position to showcase your ability and build up plenty of game film for coaches to see, or go to a bigger program where you may not sniff the field until your junior or senior season, and even then, the school will be looking to recruit over you if they can.

And of course you have to consider the academics of the high schools, and I'd also say the social aspects, such as where friends are going to school. All three are important aspects to the entire high school experience.

And to be clear, this is generic advice that everyone should be considering if they have a student athlete with aspirations of playing in college (regardless of sport), and you live in an area with multiple options for high school. Just went through this decision making process with our youngest, as he was the only one where we really entertained the option of enrolling in a high school other than our local public high school.

 

[Chadstroma]

I told my son and his teammate play as if a coach is watching

This is always great advice. My older nephew (who ended up choosing to play in the Ivy League) received a full offer from an ACC school very late in the recruiting cycle, largely because the coaches saw him in a few plays on the tape from another kid they were looking at. It truly is a case where you never know who is watching.

Yes, one of the big reasons why I am leaning towards one of the private schools that are consistently top programs over our local HS as there will be more eyes on the team from college coaches. Maxpreps has the school we are leaning towards now at 15 and that is the lowest I recall them over the last few years. Their schedule plays the 7th, 10th, 23rd, and 9th ranked schools in their first 4 games before playing teams not ranked in the top 25 to finish their regular season year (though two of those games are not 'easy' going against 27th and 37th ranked teams). Whether it is a teammate or looking at players of the opponent it is a higher level of exposure and as you said, you never know who is watching.

The caveat to that is that you also need to be on the field to be seen. Have to consider if it is more advantageous to be one of the better players at a slightly lower level team, but in a position to showcase your ability and build up plenty of game film for coaches to see, or go to a bigger program where you may not sniff the field until your junior or senior season, and even then, the school will be looking to recruit over you if they can.

And of course you have to consider the academics of the high schools, and I'd also say the social aspects, such as where friends are going to school. All three are important aspects to the entire high school experience.

And to be clear, this is generic advice that everyone should be considering if they have a student athlete with aspirations of playing in college (regardless of sport), and you live in an area with multiple options for high school. Just went through this decision making process with our youngest, as he was the only one where we really entertained the option of enrolling in a high school other than our local public high school.

Yea, I got you. A lot of factors to consider. We are lucky first because we have a ton of options. The local public HS is a good school that my daughter is going there as a freshman along with my niece and my nephew is a senior there as well. The football program isn't bad for sure. They have two 3 stars on the team, a senior going to Indiana and a junior committed to WV. The JV and Varsity teams both beat the crap out of their cross town rival last night (went to the football game last night to see my nephew though he didn't get in the game). We have numerous good Catholic HS within commuting distance though my son does not want to go to an all boys school... plus, the jamboree was at Mt. Carmel which we went through one of the lesser areas of the Chicago area to get to... I could tell he was nervous. After that, he is 100% not interested in going even though he wasn't really interested to begin with. It also take out Brother Rice which also has a good football program as they are both all boys schools.

For the school I am leaning towards for him it is THE school he wants to go to. Many of the Catholic HS programs were at the jamboree. Pretty much all the top programs in the South/Soutwest of Chicago. Afterwards, each school is giving out tshirts. Most boys got shirts from more than one school. My son only went to this school. I saw some other boys get one of each of the colors from the school and asked if he got both- he said he assumed he couldn't. I told him "they are much more happy to give you an extra shirt and have you interested in going to the school than not giving two shirts" so he went back and got the other one. A significant portion of the kids form his school tend to go to this HS and many of the boys in his class are expecting to go there. Academics wise it is not the best private school in the area but it is up there for sure and over the public HS even though that is still considered a very good school.

As for playing time, obviously it will be more competitive being a higher ranked team and most likely he would get more opportunities at a lesser program. Obviously, it is super early to say but the Catholic league that my son is in is where the school (along with all the other Catholic HS's in the area) gets the bulk of their kids from and for his grade my son is one of the best in the league. On top of that, I spoke with the HC early summer and he knew exactly who my son was and in his words was "impressed" and his thing was he wanted to make sure that he got coached up by his staff at their camps etc. He definitely wanted my son to take a visit and be their guest on gameday this season (which I have to reach back out and arrange). So, as much as you can tell for 7th grade in terms of playing time at the school- it looks like he could make his way there. Of course, more time would be available going to the public school time so I get that point for sure.

There are two things that are big negatives for the school in my eyes. First, unless my son puts more time into basketball, I don't think he will make it past freshman team. This school also does not have a boys swim team. For swim, the easy alternative would be for him to swim for a club team. For basketball, it would most likely mean the end of his playing days outside pick up. Then again, if he spent more time on basketball then I do think he could make the team though it certainly would be more of a bench/role player than star. He likely would have more of a playing roll at the local HS though for basketball and they do have a swim team.

We got basically a year plus to really figure it out.

 

[Fantasy_Freak]

Well, we lost a tough one, my sons team hung with the umber 3 team in the state. Unfortunately, QB play did us in with 4 interceptions, lost 20-12. My son and the line had a very good game, rushed for 250 yards. The team ripped off some big yards behind the holes the offensive lines was giving them.

Saturday brought my son and his teammate to a gameday visit to Purdue. We had a great time. I can see where my son stands based on the interaction with coaches. A lot of the coaches spent time with the recruits they already have offers with, which is totally understandable. I am not sure how much my son is in their vision as far as a recruit, but totally appreciate how they spent the time and energy with the boys Saturday. I came away highly impressed with the team, they are going to make some noise in the the BigTen.

This Friday my sons team plays the #4 team in the state, another difficult game. More than likely this team will not respect our passing game and will put several in the box to stop the run. This could be a very difficult game for my son and his line mates trying to run through a clogged mess. Saturday morning he and I travel to Minnesota State for a gameday visit. This school has made my son an offer already so this will give him an opportunity to see the gameday experience. I will hopefully get to meet a coach or two. Looking forward to this saturday.

 

[Kuz]

Well, we lost a tough one, my sons team hung with the umber 3 team in the state. Unfortunately, QB play did us in with 4 interceptions, lost 20-12. My son and the line had a very good game, rushed for 250 yards. The team ripped off some big yards behind the holes the offensive lines was giving them.

Saturday brought my son and his teammate to a gameday visit to Purdue. We had a great time. I can see where my son stands based on the interaction with coaches. A lot of the coaches spent time with the recruits they already have offers with, which is totally understandable. I am not sure how much my son is in their vision as far as a recruit, but totally appreciate how they spent the time and energy with the boys Saturday. I came away highly impressed with the team, they are going to make some noise in the the BigTen.

This Friday my sons team plays the #4 team in the state, another difficult game. More than likely this team will not respect our passing game and will put several in the box to stop the run. This could be a very difficult game for my son and his line mates trying to run through a clogged mess. Saturday morning he and I travel to Minnesota State for a gameday visit. This school has made my son an offer already so this will give him an opportunity to see the gameday experience. I will hopefully get to meet a coach or two. Looking forward to this saturday.

Enjoy Mankato...

 

[Chadstroma]

Scrimmage today with the munchkins.

It wasn't pretty. We got beat in every aspect of the scrimmage. It was raining and the kids looked lethargic, no violence of action or explosiveness across the board. They were playing upright on both offense and defense, not blocking on offense or getting off blocks and penetrating on defense. The team were scrimmaging were a better team that the other team we scrimmaged and the team we played with some size but we didn't play anywhere near as well as we have been. Practice yesterday was similar. The boys seemed to come back from the three day weekend and just didn't have any interest in being there. Better to get their butts kicked in a scrimmage than a real game.

One thing that I am not getting but it is the one thing I really don't want to inject myself into much is that my son is the starting QB but in both scrimmages, the HC which is also the OC has played the second string QB in more snaps. In the game we played, it was about 50/50 time. I have voiced in the past that we should 'protect the time between the starting QB and C' as a way to improve the snap as that has been an issue getting consistent good snaps off. It isn't like the second string QB is playing better either. Each have their positives and negatives. One negative is the second string is a 3rd grader and smaller sized boy. He has really small hands and it was very evident that he should not be playing QB with a wet ball like we had.... he dropped the ball running without being hit, dropped the ball when he went back to pass, and has several muffed snaps (but my son had some too). I put my son in at Tackle because he is the best overall skilled player that can play decently well wherever you put him and shouldn't be on the sidelines much considering how little of a roster we have and so many of the boys still learning. The best play I saw, not because I was the father but as a coach, was the very last play. My son is at right tackle. The TE goes in motion to the other side. He has a DE lined up in front of him and a OLB outside of him. Snap goes, he hits the DE and then shuffles out quickly and hit the OLB as he was moving in. It was a HS level play for pass protection and the best blocking I have seen in the last several years at this level. I asked if the HC saw it and he said he didn't, I explained what happened and he immediately asked if he wanted to play tackle (which I know my son doesn't want to do). The second string QB is faster than my son but there are a ton of negatives... overall not understanding the game, a lot of broken plays, doesn't apply things he was told (practice yesterday, he kept doing a 360 to hand off and did it twice after being told what to do). Again, I have kept myself out of the conversation which is why I don't understand his thinking. If it was any two other boys, I would be more vocal and solicit their thinking but I really don't want to look like 'Daddy ball' so I focus on the line. Now, we are playing this team later in the season so we focused on moving kids in and out and trying different positions rather than really aiming to win the scrimmage but this was more of the continuation of the trend than it was abnormal so it is still a little confusing to me.

