After having a night to digest what I saw, all I can say is that I love the pride our kids have in the football program at Valley! We just graduated 17 seniors. Those 17 seniors just happen to have the most wins in school history. The Indians brought back 3.5 starters on offense and lost one of those for the year 2 weeks ago. They brought back 3 starters on defense and only 1 of those kids played the same position as last season. Yet with all that, here they are 1-0. At some point, you just have to give it to Coach Crabtree, Coach Rolfe, Coach Fell, and the rest of the Indian staff. As a Valley fan and former player, it feels darn good to know that each and every week your coaching staff is going to have your kids prepared.
As for the game itself......... It has been said multiple times here that there wasn't much defense played. I do believe that Valley's defensive issues are going to be more easily fixed than those of the Trojans. The Indians had a couple of blown coverages and gave up the big plays. Portsmouth's problem is a tackling issue. Much harder to fix.
Individually for Valley.....I can't say enough about Bryce Romanello. That kid has always been a great athlete, but he has went to another level with his work ethic and dedication and it all paid off last night. 3 TD catches, a 2 point conversion, 3 of 5 on PAT's (Including what would wind up the game winner), and a huge forced Intentional Grounding penalty late in the game. All that for a kid that lost his grandmother before the game. Big heart on that kid.
Even though the Valley defense struggled most of the night, Alex Loop and Drew Wolford came to play. Those two kids were defensive linemen last season. They move to the two inside linebacker spots and pick up 16 and 13 tackles respectively. Solid. Throw in Alex's 160 some odd yards rushing and I'm guessing you could say he had a pretty good ball game. Bryan Rolfe continues to become a very good quarterback. 4 TD's last night and I am guess well over 200 yards through the air. Throw in a pick on D and Bryan was huge last night.
All and all, it may have not been real pretty, but the Indians are 1-0 and now get to prep for a different style and a very physical Coal Grove team next week.
Roll Tribe!
WEEK 1: PORTSMOUTH @ VALLEY
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Ptown Playmaker
- Varsity
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Re: WEEK 1: PORTSMOUTH @ VALLEY
Congrats to Valley on the win. As for my Trojans.....a repeat of the last decade on one side of the ball. Defense wins most games.....until that is realized, the wins will be tough to come by. Hope the kids & coaches can regroup and figure this out. Go Trojans!
Re: WEEK 1: PORTSMOUTH @ VALLEY
Pretty heartbreaking lose for Portsmouth. They had their chances. Several turnovers and dropped balls. One drop when they were up four points mid third quarter and wide open for a sure TD. A couple fumbles they retained possession but lead to big losses. Just too many mistakes but it was the first game.
Has anyone mentioned the QB from Portsmouth? The kid has a strong arm and accurate. On target all night. Impressive!
I'd like to know how many tackles Loop broke. Maybe 30 or 40? Seemed like it! Was it a result of Portsmouth's poor tackling or is he that good? Maybe a little of both!
Valley's success this season hinges of staying healthy. To said they are thin on the depth chart is an understatement. If I'm correct they had eight players going both ways. They started two seniors and one sophomores. They rest were juniors.
One more comment. A few folks saying Portsmouth was more athletic and the faster team. I disagree. Portsmouth had three or four very fast and athletic players. But overall team speed favored Valley. It was evident on defense when Valley had better team pursuit. Should be an interesting season for both teams.
Has anyone mentioned the QB from Portsmouth? The kid has a strong arm and accurate. On target all night. Impressive!
I'd like to know how many tackles Loop broke. Maybe 30 or 40? Seemed like it! Was it a result of Portsmouth's poor tackling or is he that good? Maybe a little of both!
Valley's success this season hinges of staying healthy. To said they are thin on the depth chart is an understatement. If I'm correct they had eight players going both ways. They started two seniors and one sophomores. They rest were juniors.
One more comment. A few folks saying Portsmouth was more athletic and the faster team. I disagree. Portsmouth had three or four very fast and athletic players. But overall team speed favored Valley. It was evident on defense when Valley had better team pursuit. Should be an interesting season for both teams.
Last edited by toast on Fri Aug 29, 2014 9:51 am, edited 1 time in total.
Re: WEEK 1: PORTSMOUTH @ VALLEY
Good post and I agree 100%......Valley's miscues on defense were mental breakdowns and just not being in position to make the play.Crab's brother wrote:After having a night to digest what I saw, all I can say is that I love the pride our kids have in the football program at Valley! We just graduated 17 seniors. Those 17 seniors just happen to have the most wins in school history. The Indians brought back 3.5 starters on offense and lost one of those for the year 2 weeks ago. They brought back 3 starters on defense and only 1 of those kids played the same position as last season. Yet with all that, here they are 1-0. At some point, you just have to give it to Coach Crabtree, Coach Rolfe, Coach Fell, and the rest of the Indian staff. As a Valley fan and former player, it feels darn good to know that each and every week your coaching staff is going to have your kids prepared.
As for the game itself......... It has been said multiple times here that there wasn't much defense played. I do believe that Valley's defensive issues are going to be more easily fixed than those of the Trojans. The Indians had a couple of blown coverages and gave up the big plays. Portsmouth's problem is a tackling issue. Much harder to fix.
Individually for Valley.....I can't say enough about Bryce Romanello. That kid has always been a great athlete, but he has went to another level with his work ethic and dedication and it all paid off last night. 3 TD catches, a 2 point conversion, 3 of 5 on PAT's (Including what would wind up the game winner), and a huge forced Intentional Grounding penalty late in the game. All that for a kid that lost his grandmother before the game. Big heart on that kid.
