fwoodfan

I dont have a problem with schools replacing 7th grade football with skills, conditioning, and flag football.  As the article explains most 7th grade teams are made up of 100 or more boys with only 3 or 4 coaches to coach them.  Most dont learn proper technique or much of anything.  They do have fun, but for what they learn compared to one more possible year of head injuries I'm not sure its worth it.  I think school districts should make this decision based on the wishes of their communities.  I doubt it will have a tremendous impact on the competitiveness of high school varsity teams.

Congrats GCM. The Old 24 -4a is going out with a bang.

The Mustangs knocked off Milby 8-4 today.  Rain postponement turned this into a won game series. Came into today up 7-1 with one out and the bases loaded in the bottom of the 3rd. Scored one to Milby's four today, but held on to move on.

That's a great post bamakid.  I've been reading and thinking about this since I made my first post in the thread and one other thing occurs to me that helps build school spirit and tradition:  A true, long term rivalry with another team of near or equal quality.

 

In Lufkin we had Nacogdoches.  Even if your team was crappy in a given year you could still get up for your rival and take pride in a win. 

Cant wait.

 

Hoping for actual football discussion, not looking to talk trash (its a scrimmage after all).

 

Friendswood Strengths and weaknesses

 

Strengths:

 

1. Lots of starters back on both sides of the ball.  Starting QB, 2 RBs, Center, Guard, and one WR on Offense.  Three D line starters back.  Fourth D lineman is back after a year on the OLine.  He was all district as a sophomore. Starting MLB, Safety, and Corner all return and I believe all garnered some all district recognition.

 

2. Quality.  The  D starters we have back all have at least two years experience on varsity.  Our main RB is a three year letterman going into the season and our QB was in the top 15 in passing yards in the Houston area.

 

Weaknesses:

 

1. Three new starting OIinemen.  All three were on varsity last year but saw limited playing time.

2. Wide Receivers.  We lost a lot here.

3. Outside LBs.  We lost a lot of quality there and while the starters this year have some experience they are largely untried.

4. Depth.  Almost every 2 except the QB and RB are kind of question marks.

 

 

Friendswood doesnt do spring ball.  I'm getting so desperate I've been watching old videos on hudl.

was that before Coach Outlaw got to Lufkin?

Coach Outlaw might have been the one to remove the rocks.  The coach who came up with the rock idea was after Coach Cauley and before Coach Outlaw.  It was Pat Culpepper who came up with the rock idea.  In fairness, it didnt seem too bad at the time, it just didnt stick after he left

 

If Coach Outlaw had come up with it, it would have stuck because he won. He was a great coach and a great man who is still missed by the school, the community, and his former players. He made a positive difference in the lives of many. He was the most successful coach in the history of the program and I dont just mean on the field.

I grew up in Lufkin, which has great high school football traditions that were around before I was in school in the 80s and some are still around today. When I was a senior we got a new coach who tried to start a tradition of putting a huge rock in one endzone, painting it school colors, and painting the team record on the rock.  He called them Panther Rocks.  After he left they stopped doing it and removed the old rocks.

 

I think the students have to buy into the traditions and the parents have to support their continuation.  But, I dont think there is a guaranteed way to make it happen.

 

The best traditions that we have in Friendswood related to football are the Patriotic Halftime program and the homecoming parade.

Friendswood's first ever 6A Schedule:

 

8/15      Dayton (scrimmage)                     Home

8/22      Katy Seven Lakes (scrimmage)      Away

8/29      Texas City                                   Away

9/5        George Ranch                              Home

9/11      Kingwood (Thursday)                   Away

OPEN

9/26     *Clear Falls (Patriotic)                    Home

10/3     *Brazoswood                                 Away

10/10   *Clear Springs (Homecoming)         Home

10/17    *Clear Creek                                 Home

10/24    *Dickinson                                    Away

10/31    *Clear Lake (Senior Night)             Home

11/6      *Clear Brook (Thursday)                Away

Crosby
West Brook
Central
Silsbee
Coldspring
West Orange Stark
Center
Newton
Kountze
East Chambers
Hardin Jefferson
Woodville
Hull Daisetta
Evadale
Burkeville

Mayfield:

I dont recall any of the posts you speak of, but your apology speaks volumes about the quality of your character. A person who admits, without prompting, when they are wrong or have been wrong is the kind of person we should all seek to be.

[quote name="badndn" post="1427370" timestamp="1377441783"]
  Its because the rich kids spend all year training with their private speed and agility coach or strength and conditioning coach.
Think about, would you rather coach a handful of great athletes that work on FB from August to November or a team full of kids that eat, sleep, and breath FB 24/7.  Oh and the later choice pays twice as much!
[b]I think the biggest difference in the two is the line play and QB play. The wealthy linemen goes 6'3" 270 and is fit and the QB spends all year learning the hardest position in sports. Where the poorer linemen is 6'3" 300 and slow and the QB is way behind the curve.[/b]
[/quote]

This is true.  Wealthier kids do have more time and resources to spend on preparing for the season,  but thats not the same as saying schools with better facilities win (which is what the article implies).