 

[Instinctive]

Scrimmage today with the munchkins.

It wasn't pretty. We got beat in every aspect of the scrimmage. It was raining and the kids looked lethargic, no violence of action or explosiveness across the board. They were playing upright on both offense and defense, not blocking on offense or getting off blocks and penetrating on defense. The team were scrimmaging were a better team that the other team we scrimmaged and the team we played with some size but we didn't play anywhere near as well as we have been. Practice yesterday was similar. The boys seemed to come back from the three day weekend and just didn't have any interest in being there. Better to get their butts kicked in a scrimmage than a real game.

One thing that I am not getting but it is the one thing I really don't want to inject myself into much is that my son is the starting QB but in both scrimmages, the HC which is also the OC has played the second string QB in more snaps. In the game we played, it was about 50/50 time. I have voiced in the past that we should 'protect the time between the starting QB and C' as a way to improve the snap as that has been an issue getting consistent good snaps off. It isn't like the second string QB is playing better either. Each have their positives and negatives. One negative is the second string is a 3rd grader and smaller sized boy. He has really small hands and it was very evident that he should not be playing QB with a wet ball like we had.... he dropped the ball running without being hit, dropped the ball when he went back to pass, and has several muffed snaps (but my son had some too). I put my son in at Tackle because he is the best overall skilled player that can play decently well wherever you put him and shouldn't be on the sidelines much considering how little of a roster we have and so many of the boys still learning. The best play I saw, not because I was the father but as a coach, was the very last play. My son is at right tackle. The TE goes in motion to the other side. He has a DE lined up in front of him and a OLB outside of him. Snap goes, he hits the DE and then shuffles out quickly and hit the OLB as he was moving in. It was a HS level play for pass protection and the best blocking I have seen in the last several years at this level. I asked if the HC saw it and he said he didn't, I explained what happened and he immediately asked if he wanted to play tackle (which I know my son doesn't want to do). The second string QB is faster than my son but there are a ton of negatives... overall not understanding the game, a lot of broken plays, doesn't apply things he was told (practice yesterday, he kept doing a 360 to hand off and did it twice after being told what to do). Again, I have kept myself out of the conversation which is why I don't understand his thinking. If it was any two other boys, I would be more vocal and solicit their thinking but I really don't want to look like 'Daddy ball' so I focus on the line. Now, we are playing this team later in the season so we focused on moving kids in and out and trying different positions rather than really aiming to win the scrimmage but this was more of the continuation of the trend than it was abnormal so it is still a little confusing to me.

At a certain point, it's worth a "I know I'm his dad but thought I'd share. Been trying to stay out of it." And then move on.

 

[acarey50]

Game 3 in the books, a 35-14 win. Very balanced attack, but all set up by a dominating ground game early on. First drive was really good, with lots of room to run behind strong OL play, hitting a couple open passes, and culminating in a 10 yard TD catch for my son where he caught it in the flats off a bootleg, shed/trucked the first tackler and then into the endzone. We ended up scoring 2 rushing TDs, 2 passing TDs and had a punt return for a TD.

Defensively had some great stands, including a clutch 4th down stop by my son where he got through the line and made a huge hit (by freshman football standards) on the RB to get the turnover on downs.

All in all it was a very good all around game for the team and good that everyone got to get in for a few plays.

 

[Chadstroma]

Not a good day for Wildcat football (school mascot)

Little guys got beat 14-0. My son was getting smeared at QB with the Oline just letting penetration in all day long. Our starting WR/backup QB got stepped on or something in his leg and said he could not run. We pulled my son from defense as we couldn't risk him getting banged up on defense but there was a play he got hit and hurt enough he needed to come out a couple of plays so our third string emergency QB went in and promptly muffed two snaps. My son went 4-6 in passing and managed to not fumble the ball when getting hit except for once where he was able to reach out and grab the ball at the last second before they recovered. Defensively they stiffened up later in the game. Not pretty.

Our JV got spanked. And Varsity kept up the trend. My son was in on kickoff return teams so he got some action. Laid out one kid straight on his back in one play. Put some good licks in on a couple of kids who were bigger than him. Later in the game, he did get a series at RB and it happened to be the only offensive series that we got something going before we threw an INT in the red zone. He got a couple of carries but had a defender or two right on top of him when he got the ball. Stayed in when they went to second teams at RB where they were passing pretty much every down.

It was a team expected to be a good team but still doesn't make it feel better.

Next week the little ones have a bye. Varsity plays Sat.

 

[Chadstroma]

Not a good day for Wildcat football (school mascot)

Little guys got beat 14-0. My son was getting smeared at QB with the Oline just letting penetration in all day long. Our starting WR/backup QB got stepped on or something in his leg and said he could not run. We pulled my son from defense as we couldn't risk him getting banged up on defense but there was a play he got hit and hurt enough he needed to come out a couple of plays so our third string emergency QB went in and promptly muffed two snaps. My son went 4-6 in passing and managed to not fumble the ball when getting hit except for once where he was able to reach out and grab the ball at the last second before they recovered. Defensively they stiffened up later in the game. Not pretty.

Our JV got spanked. And Varsity kept up the trend. My son was in on kickoff return teams so he got some action. Laid out one kid straight on his back in one play. Put some good licks in on a couple of kids who were bigger than him. Later in the game, he did get a series at RB and it happened to be the only offensive series that we got something going before we threw an INT in the red zone. He got a couple of carries but had a defender or two right on top of him when he got the ball. Stayed in when they went to second teams at RB where they were passing pretty much every down.

It was a team expected to be a good team but still doesn't make it feel better.

Next week the little ones have a bye. Varsity plays Sat.

Looking at the video he actually had two pancakes total on kickoffs.

 

[acarey50]

Game 4 in the books last night - 42-8 victory, good game for us in that we were able to get everyone into the game for more than just a series or two - backups and deeper guys played part of the 3rd quarter and the entire 4th quarter.

For my son, a fairly solid showing on both sides of the field. Offensively he ended with 3 catches for I'd guess about 25 yards and a TD, but more importantly he had several big blocks on a couple of our TD runs. The TD came from about 10 yards out - he ran the short out with the QB rolling out with him, caught it around the 8 yard line or so and was able to power through a would be tackler to get the TD. It was almost the exact same route he score on the week before.

Defensively also solid, a few tackles and his first high school interception. The INT came on the other teams first play after he had scored his TD, so was amped to have big back to back plays, and put us in a position to get up two scores early in the game and not look back.

Hope all of your kids have good games this weekend

 

[Chadstroma]

Munchkins off.

Varsity had an ugly game. Ended up 30 something to zero. It is a good team and expected to be a tough game. Like it has been in the past when my boys group is the underclassman, they just don't have much up front on the lines and it is hard to win games when you can't block on offense and can't get penetration on defense.

Interesting developments for my son though. After the first offensive series my son went in at RB and stayed there except for a couple of snaps where he ended up with a bloody nose after getting hit in the face mask to smash it against him.

He started off with a nice 8 yard run and a pitch that as soon as he got it he had a defender on him and lost a few yards over the next three series that ended in punts and an INT. They were up 21-0 by this point and then on defense he went in at safety where they typically play one deep. I found that interesting as I never saw him practice at safety but I don't see much if his practices as I am coaching the munchkins so after I asked him if he had practiced at safety and he said he had not. This was about the same time that second strings were put in for both teams and it became more of a game.

He has another carry that looked like was supposed to be up the middle but there was a wall, he bounced it outside but wasn't able to turn the corner and lost about a yard. The next play he got the carry was 4th and 11 and he picked up about 13 for the 1st down. The next play was a bad pitch to him that fell over a yard short of getting to him. The other team recovered.

On defense they went 4 and out without any action from him as they didn't get past the line of scrimmage.

He then had his first ever punt return. It wasn't much to write about as pretty much as soon as he caught it they were on top of him.

They then went to shotgun (first time this year) with each back flanking the QB. The first snap was so bad that it almost went over the head of my son! He reached out and made a one handed grab to snag it and then tried to recover and run but only got up a little bit before getting hit for a loss of about a yard. It really saved the play even with a loss but that was seriously the worse snap I have ever seen in my life. I had to ask him if that was supposed to be a direct snap to him and he said no. I asked him who was at center and he laughed and said "Alex, but he isn't very good with shotgun snaps" They are buddies so it was more of laughing with him that at him kind of laugh even though Alex wasn't there. He had one more carry with an 8 yard run.