Your point about the Oline is damn right.  Oline play is the key to offensive success.  It aint glamorous and it doesnt make the highlight film, but without solid Oline play the QB doesnt throw touchdowns, the WR dont get the ball, and the RB doesnt run for 150 yds a game.  And, you are also right in stating that big boys from wealthier areas devote much of their ample free time to working out and training to get better.

My problem with this article is this: Arent most 4a and 5a high schools located in higher income areas?  I mean in general income levels are higher in higher population areas -- that's why people move there.  The key is that the author limited his analysis to 4a and 5a schools. The percentage of 3A and 2A champions with a  median income above the state average would be much lower because smaller schools represent smaller communities where the income levels are likely to be lower.  As a result, I think the author overstates the impact of money on championships.

In addition, doing the analysis by zip code instead of school district boundaries seriously the statistical evidence.  Finally, just because people in the same zip code as a particular school have money doesnt always mean that the school has better facilities.  Friendswood is a great example of that.

Vidor - 52

Santa Fe -- 3

Central was the the best team on the field at the tri scrimmage with Friendswood and La Marque.

Defense was solid.  Decent DL and LB play good secondary.

Offense looked really good.  Running backs are quick to the hole and have a good burst.  They burned with several long runs.  WRs are tall and fast and -- particularly one kid who wore neon green gloves and played with JV also -- who catch whatever you throw at them.

Didnt see PAM, but I think Central has a good chance of beating them.

[quote name="Mr. Buddy Garrity" post="1426980" timestamp="1377364890"]
[quote author=fwoodfan link=topic=113497.msg1426976#msg1426976 date=1377364363]
I'm going big . . . Galveston Ball over La Marque
[/quote]yikes
[/quote]

Unlikely, but it would be huge.

I'm going big . . . Galveston Ball over La Marque

So back to the outcome of the scrimmage . . . .

What was the outcome?

Galena Park had a very good offense last year, but no defense.  Friendswood's game against them was an offensive explosion with the combined points over 110 I think.  Their speed outside was scary.

My father in law, who had been a college coach in Iowa and coached on the 5A level at Lufkin, Harlingen, and Desoto, quit coaching when his son reached high school.  In part this was so he could spend more time watching his kid and in part it was to avoid a conflict of interest.

Its a tough spot to be in and not every coach handles it properly.  Ideally, the position coaches should make the decision if the kid is the son of the head coach and vice versa.  It is a difficult situation for coach, kid, and coaching staff.

I try to always remind myself that the coaches see the game differently than fans and particularly parents.  Also remember, just because the kid is the 2 during scrimmages doesnt mean he will be in an emergency situation.  Sometimes coaches put a young kid with more upside ahead of an experienced kid with less during the preseason to see what he can do and get him experience.  But when push comes to shove in the regular season they might go with experience.

Well this scrimmage was depressing (remember I'm a Friendswood fan)

La Marque:

For some reason Friendswood had very few plays (if any, memory going) against the La Marque offense.  Wont surprise anyone to know that they are fast.  What struck me most was how big their right tackle was.  Kid has to be 6'6" at least.  If that kid stepped up his fitness and effort level he would be able to write his own ticket at any University.  If he gets his hands on you you are dead.

Defensively La Marque swarms to the ball really well.  They arent real big on Defense, but quick and athletic.  Their nose tackle was a menace for Friendswood.  He consistently pushed our center and guard (sometimes both) into the backfield disrupting pulling guards and tackles from the off side and generally wrecking havoc in our run game.


Beaumont Central:

Friendswood didnt have as many plays against the Central defense as La Marques.  Coverage was good, but not a lot of pressure on the QB without two man blitzes.  Solid defensive line against the run.

Central Offense looked really good.  Central didnt wear numbers so I dont have any way to identify specific players, but their running  backs were  very good one cut backs.  If they got to the edge they turned it up for big gains and hit the holes quick and decisively.

Friendswood:

The offense looked bad.  Because we run a lot of quick hitting and misdirection plays we can pick up three or four yds a run.  Which would be fine (if completely un-Friendswood) until the D coordinator caught on.  In fairness our starting tailback got a concussion in practice on Wednesday and he probably would have made a difference.  Our QBs couldnt hit the side of a barn with their throws.  We might have had one completion of over ten yards.  If the pass game doesnt go, we are cooked.  Our QB's are better than they played so it is likely that we are a good bit better on O than we looked last night.

The starting defense looked good.  Not to make excuses, but it seemed clear that after the first series the Defensive coaches held out many starters.  Beaumont scored on us three times I think and I dont think our whole starting D line was in and not all of our starting linebackers.  That said it looks like we might struggle (again) to stop the outside running game.