Overall, when he had half a chance to do something with the ball he did well. It looks like he is moving himself back into perhaps first string and it really seems like the coach is trusting him more and more with even putting him in a position he hasn't practiced at and replacing the RB after the first series for the rest of the game other than his nose bleed getting everywhere as well as putting him in at punt return.

 

[Andrew74]

Perhaps the coaches don't have faith in the 2nd strong to execute without making mental or physical mistakes? Risking a fumble or forgetting who has outside contain could cost them the game. Keeping in the players that were executing without errors but physically gassed might have been less risk.

Obviously the coach has his reason(s). Your guess is a good one but I find it hard to believe that no one on the team is close enough to the starter that a snap or two to get the starter a breather would collapse the entire team.

Using my son as an example, as I know one of the RB's very well and his abilities. Really, if you matched them up there is very little overall skill difference and it is more about what do you- a small, quick RB that is a little faster or a bigger one cut power runner. Or to replace the other RB who is same type of RB but bigger and slower. There is a lot of practice I don't see even though up to last week we were on the same field practicing but the couple of times I caught my son get a snap, he had long runs (really didn't see long runs from others), at the jamboree- the only time we effectively ran was with my son (caveat on that being that that was 2nd string against 2nd string) but the most important was twice I caught my son explaining the play or moving someone into the right place. I use my son as the example since obviously my attention is mostly on him so my observations are largely based around him.

Also, the starters are all 8th graders with one exception other than a couple of 7th graders on ST.

It is what it is. But man... we got lucky last night. If their kicker didn't shank the extra point and then later the FG which he had plenty of leg for.... it would have been a loss. If we they made that extra point and we went to OT, it would have been a loss. The more the game went on the more that they were dominating.

I just think you really got to find a way to get some subs in there. If you have almos the same 11 on the field the whole game like that, we are going to lose some winnable games for sure. I mean, on our munchkin team where we have 18 players total and played with 16 in our first game (one boy is still out with a broken arm he suffered before football and the other was sick) with some big difference in ability/skill/understanding and we still got most of the boys a breather.

This is the reason my son quit football in 10th grade.. They had 8 or 9 kids play both ways like your son's team did & lost every game that year. They were always winning or close in the 1st half then the kids got smoked in the 2nd.. Coach kept playing the same kids & they were all gassed.. It was really frustrating

I’ve been out of this thread for a while and glad to see everyone’s seasons are going well.

But I feel this post. My son is in 9th grade and hasn’t hit puberty yet so he’s one of the smallest kids. So the coaches barely put him on the field at SS in games even though he’s second string and gets lots of practice snaps. The starter is a good athlete but is lazy and makes 3-4 boneheaded plays every game. He gets pulled eventually but the coaches put in a different kid who’s not that great but a “regular sized” kid. He gave up 2 TDs last week. The two-way players isn’t as bad as middle school this year though so there’s that.

My son has accepted the reality that they aren’t going to play him. I’d buy any concerns about player safety if he wasn’t on the kickoff team running full speed into collisions.

After the team losing 35-0 last week and him getting 0 snaps, he did get to play the first series with the starters this week. The starter at SS was lazy and late to practices this week. He had a tackle and an assist in 6 snaps.

I’m resigned to the inevitability that this is probably the last season of football. My son said he wasn’t sure he wanted to commit to the time for football (I’ll grant it is a time commitment). He said playing time wasn’t a factor, but he was pissed after last week. I know he’s frustrated.

I guess I will need to learn how rugby actually works since he’ll play 15s in spring and 7s in the fall if he hangs up the helmet and pads. It’s probably more sad for me since he loves rugby and it’s his favorite sport.

 

[Chadstroma]

But I feel this post. My son is in 9th grade and hasn’t hit puberty yet so he’s one of the smallest kids. So the coaches barely put him on the field at SS in games even though he’s second string and gets lots of practice snaps. The starter is a good athlete but is lazy and makes 3-4 boneheaded plays every game. He gets pulled eventually but the coaches put in a different kid who’s not that great but a “regular sized” kid. He gave up 2 TDs last week. The two-way players isn’t as bad as middle school this year though so there’s that.

My son has accepted the reality that they aren’t going to play him. I’d buy any concerns about player safety if he wasn’t on the kickoff team running full speed into collisions.

After the team losing 35-0 last week and him getting 0 snaps, he did get to play the first series with the starters this week. The starter at SS was lazy and late to practices this week. He had a tackle and an assist in 6 snaps.

I’m resigned to the inevitability that this is probably the last season of football. My son said he wasn’t sure he wanted to commit to the time for football (I’ll grant it is a time commitment). He said playing time wasn’t a factor, but he was pissed after last week. I know he’s frustrated.

I guess I will need to learn how rugby actually works since he’ll play 15s in spring and 7s in the fall if he hangs up the helmet and pads. It’s probably more sad for me since he loves rugby and it’s his favorite sport.

Football is obviously a rough sport and one that you really have to enjoy to keep at it and even more so if you investing time and work then not getting much playing time.

My daughter hasn't really had to deal with a situation like this in volleyball and basketball on her teams and neither has my younger son yet but he is really just getting going.

My older son has a little bit with football as I have mentioned the teams are grouped together by two grades. The underclassmen tend to not get a lot of playing time but two years ago, it was bad where for most of the first part of the year the only game time my son got was when they did a "5th quarter" where both teams agree to extra playing time either before or after the 'real' game to play the kids that don't usually get a lot of time. Around mid season he started getting increasing snaps at MLB to the season finale where he took over the job from the upperclassman completely (and had his first sack of his football career).

Last year, he was a star player and clearly the second best player on the team playing majority of snaps on offense, defense and special teams.

This year, the first game he didn't get a single snap in. Game two he got some snaps with first team and stayed in when they put second strings in (again really underclassmen) and then a massive jump in snaps this last game.

Coaches are human of course. They have their own bias and hang ups etc. One of the players on the team that has been starting on offense and defense is a good player. He is the same grade as my son and I would say the third best player last year though there was a clear separation between my son and him in ability to impact the game. I do wonder if he has got a jump this season because he has two older brothers that have been on varsity for the last 4 years (two years each back to back) and both were stars with the last one that just graduated to 9th grade being a superstar. I can easily see how there is an expectation that the youngest brother would be the same... and he is a good player for sure but I think the last name has helped him. I kept that opinion to myself as I avoid anything critical of the coaches in general with my kids sports, even if I strongly disagree with choices, never mind the fact that they are highly respected by some of the best HS football programs and clearly have more experience and knowledge than I do. But I have had two parents say basically the same thing to me when talking (I let them vent and usually try to share what I see the coaches are trying to do or think etc).

I don't make my kids do any sports and so far none have wanted to quit a sport. The only sport dropped so far was my daughter with flag football but that was because in HS it was a choice of that or volleyball and vball is her primary sport so it wasn't much of a choice for her. There are a lot of reasons to dropping a sport, some good and some not so good and some it is just time. Tons of kids drop sports after their freshmen year. I talked to my nephew (senior this year) about it as he is in the middle of his football season. In high school, focusing on one sport is totally a valid reason for dropping a sport(s). It sounds like it isn't a total decision made but if he does... good luck to him on it!

 

[nirad3]

Son's first "official" game was this past Saturday. They played a much more talented team with much larger kids, and the score reflected that. They just couldn't move the ball on them, and got stung by a few big plays. My son did get in on a couple of tackles. He actually was one of four kids that needed the training staff to come out after getting hurt. He got kicked or stepped on right on the hip bone but ended up being OK and only sat out one series. He's really enjoying himself and being on the team is going to be great for his character and health moving forward as he approaches high school!

 

[Chadstroma]

Picked my son up from practice just now. I asked him how practice went and he said the standard "good" and then after a pause said "we did two laps today and I was 2nd. Jimmy beat me" two laps is two full laps around the boundaries of the football field. Jimmy is a cross country stud. He placed at state and I think he holds the school record for the 2 mile. I praised him on that and tried to reinforce how that hard work pays off in both the coaches noticing and improving as a player.

I then confirmed that today was an offensive practice day and he said yes so I asked him if he got a lot of snaps today and he said yes. I then asked if he was practicing with 1st string and he said yes. I also asked him if he had ever practiced at punt returner before being put in last game and he said no. I told him that the coach must really trust him now putting him in at safety and then punt returner without ever practicing at either spots before.

It seems like something triggered with the coach this last game that has moved my son up. I am interested to see how he is used this Saturday (which is our homecoming game).

 

[Fantasy_Freak]

Well, been away for a bit, two weeks ago we lost to the #4 team in the state, they are a machine and will likely be in the top 2 by the end of the season. We lost pretty convincingly, again QB play was a struggle, played 3 QB's and had a few turnovers. My son did pretty good, I believe he faced 5-6 different players at D-end by the end of the game, he held his own. I could tell it was pretty demoralizing to the boys after the game, I think they hoped for more, just couldn't get it done. The following morning my son and I drove to Mankato for a visit, my son really enjoyed himself. Spoke with all the coaches and several players. O-line coach told my son the coaches are big fans of his and he is invited any time he wants to visit. Only college grass field we have been at,

Last week we played one of the lower teams in the league won pretty handily, really helped the morale of the boys and coaches. The right guard got injured early in the game (ankle sprain), so the back-up who is a freshman played next to my son. My son and him worked together, great experience for the kid. The coaches finalized on a QB which I believe will help immensely.

This Friday we play another lower talent team we should beat. Then early Saturday morning my son and I head to Oxford, Ohio for a gameday visit at Miami of Ohio who plays UNLV. The invite came titled as an Elite Invite, which apparently means they are inviting their more focused recruits. It looks like only certain recruits are invited to this game, which hopefully allows my son to speak with coaches. Last year we went to Miami of Ohio, my son and his teammate really liked campus and everything about the school.

My son has also received a few more MAC invites this past week, so we will see where we end up going.

 

[The Z Machine]

Well, been away for a bit, two weeks ago we lost to the #4 team in the state, they are a machine and will likely be in the top 2 by the end of the season. We lost pretty convincingly, again QB play was a struggle, played 3 QB's and had a few turnovers. My son did pretty good, I believe he faced 5-6 different players at D-end by the end of the game, he held his own. I could tell it was pretty demoralizing to the boys after the game, I think they hoped for more, just couldn't get it done. The following morning my son and I drove to Mankato for a visit, my son really enjoyed himself. Spoke with all the coaches and several players. O-line coach told my son the coaches are big fans of his and he is invited any time he wants to visit. Only college grass field we have been at,

Last week we played one of the lower teams in the league won pretty handily, really helped the morale of the boys and coaches. The right guard got injured early in the game (ankle sprain), so the back-up who is a freshman played next to my son. My son and him worked together, great experience for the kid. The coaches finalized on a QB which I believe will help immensely.

This Friday we play another lower talent team we should beat. Then early Saturday morning my son and I head to Oxford, Ohio for a gameday visit at Miami of Ohio who plays UNLV. The invite came titled as an Elite Invite, which apparently means they are inviting their more focused recruits. It looks like only certain recruits are invited to this game, which hopefully allows my son to speak with coaches. Last year we went to Miami of Ohio, my son and his teammate really liked campus and everything about the school.

My son has also received a few more MAC invites this past week, so we will see where we end up going.

Thanks for updating us. I had been wondering about your son and how he was doing.

That must have been an amazing experience for the freshman guard. Pretty rare for a freshman to play on the O-line at any decent sized school. Usually they are way too undersized and inexperienced to not be a huge liability. If your son could protect the QB from the DT trying to blow up the RG and the DE coming off the edge, then that's a pretty amazing showing. Not sure if the opposition had a lack of talent, but I would have been blitzing and scheming against the freshman RG all game.

 

[Fantasy_Freak]

Well, been away for a bit, two weeks ago we lost to the #4 team in the state, they are a machine and will likely be in the top 2 by the end of the season. We lost pretty convincingly, again QB play was a struggle, played 3 QB's and had a few turnovers. My son did pretty good, I believe he faced 5-6 different players at D-end by the end of the game, he held his own. I could tell it was pretty demoralizing to the boys after the game, I think they hoped for more, just couldn't get it done. The following morning my son and I drove to Mankato for a visit, my son really enjoyed himself. Spoke with all the coaches and several players. O-line coach told my son the coaches are big fans of his and he is invited any time he wants to visit. Only college grass field we have been at,

Last week we played one of the lower teams in the league won pretty handily, really helped the morale of the boys and coaches. The right guard got injured early in the game (ankle sprain), so the back-up who is a freshman played next to my son. My son and him worked together, great experience for the kid. The coaches finalized on a QB which I believe will help immensely.

This Friday we play another lower talent team we should beat. Then early Saturday morning my son and I head to Oxford, Ohio for a gameday visit at Miami of Ohio who plays UNLV. The invite came titled as an Elite Invite, which apparently means they are inviting their more focused recruits. It looks like only certain recruits are invited to this game, which hopefully allows my son to speak with coaches. Last year we went to Miami of Ohio, my son and his teammate really liked campus and everything about the school.

My son has also received a few more MAC invites this past week, so we will see where we end up going.

Thanks for updating us. I had been wondering about your son and how he was doing.

That must have been an amazing experience for the freshman guard. Pretty rare for a freshman to play on the O-line at any decent sized school. Usually they are way too undersized and inexperienced to not be a huge liability. If your son could protect the QB from the DT trying to blow up the RG and the DE coming off the edge, then that's a pretty amazing showing. Not sure if the opposition had a lack of talent, but I would have been blitzing and scheming against the freshman RG all game.

Yea, the talent was not there for our opponent, but he was going against some sizable players, great experience for the kid to play under the lights and in front of your school. My son informed me this week the freshman is playing again, this game is also against a lower talented team but it will be a great experience.

 

[Chadstroma]

Well, been away for a bit, two weeks ago we lost to the #4 team in the state, they are a machine and will likely be in the top 2 by the end of the season. We lost pretty convincingly, again QB play was a struggle, played 3 QB's and had a few turnovers. My son did pretty good, I believe he faced 5-6 different players at D-end by the end of the game, he held his own. I could tell it was pretty demoralizing to the boys after the game, I think they hoped for more, just couldn't get it done. The following morning my son and I drove to Mankato for a visit, my son really enjoyed himself. Spoke with all the coaches and several players. O-line coach told my son the coaches are big fans of his and he is invited any time he wants to visit. Only college grass field we have been at,

Last week we played one of the lower teams in the league won pretty handily, really helped the morale of the boys and coaches. The right guard got injured early in the game (ankle sprain), so the back-up who is a freshman played next to my son. My son and him worked together, great experience for the kid. The coaches finalized on a QB which I believe will help immensely.

This Friday we play another lower talent team we should beat. Then early Saturday morning my son and I head to Oxford, Ohio for a gameday visit at Miami of Ohio who plays UNLV. The invite came titled as an Elite Invite, which apparently means they are inviting their more focused recruits. It looks like only certain recruits are invited to this game, which hopefully allows my son to speak with coaches. Last year we went to Miami of Ohio, my son and his teammate really liked campus and everything about the school.

My son has also received a few more MAC invites this past week, so we will see where we end up going.

Thanks for updating us. I had been wondering about your son and how he was doing.

That must have been an amazing experience for the freshman guard. Pretty rare for a freshman to play on the O-line at any decent sized school. Usually they are way too undersized and inexperienced to not be a huge liability. If your son could protect the QB from the DT trying to blow up the RG and the DE coming off the edge, then that's a pretty amazing showing. Not sure if the opposition had a lack of talent, but I would have been blitzing and scheming against the freshman RG all game.

Yea, the talent was not there for our opponent, but he was going against some sizable players, great experience for the kid to play under the lights and in front of your school. My son informed me this week the freshman is playing again, this game is also against a lower talented team but it will be a great experience.

I am guessing that means your son is on an island for every snap of the game now.

 

[Fantasy_Freak]

Well, been away for a bit, two weeks ago we lost to the #4 team in the state, they are a machine and will likely be in the top 2 by the end of the season. We lost pretty convincingly, again QB play was a struggle, played 3 QB's and had a few turnovers. My son did pretty good, I believe he faced 5-6 different players at D-end by the end of the game, he held his own. I could tell it was pretty demoralizing to the boys after the game, I think they hoped for more, just couldn't get it done. The following morning my son and I drove to Mankato for a visit, my son really enjoyed himself. Spoke with all the coaches and several players. O-line coach told my son the coaches are big fans of his and he is invited any time he wants to visit. Only college grass field we have been at,

Last week we played one of the lower teams in the league won pretty handily, really helped the morale of the boys and coaches. The right guard got injured early in the game (ankle sprain), so the back-up who is a freshman played next to my son. My son and him worked together, great experience for the kid. The coaches finalized on a QB which I believe will help immensely.

This Friday we play another lower talent team we should beat. Then early Saturday morning my son and I head to Oxford, Ohio for a gameday visit at Miami of Ohio who plays UNLV. The invite came titled as an Elite Invite, which apparently means they are inviting their more focused recruits. It looks like only certain recruits are invited to this game, which hopefully allows my son to speak with coaches. Last year we went to Miami of Ohio, my son and his teammate really liked campus and everything about the school.

My son has also received a few more MAC invites this past week, so we will see where we end up going.

Thanks for updating us. I had been wondering about your son and how he was doing.

That must have been an amazing experience for the freshman guard. Pretty rare for a freshman to play on the O-line at any decent sized school. Usually they are way too undersized and inexperienced to not be a huge liability. If your son could protect the QB from the DT trying to blow up the RG and the DE coming off the edge, then that's a pretty amazing showing. Not sure if the opposition had a lack of talent, but I would have been blitzing and scheming against the freshman RG all game.