Not panicking because we are probably looking at 3rd or 4th in district (Texas City and Dawson should battle for 1st and 2nd), but given Dayton's less than spectacular performance this week and our stinker scrimmage, I'm not so sure that we wont struggle against Galena Park and be in a dog fight against GCM.

Maybe its because I'm not a Dayton fan that I feel like I'm more objective about the Broncos play in their scrimmage against us, but I dont see any reason for concern or panic for Dayton fans.

1) In the second quarter, Dayton had an 11 play 60+ yard scoring drive that ended in a field goal.  The QB looked good and moved the ball against our 1s on D for a score.

2) Friendswood's three touchdowns were all on pass plays of more than 20 yds (not sure about the third one).  Friendswood will probably live and die by the big play this year.  The first TD was some kind of blown coverage and the second was just a pretty good throw by our QB against good coverage.

3) In the second half Dayton's offense moved the ball against our 2s as they should -- scoring 14 points.

I just dont see any cause for concern there, particularly considering it was the first scrimmage of the year against an equal opponent.

Sorry for making so many posts on this thread, but this was the only game I've seen so far this year so what else am I going to post about.

For what its worth from the point of view of a neutral party (neutral as far as 19-4a is concerned), its important to remember that both teams played kids in different positions and kids who probably wont see much playing time in the second half.  The halftime score was 7-3 and Friendswood scored on a big play, not by methodically driving the ball down the field.

The second half score really doesnt matter as much because it was 2s and 3s much of the time.

Bottom line:  When both teams were playing their 1s (or at least the kids the coach thought would be 1s) the scrimmage was close.  I think Dayton sustained better drives in the first half than Friendswood and Dayton's defense was good against the run.  If I was a Dayton fan I'd be encouraged by my Defenses performance and optimistic about my QB.

[/quote] FW had at least half a dozen over the QB head hikes and I don't think we recovered one of them because the defensive line was slow to react after their blocking assignments but I'm sure that will be worked out.
[/quote]

Yep, they moved last years all district dt to center this year.  First time he's ever played there and I've watched him play since he was in the 5th grade.  His snaps looked a little shaky alot of the time.  His back up is solid with the snaps and they may move him to guard. 

Koopman's oline is always in transition sometimes through the first two games.

[quote name="bronco pride" post="1425112" timestamp="1376752086"]
I woke up today feeling good about what I saw last night. Dayton doesn't scrimmage teams like friendswood and Nederland so they can go up and down the field. They schedule them because they are very good we'll coached teams and will make dayton a better team. Dayton has at least 3 sophomores starting on the offensive line and they will get better every week. Dayton had to many penalties and dropped balls even for a scrimmage but those are things that can be cleaned up. Dayton's qb looked good especially if you consider he wasn't even the starter on jv last year. He has a good arm and will get better. He had his receivers drop several great passes including one that was a guaranteed td. Dayton's defense looked good other than a couple blown coverages. Dayton's dline has a junior at nose who will be a player and a sophomore at 3 tech who is going to be a stud. Didn't see much pressure on the friendswood qb but also didn't see any blitzing. [b]It's kinda hard to put pressure on a qb rushing 3 men when you have 5 lineman blocking them. But im sure dayton will bring those linebackers more as the season begins.[/b] I think dayton will do fine and friendswood looked solid as usual.
[/quote]

Good assessment all around.  I wish you guys had blitzed more often.  Its hard to tell how good your oline is in pass coverage when most of the plays are 5 blocking three.  Dayton's front seven looked really good against the run.  Most of Fwoods successful runs were misdirections and had more to do with missed tackles and good running back vision than successful blocking.

I had a chance to look at a video of the scrimmage that a budy of mine took today and you are right about your qb and your interior d linement.  QB had several balls dropped.  Your young dline whipped our oline 2s much of the time and held their own against our ones.  It was a good scrimmage and Dayton was a great place to play.

With the weather delay in the JV/ Freshman Scrimmage  for the whole varsity scrimmage and only saw the first half, but here are my impressions:

1. It was pretty physical for the first scrimmage of the year.  The red QB jersey's didnt seem to slow anybody down.

2. Friendswood's young qb can make the throws and is a little quicker than I thought.

3. Dayton's qb has an good arm and can also make all the throws.

4. Both teams O-lines still have some work to do.  Unusually, D line is one of Friendswood's strengths and our ends are really quick if a little undersized.  As a result, we got good pressure on the QB and were able to disrupt some plays.  Dayton's D seemed pretty solid between the tackles and we had a hard time running the ball -- my son says that got better in the second half.

5. Friendswood has more speed in the secondary than we usually have. We arent blazing fast, but still pretty fast.

6. Dayton's kicker has a big leg.

7. JV scrimmage was dominated by Friendswood on both sides of the ball.

8. Freshman scrimmage was back and forth with both sides scoring and making some big hits.