Yea, the talent was not there for our opponent, but he was going against some sizable players, great experience for the kid to play under the lights and in front of your school. My son informed me this week the freshman is playing again, this game is also against a lower talented team but it will be a great experience.

I am guessing that means your son is on an island for every snap of the game now.

Kind of, but because of the talent level, he could help out. Plus the kid struggled with the play calls and my son helped him out. Good learning experience for both.

 

[Chadstroma]

Well, been away for a bit, two weeks ago we lost to the #4 team in the state, they are a machine and will likely be in the top 2 by the end of the season. We lost pretty convincingly, again QB play was a struggle, played 3 QB's and had a few turnovers. My son did pretty good, I believe he faced 5-6 different players at D-end by the end of the game, he held his own. I could tell it was pretty demoralizing to the boys after the game, I think they hoped for more, just couldn't get it done. The following morning my son and I drove to Mankato for a visit, my son really enjoyed himself. Spoke with all the coaches and several players. O-line coach told my son the coaches are big fans of his and he is invited any time he wants to visit. Only college grass field we have been at,

Last week we played one of the lower teams in the league won pretty handily, really helped the morale of the boys and coaches. The right guard got injured early in the game (ankle sprain), so the back-up who is a freshman played next to my son. My son and him worked together, great experience for the kid. The coaches finalized on a QB which I believe will help immensely.

This Friday we play another lower talent team we should beat. Then early Saturday morning my son and I head to Oxford, Ohio for a gameday visit at Miami of Ohio who plays UNLV. The invite came titled as an Elite Invite, which apparently means they are inviting their more focused recruits. It looks like only certain recruits are invited to this game, which hopefully allows my son to speak with coaches. Last year we went to Miami of Ohio, my son and his teammate really liked campus and everything about the school.

My son has also received a few more MAC invites this past week, so we will see where we end up going.

Thanks for updating us. I had been wondering about your son and how he was doing.

That must have been an amazing experience for the freshman guard. Pretty rare for a freshman to play on the O-line at any decent sized school. Usually they are way too undersized and inexperienced to not be a huge liability. If your son could protect the QB from the DT trying to blow up the RG and the DE coming off the edge, then that's a pretty amazing showing. Not sure if the opposition had a lack of talent, but I would have been blitzing and scheming against the freshman RG all game.

Yea, the talent was not there for our opponent, but he was going against some sizable players, great experience for the kid to play under the lights and in front of your school. My son informed me this week the freshman is playing again, this game is also against a lower talented team but it will be a great experience.

I am guessing that means your son is on an island for every snap of the game now.

Kind of, but because of the talent level, he could help out. Plus the kid struggled with the play calls and my son helped him out. Good learning experience for both.

i was thinking they would pull the center to help out and have him take edge and help inside as well. I got to figure the freshman needs help but if the team was really not good maybe that helped out a lot.

 

[Chadstroma]

My older son said he is starting OLB now and on offense he is in on certain packages.

My younger son is still starting QB but it appears that the HC/OC is set on using the backup more... at least based on todays run through on the offense. He doesn't exactly tell us what he is thinking or planning. Most of my discussion with him was based on the Oline and how we were gong to shuffle it around as we are missing at least one of our kids on the Oline. The backup is faster than my son and has a strong arm though he doesn't have as much accuracy and not as much of an understanding of playing football.

Saturday's games are our homecoming. Hope to report some wins.

 

[acarey50]

Game 5 in the books, a very tough hard fought 17-14 win against a previously undefeated team.

This one was fun, and I got the front row view as I was working the chain gang for the game. Other team had some really good size (they were a frosh/soph team as their school didn't field a JV team this year), and they had one WR/DB in particular that was really good, and a very fast RB that ran hard.

We opened up running the ball really well, with our interior OL opening up some real nice holes for our RB. A strong 8-10 play drive and we scored to go up 7-0.

On their first offensive play, hand off up the middle with a decent hole opened up front, my son came in from MLB, plugged the whole, wrapped the RB and pretty much picked him up and drove him back 3 yards for the tackle. I want to say they only tried running up the middle 3 or 4 other times during the game, after that, it was almost all outside runs or pass attempts, usually to the aforementioned WR/DB. He got a TD on their second drive - looked like he pushed off, but it's freshman ball, either way, he made a nice catch and outran the D down the sideline. On the plus side for us, they did not have a kicker - which explains why they went for an onside kick on the opening kickoff. They did attempt the PAT, but the kid literally kicked the ball underneath his center. They didn't try kicking again. We ended up getting another TD and a FG just before half time to head in to half up 17-6.

Second half was a defensive war. We couldn't break through, several times we'd grind out a couple first downs but just couldn't punch it through, then mid/late 3rd quarter, our top RB injured his knee and was out for the rest of the game. Our backup is solid, just not as powerful. Eventually they were able to get a score and the 2 point conversion (kid made a great catch in the corner for it, got to give credit where credit is due).

Then back to the defensive fight in the 4th quarter. They were driving with about 7 minutes to go and our safety came up with a clutch INT in the end zone that he brought out to about the 25, but we just could not get anything going offensively and had to punt after a 3 and out. Their ball on their 40 with about 4 minutes left. First play was an outside run to the left that my son snuffed out and got through and just demolished the RB before he could turn the corner. Second play was playaction, but our DE was able to get through and chase the QB down and ended up getting the sack. 3rd play was a screen pass to the slot if I recall correctly (sorry, a few of these drives running together in my head) and my son made a diving tackle to trip up the receiver before he could follow his blockers. 4th down we were able to generate enough pressure that QB had to throw up a pass that wasn't catchable. We were able to take over on downs and kneel it out for the win.

Very different game than the previous week where we could just do anything we wanted to - this was a fun, hard fought evenly matched game that could have gone either way. Our defense really stepped up with many players making clutch plays. For my son, not a lot going on offense in the passing game as we were moving the ball okay on the ground - he ended up with 2 catches for maybe 10 yards. Defensively I think this was far and away his best game so far. Next week is our bye, so a chance for the kids to rest up a bit, heal some of those nagging injuries that come with football and get ready for league play.

 

[Chadstroma]

Munchkins-
Started off with them marching down and busting a 40 yard TD. We got a fumble recovery and then switching my son out for our backup, he did a QB sweep towards my son who was at WR. My son put a good block on the corner to get him out of the play and then another good block on a pursuing LB to help free the QB for a long TD run. My son was 1-3 with an INT. One 7 yard pass, one pop pass that was a little off and the WR dropped and then a really bad INT that I have no idea what happened. He had a good 12 yard run. We failed a 4th and short and then they marched down and scored 14-7 game. I was not happy with the DC as he had his son and another smaller 3rd grader at DE's, the other team kept attacking us with off tackle or outside runs. We had two 4th graders sitting on the sideline that would hold the edge much better. I mentioned one of the DE's had to be switched out as he literally was running from the blocks and opening the door and his response was that he missed two games so he wanted to get him a lot of snaps. The DC was the one coach I really didn't know and though he isn't a total jerk, he certainly has his moments. There has been more than a few times that he says or does something and the rest of us coaches kind of glance at each other knowingly. He has blown me off several times on suggestions I have made... the previous ones, I just chalked up to subjective differences and moves on... this one was just so blatantly bad and it really hurt us on defense. I talked to the HC after as we were talking about different things we need to adjust, do better, etc and I brought it up. The HC agreed with me and said he had been trying to be hands off on the defense but needs to make sure we change that up. Tough loss, we could have won easily.... and we have the shot to next week as we play the same team again (no idea why that is happening but it is).

JV destroyed the other team in their game. 30 something to nothing by half and then they put in second teams through the second half and it stayed the same score.

Varsity-
Interesting usage of my son. He started at OLB as expected.... played the first series and then never went back in at OLB. Did not start at RB but came in on the first series and then was in most offensive plays after. I didn't see anything during the game and then went back and looked at the video that showed anything that was a mistake to pull from OLB. At RB, he had I think 10 carries foe what would be about 45-50 yards. Most coming from a 4th and 12 that they gave him an outside pitch that he cut up field and then reversed the field for about 30 yards. They were unable to score. My son has been the only ball carrier to get more than 10 yards in any carries. It is hard though no matter who is running the ball as they are getting met either at LOS or behind it on most all carries. We just do not have any size on that Oline.

 

[MAC_32]

Welp, game 1 started a lot like game 1 last year - the best player got seriously injured. This time was a Tua-like concussion and the game got called. Just got word that he's okay and heading home thankfully. As expected our boy didn't get any chances on offense, but he blew up a WR screen in his one defensive opportunity. Onto week 2...

I forget when specifically it was during week 2 that I mentally quit on this season, but that was all I needed to see. After unsuccessfully running into the line for 2 straight drives they opened the 3rd drive with a pass. This team has a real athletic kid that has potential, but is woefully lost at receiver. When they get him the ball in space, good things can happen, but ask him to make that play more than 5 yards down field and it's a lost cause. They called a jump ball to his side. He fell down then the pass was returned for 6...for the only points of the game. Because the team responded by repeatedly running into the line for the next 2 1/2 quarters, never netting a first down.

Since then has just been a never ending loop of inept coaching. They got the backup QB injured after calling 10 straight runs then when the D had their ears pinned back, called a slow developing PA boot in which he never had a chance - hit simultaneously by two dudes and tore his ACL. They've not been competitive since. To that point the team had been out scored 29-13. Since? 70-0. Our son, runner up best hands in their camp, and the team's primary WR a year ago, still hasn't had a pass called to him. And they forfeited today due to 'player safety' - right, the players aren't safe because you don't know how to coach them.

Our son has decided if there is a scheduling conflict come playoffs that he will run in the XC Championship instead of playing his favorite sport. Depending on how this week goes, we may talk with him about just pulling the plug then. We suggested he go to his coaches one more time this week and say 'I want the ball,' and I really hope he does (he's so dejected I'm unsure he will), because if he does and they still don't throw to him, then that'll make our recommendation easy. Plain and simple, this is not fun.

Another example how bad coaches ruin player development.

 

[Chadstroma]

MHSAA, districts respond after JV player injured during Lakeshore, Kalamazoo Central game

A 15-year-old Lakeshore High School junior varsity football player is recovering from a spinal fracture after a Kalamazoo Central player jumped on him.

wwmt.com

 

[The Z Machine]

MHSAA, districts respond after JV player injured during Lakeshore, Kalamazoo Central game

A 15-year-old Lakeshore High School junior varsity football player is recovering from a spinal fracture after a Kalamazoo Central player jumped on him.

wwmt.com

Thanks, posty

 

[Chadstroma]

Munchkins- The school/parish has it's carnival this week. Apparently the kids were out partying too late and they showed up very flat and no energy. One of the boys actually didn't show up until the end of the 1st Q without any heads up. We asked why and he said he slept in (this is a 12 kick off time). The HC who didn't hear his explanation of sleeping in the first time when he came up asked him why he was late and when he told him, his reaction was something along the lines of "How did you sleep in?!" and the kid said "I was on the Zipper last night" (a ride at the carnival).... the HC was just about to send him into the game and that was the absolute wrong response and the HC told him to get back on the sidelines and sent one of the other boys in. The game itself actually started off as good as you can hope... their first snap they fumbled and we recovered. Our first offensive play we had a 15 yard run that set up us with a 1st and goal. Our next play one boy on the line did a false start.... he got a warning.... and then the next play the same boy again did a false start. Pushed us back and then the wheels came off pretty much from there on. My son started at RT on offense (we have not practiced him there at all) he actually made a good block to help that first run go. Next series he was in at QB. Played there and WR on offense. Made a couple of pass attempts that were horrible incompletes. One run that went for a couple of yards. On defense, the other team kept attacking our edge with off tackle and outside runs. I kept telling the other coaches that we needed to put my son in at DE to hold up the edge. Finally, the defensive coach asked if my son could play corner and I said yes. He put him in and they ran at him about three times. All three times he took on two lead blockers, successfully defeated them and on one play got the tackle, another held up the RB until help arrived and a third turned the play in where our defense was able to kill it off. So they started running away from him. I was very proud of him for how he played there. But by that time it was pretty much too late plus we couldn't get anything going on offense. A big problem, I believe, is that the HC got on a kick this week of getting kids chances at positions that they want to play. A ton of moving kids around at practice and the game. This is on top of a consistent moving QB's in and out with two but he added his son as a third now where his son can not throw and is not particularly fast. We only have 18 kids total and only 5 have played football before this year. I think it is just too much to think a bunch of 3rd and 4th graders who are brand new to football can pick up so many different positions and be able to execute half way decently. The kids were not ready to play and I think we failed as a coaching staff. Just an ugly game. We lost 20-0

JV blew the other team out.

Varsity- my son did not play ST or defense at all and got in late at RB. He missed two practices this week so I expected him to lose snaps. He got 4 carries for probably about 4 or 5 yards. Our offense didn't move the ball at all... maybe a total of 50 yards total. 11 teams in the conference, not including this weekend standings had us at 9 with 8 teams making playoffs. This should have been a winable game for us but we got blown out. We have one more regular season game against a team that is 500 and then the last week is a bye week. If we lose, We will miss playoffs and season will be over.

 

[Chadstroma]

Found out that the bye is a 'win' so, I think we might sneak into the playoffs....

 

[acarey50]

Found out earlier today that my son is officially being pulled up to the varsity roster. He will still play his freshman games, and on the days that they play on a different day than varsity (all but one remaining game), he will also be suiting up for varsity. Primary reason is as a long snapper - technically as the backup, as in practice the coaches basically have decided he is better than the current JV snappers and the current backup varsity snapper. The starting long snapper also plays LB, and was injured a couple weeks ago (he is back now), but coaches felt it was apparent that they needed to find some additional help at long snapper.

He'll also be technically the 3rd/4th string MLB and 3rd/4th string TE, but I'd say realistically if he were to get on the field at all at either of those spots, things are going really bad for the team.

The only other freshman that has suited up for varsity, other than when they suited the 4 boys up for the game played at SoFi, has been there as an extra kicker when the starting kicker went down. JV kicker took over PAT/FG, but our freshman kicker (also our top RB) has a boot on him and handled most of the kickoffs.

One of those situations where I'm very proud of him for working hard to get noticed and earn the call up, but hope for the sake of the team that they have no need for him in game.

 

[Chadstroma]

Found out earlier today that my son is officially being pulled up to the varsity roster. He will still play his freshman games, and on the days that they play on a different day than varsity (all but one remaining game), he will also be suiting up for varsity. Primary reason is as a long snapper - technically as the backup, as in practice the coaches basically have decided he is better than the current JV snappers and the current backup varsity snapper. The starting long snapper also plays LB, and was injured a couple weeks ago (he is back now), but coaches felt it was apparent that they needed to find some additional help at long snapper.

He'll also be technically the 3rd/4th string MLB and 3rd/4th string TE, but I'd say realistically if he were to get on the field at all at either of those spots, things are going really bad for the team.

The only other freshman that has suited up for varsity, other than when they suited the 4 boys up for the game played at SoFi, has been there as an extra kicker when the starting kicker went down. JV kicker took over PAT/FG, but our freshman kicker (also our top RB) has a boot on him and handled most of the kickoffs.

One of those situations where I'm very proud of him for working hard to get noticed and earn the call up, but hope for the sake of the team that they have no need for him in game.

Good for him! Is he excited?

 

[Chadstroma]

I saw a video yesterday of a guy who does a lot of personal coaching and does social media. He talked about three QB's he was coaching- the best one chose to go to the big school and the two lesser QB's went to little schools. The better QB played Freshman/JV and waited for his time while the lesser ones ended up playing as underclassmen on varsity. The lesser QB's have D1 offers while the better one does not have any offers. It reminded me of the discussion earlier in this thread.

Our local HS is now 5-0. On one ranking I see it at 4th others at 10th, 16th, 25th and 34th for Illinois. The rest of their schedule should be winnable games except for the last one which is against the team that is ranked 1, 2 or 3 in all polls. Hoping it continues for my nephew. He apparently has got some significant snaps in some games (just happens to be the games I missed) and not many in others. The HS HC has been going to all of our schools home games to support which is great to see. This is his first year as HC and previously I have not seen that kind of support from the local HS for any sport.

Meanwhile, the HS that my son wants to go to is 1-4. They have been decimated by injury and their schedule has been to this point all against top 20 ranked teams. I also saw one of the now freshmen from our school who was an absolute stud RB last year with our school. He had tweaked his knee so I was asking about that and then about the season. He has been playing on the freshman team and first at RB but then WR and then finally at DB.

I have spoken a little bit to both HC's. The public school HC has been nice and as I mentioned has been supporting the school by coming to the school and even came to a practice for all three levels of teams to invite the kids to the school's youth football night game. In the various interactions I had with him he has not mentioned my son at all. For the private school HC, I have had less interactions with him but he was very complimentary of my son and said he was 'impressed'.

My son wants to go to the private school as pretty much all of his friends and certainly all his closest friends are planning on going to that school. That is certainly a big factor to him of course.

My daughter has started at the public school and has absolutely flourished there so far this year. She is enjoying herself and having more fun in volleyball than I have seen her at any point on club teams or even before at the previous school.

As I said before, I was backing my son going to the private school being a more respected program. The individual years do not change that of course but I forgot who brought it up here but the playing time is really something that I have been wondering about. Going to the public school, talent base wise, the chances of moving up and playing varsity early would be higher than going to the private school. But the private school, every year, is a top 20 ranked team that plays a heavy schedule of highly ranked teams every week. But how much value is that if there is only one year of varsity to put on tape versus maybe two years (or more?) going to a 'lesser' school playing 'lesser' teams and putting up tape of it.

I am not planning on forcing my kid to go anywhere but it might just come down to economics. I have been pushing him to do well academically so he can get academic scholarships. I have no idea how the need scholarships would play out but financially, at this point, he needs to get a bunch of help for us to make it work. I guess I am much more open to the public school now than I was before where I maybe would have considered drastic options to make the schooling work out for him at the private school.

The one nice thing is that the public school is seen as a 'good school' and is academically respected. The private school would still be higher on that respect level as is the sports programs. Another positive of that public school is that the private school does not have a boys swim team (which is odd because they have a girls swim team and it use to be an all boys school a couple decades back). I am not sure how far my son could go in basketball but I know he could be a star in swim.

Man... never thought that figuring out HS selection would be so hard. Still have 1 2/3 year to figure it out.

 

[acarey50]

Found out earlier today that my son is officially being pulled up to the varsity roster. He will still play his freshman games, and on the days that they play on a different day than varsity (all but one remaining game), he will also be suiting up for varsity. Primary reason is as a long snapper - technically as the backup, as in practice the coaches basically have decided he is better than the current JV snappers and the current backup varsity snapper. The starting long snapper also plays LB, and was injured a couple weeks ago (he is back now), but coaches felt it was apparent that they needed to find some additional help at long snapper.

He'll also be technically the 3rd/4th string MLB and 3rd/4th string TE, but I'd say realistically if he were to get on the field at all at either of those spots, things are going really bad for the team.

The only other freshman that has suited up for varsity, other than when they suited the 4 boys up for the game played at SoFi, has been there as an extra kicker when the starting kicker went down. JV kicker took over PAT/FG, but our freshman kicker (also our top RB) has a boot on him and handled most of the kickoffs.

One of those situations where I'm very proud of him for working hard to get noticed and earn the call up, but hope for the sake of the team that they have no need for him in game.

Good for him! Is he excited?

He’s very excited and looking forward to it.

 

[acarey50]

Game 6 in the books, first league game. Most likely this game was going to be against our toughest league opponent, but especially at the freshman level, you just never know.

But, as expected, this was a very close, back and forth, hard fought game. First quarter, neither offense could get a lot going, maybe get a first down but then have to punt. This team had scouted us, and we knew that they had good size from the film we had on them, so the team had worked on a couple of new formations to try and throw them off. We run a lot of 2 TE sets - it's our strength as we have two very good TEs. This week, they worked on an empty backfield formation with the TEs spread out to the slots/wide. Lots of trips and even quads, and using motion more than we have been. We busted it out on our second series, and the opposing team had to call a timeout. Out of the empty backfield we got our biggest play of the first half on a QB draw that went for about 45 yards, and on subsequent plays we were able to get to about the 20 yard line. Unfortunately couldn't get past there. Had one play where we had a WR wide open but he looked back over his wrong shoulder and got himself twisted up and couldn't catch what would have been an easy walk in TD. Ended up getting a FG to go up 3-0 heading into half time.

We receive the opening kick of the 2nd half and threw a pick six on our first play - down 7-3. Get the ball back, work it to midfield, but just doesn't seem we are clicking. Then we bust out a fun play out of the empty backfield - send our RB in motion from the slot, toss right, and just as he looks like he's about to be corralled, HB pass to the WR who has 10 yards of separation from the safety who bit on the run - nice 45 yard TD. Up 10-3. Get another nice defensive stop, and our ensuing drive ended in a nice 20 yard TD run by the QB on another designed draw (another new wrinkle is the designed runs for the QB). Up 17-7 heading into the 4th quarter. Some back and forth, and they end up scoring with about 8 minutes to go or so I believe, making it 17-14.

We get nowhere on our next drive, and they get a little drive going. Get to a little past midfield and our defense just stepped up, making 3 real nice stops in a row, eventually leading to a turnover on downs, giving us the ball back with just over 2 minutes. We were able to pick up a first down, letting us kneel out the last minute for a very tough win.

For my kid, not a lot on offense, we just didn't get much going in the passing game, but he had a few key blocks opening up some of the running lanes, usually for the QB this game. Defensively another strong outing, probably 5-6 solos and several more assists.

Now on to the next game - after suiting up tonight for the varsity game.

Hope all of your kid's games go well if they are playing tonight.

 

[Chadstroma]

Game 6 in the books, first league game. Most likely this game was going to be against our toughest league opponent, but especially at the freshman level, you just never know.

But, as expected, this was a very close, back and forth, hard fought game. First quarter, neither offense could get a lot going, maybe get a first down but then have to punt. This team had scouted us, and we knew that they had good size from the film we had on them, so the team had worked on a couple of new formations to try and throw them off. We run a lot of 2 TE sets - it's our strength as we have two very good TEs. This week, they worked on an empty backfield formation with the TEs spread out to the slots/wide. Lots of trips and even quads, and using motion more than we have been. We busted it out on our second series, and the opposing team had to call a timeout. Out of the empty backfield we got our biggest play of the first half on a QB draw that went for about 45 yards, and on subsequent plays we were able to get to about the 20 yard line. Unfortunately couldn't get past there. Had one play where we had a WR wide open but he looked back over his wrong shoulder and got himself twisted up and couldn't catch what would have been an easy walk in TD. Ended up getting a FG to go up 3-0 heading into half time.

We receive the opening kick of the 2nd half and threw a pick six on our first play - down 7-3. Get the ball back, work it to midfield, but just doesn't seem we are clicking. Then we bust out a fun play out of the empty backfield - send our RB in motion from the slot, toss right, and just as he looks like he's about to be corralled, HB pass to the WR who has 10 yards of separation from the safety who bit on the run - nice 45 yard TD. Up 10-3. Get another nice defensive stop, and our ensuing drive ended in a nice 20 yard TD run by the QB on another designed draw (another new wrinkle is the designed runs for the QB). Up 17-7 heading into the 4th quarter. Some back and forth, and they end up scoring with about 8 minutes to go or so I believe, making it 17-14.

We get nowhere on our next drive, and they get a little drive going. Get to a little past midfield and our defense just stepped up, making 3 real nice stops in a row, eventually leading to a turnover on downs, giving us the ball back with just over 2 minutes. We were able to pick up a first down, letting us kneel out the last minute for a very tough win.

For my kid, not a lot on offense, we just didn't get much going in the passing game, but he had a few key blocks opening up some of the running lanes, usually for the QB this game. Defensively another strong outing, probably 5-6 solos and several more assists.

Now on to the next game - after suiting up tonight for the varsity game.

Hope all of your kid's games go well if they are playing tonight.

Got the hope he doesn't play because that likely means bad stuff thing... but maybe it is a blowout and gets sent in tonight. Hope it all goes well for him and the team.

 

[Chadstroma]

Munchkins- this week in practice, on our defensive day, I mentioned that we need to get bigger at DE to hold up against the off tackle and outside runs which is the bread and butter of most teams in this league at this level and we have been getting killed on. The DC basically ignored me. We go through practice, and he has the same smaller kids at DE (3rd graders). At the end of practice, he said something (I can not remember exactly what it was but something along the lines of stopping their run) it prompted me to again say we needed to get bigger at DE. In an overly dramatic fashion "Then who should I put in there Chad?", and I responded with one of the boys and my son. Now, reminder, the DC was not there last game and after we were getting killed on the outside runs, I told the acting DC we needed those two boys in- he finally put my son at corner and my son in three straight plays took on two lead blockers and defeated them then in one play made the tackle, another got the assist in holding them up until someone could help and the third he turned them inside where pursuit cleaned it up. When I brought them up- he first started saying how he couldn't change the defense this late in the season.... I said, I am not saying to change the defense, just play the bigger boys to there to stop the run. Then he said my son plays 100% of the offensive snaps (which until today was not true). He kept changing his argument... and based on my experience with him I knew it was pointless to have a 'conversation'... such as earlier that practice when we were doing some scrimmage and the offense was running a few pass plays- all of a sudden in a very annoyed voice says "Why are we doing all these passing plays? Are they really going to pass like this?" and this comment based on a scrimmage we had with this team where they did not pass. EVERY SINGLE OTHER COACH basically was saying all the reasons why they wouldn't just run: it was scrimmage against a team you will play later so you won't show things much, it was raining, the team did pass last year, etc and he argued with all of us. But that and several other instances told me that he was not interested in a discussion but in winning his viewpoint. So, I kept trying to back out of it and he kept arguing with me. At the end, most of the coaches talked... except me and one other that left. I decided to stay out of it as my blood was up and I felt like my patience was running out with him so I could end up blowing up with not too hard of a push. After the HC said that we were all on the same page. Let's just say during the game we clearly were not on the same page. He did not play my son at all on defense and key players were sitting out on series while he played most of the 3rd graders (his son is a 3rd grader).

So... the game itself.... all game long our DE's were just opening the door. Luckly for us, they had several muffed snaps and our corners were doing a good job of holding containment to push them back in and our MLB who is a beast was cleaning it up. We got two INT's (they did throw about 5 times in the game which is on the heavy side for this league) and two fumble recoveries. The INT's were bad throws and the fumbles were bad snap/hand offs that we go to. Even with the turnovers, we were down 12-6. Then in the 4th, the other team went to their second string which helped us hold up better in the run and shut them down and then we scored with a conversion to get it 12-13 for the win. My son played QB first, had some bad snaps.... a QB run that he got maybe 2 yards and 1 for 1 on passing for a couple of yards. Then got moved to TE and did a heckuva job blocking and really helped spring us for some good runs.

We have one more game and I have resigned to the fact that nothing will change and since we won today will just make him think he knows what he is doing even if the INT's and fumbles were gifts on their mistakes and they shot themselves in the foot more than we stopped them. When they got a play off, they marched on us.

JV lost a close one in OT.

Varsity- A loss. It was actually a game though and we were right there up until the 4th when we went down by two TD's. My son went in at RB in the second series, skipped the next series and then stayed in for the rest of the game. He did not play defense or ST this game. They used him a ton as a blocking back in the passing game, which makes sense because he is easily their best pass pro back they have and the line needs help. He made good blocks consistently. He must have been getting under the nerves of the kids as he said one of them took a swing at him and he was laughing saying that they weren't strong at all. He had three runs... one stopped for about a yard and the other two about 5-6 yard runs. He brought home a nice souvenir in getting cleated on the inside of one of this thighs.

A little confusion on the playoff picture... I guess they do have a chance of making playoffs. They have a bye this week (last week of regular season) so it will be about the game this next weekend on them making it or not. They will practice this week and maybe for no game. If they do make it, they will get the last seed and go against the top seed so it will have to be a HUGE upset for them to win.... stranger things have happend but I woulnd't put any money on it.

 

[Fantasy_Freak]

Well, been away for a bit. My sons team is on a hot streak, won the last three games. My son has not given up a sack since early in the season, he has been playing very good. He put together his mid-season highlight video on Hudl, then posted on Twitter for coaches to see. We visited Miami of Ohio a few weeks ago, the oline coach asked if he was putting a video together for him to see, which he has now done.

My son has open invites to Wyoming, Northern Illinois, Western Michigan, South Dakota, North Dakota State, Army (West Point). We have to decide on making visits to some of these schools. Wyoming and Army would be flights that we pay for, but the others would be driving distance. I think my son really wants to look at Army and North Dakota state. We'll see where things go. I am not sure if posting my kids highlight film but it is available.

Two more weeks until the playoffs start, we should be able to win the next two weeks, then see where things go from there.

 

[Chadstroma]

Well, been away for a bit. My sons team is on a hot streak, won the last three games. My son has not given up a sack since early in the season, he has been playing very good. He put together his mid-season highlight video on Hudl, then posted on Twitter for coaches to see. We visited Miami of Ohio a few weeks ago, the oline coach asked if he was putting a video together for him to see, which he has now done.

My son has open invites to Wyoming, Northern Illinois, Western Michigan, South Dakota, North Dakota State, Army (West Point). We have to decide on making visits to some of these schools. Wyoming and Army would be flights that we pay for, but the others would be driving distance. I think my son really wants to look at Army and North Dakota state. We'll see where things go. I am not sure if posting my kids highlight film but it is available.

Two more weeks until the playoffs start, we should be able to win the next two weeks, then see where things go from there.

That is awesome!

Has he figured out any schools that he would like to go to that has not yet received and invite from?

 

[Fantasy_Freak]

Well, been away for a bit. My sons team is on a hot streak, won the last three games. My son has not given up a sack since early in the season, he has been playing very good. He put together his mid-season highlight video on Hudl, then posted on Twitter for coaches to see. We visited Miami of Ohio a few weeks ago, the oline coach asked if he was putting a video together for him to see, which he has now done.

My son has open invites to Wyoming, Northern Illinois, Western Michigan, South Dakota, North Dakota State, Army (West Point). We have to decide on making visits to some of these schools. Wyoming and Army would be flights that we pay for, but the others would be driving distance. I think my son really wants to look at Army and North Dakota state. We'll see where things go. I am not sure if posting my kids highlight film but it is available.

Two more weeks until the playoffs start, we should be able to win the next two weeks, then see where things go from there.

That is awesome!

Has he figured out any schools that he would like to go to that has not yet received and invite from?

He is very open. I can see he gets a smile on his face with Army. He has a teammate (senior) who committed to Army and another kid who is now a college freshman who is at Army. My son and him have texted each other about the invite and he would like to visit. We did take the tour of Minnesota State and he really like the place. So we will see what direction things go. He has to dedicate himself to lifting once the season is over to get stronger.

 

[Chadstroma]

Well, been away for a bit. My sons team is on a hot streak, won the last three games. My son has not given up a sack since early in the season, he has been playing very good. He put together his mid-season highlight video on Hudl, then posted on Twitter for coaches to see. We visited Miami of Ohio a few weeks ago, the oline coach asked if he was putting a video together for him to see, which he has now done.

My son has open invites to Wyoming, Northern Illinois, Western Michigan, South Dakota, North Dakota State, Army (West Point). We have to decide on making visits to some of these schools. Wyoming and Army would be flights that we pay for, but the others would be driving distance. I think my son really wants to look at Army and North Dakota state. We'll see where things go. I am not sure if posting my kids highlight film but it is available.

Two more weeks until the playoffs start, we should be able to win the next two weeks, then see where things go from there.

That is awesome!

Has he figured out any schools that he would like to go to that has not yet received and invite from?

He is very open. I can see he gets a smile on his face with Army. He has a teammate (senior) who committed to Army and another kid who is now a college freshman who is at Army. My son and him have texted each other about the invite and he would like to visit. We did take the tour of Minnesota State and he really like the place. So we will see what direction things go. He has to dedicate himself to lifting once the season is over to get stronger.

Hopefully the school interest gets him more motivated in the off season to hit the weights, training and diet. From what I have gathered, interest likes this seems to feed upon itself and drive more interest from other schools. Hoping for the best for him!

 

[acarey50]

Well, been away for a bit. My sons team is on a hot streak, won the last three games. My son has not given up a sack since early in the season, he has been playing very good. He put together his mid-season highlight video on Hudl, then posted on Twitter for coaches to see. We visited Miami of Ohio a few weeks ago, the oline coach asked if he was putting a video together for him to see, which he has now done.

My son has open invites to Wyoming, Northern Illinois, Western Michigan, South Dakota, North Dakota State, Army (West Point). We have to decide on making visits to some of these schools. Wyoming and Army would be flights that we pay for, but the others would be driving distance. I think my son really wants to look at Army and North Dakota state. We'll see where things go. I am not sure if posting my kids highlight film but it is available.

Two more weeks until the playoffs start, we should be able to win the next two weeks, then see where things go from there.

That is awesome!

Has he figured out any schools that he would like to go to that has not yet received and invite from?

He is very open. I can see he gets a smile on his face with Army. He has a teammate (senior) who committed to Army and another kid who is now a college freshman who is at Army. My son and him have texted each other about the invite and he would like to visit. We did take the tour of Minnesota State and he really like the place. So we will see what direction things go. He has to dedicate himself to lifting once the season is over to get stronger.

Does your team have a strength coach that they work with? One of the coaches for our program is our S&C coach who oversees the in season lifting and all of the offseason lift programs - and this is for all levels of the program, not just varsity.

Also got to make sure he is eating enough to support getting stronger and growing - often times that is the even bigger limiting factor is that so many of the kids do not eat near enough to support their goals.

 

[Chadstroma]

I just saw this on Maxpreps and thought it was interesting to share.

The Top Ten Best States for HS Football:
1. Texas
2. California
3. Florida
4. Pennsylvania
5. Ohio
6. Illinois
7. Louisiana
8. Georgia
9. Alabama
10. Michigan

The data includes number of NFL players, number of HOF players, number of All Pro 1st team picks, number of pro bowl players and number of full time starters.

 

[acarey50]

I just saw this on Maxpreps and thought it was interesting to share.

The Top Ten Best States for HS Football:
1. Texas
2. California
3. Florida
4. Pennsylvania
5. Ohio
6. Illinois
7. Louisiana
8. Georgia
9. Alabama
10. Michigan

The data includes number of NFL players, number of HOF players, number of All Pro 1st team picks, number of pro bowl players and number of full time starters.

I could see that for all time - interesting though that this year, the top ranked TX high school is #13 in the nation (per MaxPreps rankings) and the only one fro TX in the top 25, while California has 4 in the top 10, 6 in the top 25 with the top northern California school ranked at #19. Shift in dynamics that we could see this get flipped in the not too distant future?

Bosco and Mater Dei have consistently been in the top 10 if not #1 and #2 overall the last several years, but it's like an arms race here in Southern California for the football talent.