Even though the Valley defense struggled most of the night, Alex Loop and Drew Wolford came to play. Those two kids were defensive linemen last season. They move to the two inside linebacker spots and pick up 16 and 13 tackles respectively. Solid. Throw in Alex's 160 some odd yards rushing and I'm guessing you could say he had a pretty good ball game. Bryan Rolfe continues to become a very good quarterback. 4 TD's last night and I am guess well over 200 yards through the air. Throw in a pick on D and Bryan was huge last night.
All and all, it may have not been real pretty, but the Indians are 1-0 and now get to prep for a different style and a very physical Coal Grove team next week.
Roll Tribe!
Portsmouth was in position to make the play and couldnt. Its much easier to teach a kid to get in position against the pass vs trying to teach kids how to tackle week 2 of the season. Valley's issues "should" be corrected in a few games and you just have to hope they dont happen enough until then to really come back and haunt you. Poor tackling will more than likely haunt the Trojans all year.
Re: WEEK 1: PORTSMOUTH @ VALLEY
[quote="Badboy"][quote="Crab's brother"]After having a night to digest what I saw, all I can say is that I love the pride our kids have in the football program at Valley! We just graduated 17 seniors. Those 17 seniors just happen to have the most wins in school history. The Indians brought back 3.5 starters on offense and lost one of those for the year 2 weeks ago. They brought back 3 starters on defense and only 1 of those kids played the same position as last season. Yet with all that, here they are 1-0. At some point, you just have to give it to Coach Crabtree, Coach Rolfe, Coach Fell, and the rest of the Indian staff. As a Valley fan and former player, it feels darn good to know that each and every week your coaching staff is going to have your kids prepared.
As for the game itself......... It has been said multiple times here that there wasn't much defense played. I do believe that Valley's defensive issues are going to be more easily fixed than those of the Trojans. The Indians had a couple of blown coverages and gave up the big plays. Portsmouth's problem is a tackling issue. Much harder to fix.
Individually for Valley.....I can't say enough about Bryce Romanello. That kid has always been a great athlete, but he has went to another level with his work ethic and dedication and it all paid off last night. 3 TD catches, a 2 point conversion, 3 of 5 on PAT's (Including what would wind up the game winner), and a huge forced Intentional Grounding penalty late in the game. All that for a kid that lost his grandmother before the game. Big heart on that kid.
Even though the Valley defense struggled most of the night, Alex Loop and Drew Wolford came to play. Those two kids were defensive linemen last season. They move to the two inside linebacker spots and pick up 16 and 13 tackles respectively. Solid. Throw in Alex's 160 some odd yards rushing and I'm guessing you could say he had a pretty good ball game. Bryan Rolfe continues to become a very good quarterback. 4 TD's last night and I am guess well over 200 yards through the air. Throw in a pick on D and Bryan was huge last night.
All and all, it may have not been real pretty, but the Indians are 1-0 and now get to prep for a different style and a very physical Coal Grove team next week.
Roll Tribe![/quote]
Good post and I agree 100%......Valley's miscues on defense were mental breakdowns and just not being in position to make the play.
Portsmouth was in position to make the play and couldnt. Its much easier to teach a kid to get in position against the pass vs trying to teach kids how to tackle week 2 of the season. Valley's issues "should" be corrected in a few games and you just have to hope they dont happen enough until then to really come back and haunt you. Poor tackling will more than likely haunt the Trojans all year.[/quote]
Loop and Wolford each had a fumbe recovery also
As for the game itself......... It has been said multiple times here that there wasn't much defense played. I do believe that Valley's defensive issues are going to be more easily fixed than those of the Trojans. The Indians had a couple of blown coverages and gave up the big plays. Portsmouth's problem is a tackling issue. Much harder to fix.
Individually for Valley.....I can't say enough about Bryce Romanello. That kid has always been a great athlete, but he has went to another level with his work ethic and dedication and it all paid off last night. 3 TD catches, a 2 point conversion, 3 of 5 on PAT's (Including what would wind up the game winner), and a huge forced Intentional Grounding penalty late in the game. All that for a kid that lost his grandmother before the game. Big heart on that kid.
Even though the Valley defense struggled most of the night, Alex Loop and Drew Wolford came to play. Those two kids were defensive linemen last season. They move to the two inside linebacker spots and pick up 16 and 13 tackles respectively. Solid. Throw in Alex's 160 some odd yards rushing and I'm guessing you could say he had a pretty good ball game. Bryan Rolfe continues to become a very good quarterback. 4 TD's last night and I am guess well over 200 yards through the air. Throw in a pick on D and Bryan was huge last night.
All and all, it may have not been real pretty, but the Indians are 1-0 and now get to prep for a different style and a very physical Coal Grove team next week.
Roll Tribe![/quote]
Good post and I agree 100%......Valley's miscues on defense were mental breakdowns and just not being in position to make the play.
Portsmouth was in position to make the play and couldnt. Its much easier to teach a kid to get in position against the pass vs trying to teach kids how to tackle week 2 of the season. Valley's issues "should" be corrected in a few games and you just have to hope they dont happen enough until then to really come back and haunt you. Poor tackling will more than likely haunt the Trojans all year.[/quote]
Loop and Wolford each had a fumbe recovery also
Re: WEEK 1: PORTSMOUTH @ VALLEY
They arm and legs of the Oliver kid kept them in the game. He threw accurate passes on the run and can make big plays in a hurry.toast wrote:Pretty heartbreaking lose for Portsmouth. They had their chances. Several turnovers and dropped balls. One drop when they were up four points mid third quarter and wide open for a sure TD. A couple fumbles they retained possession but lead to big losses. Just too many mistakes but it was the first game.
Has anyone mentioned the QB from Portsmouth? The kid has a strong arm and accurate. On target all night. Impressive!
I'd like to know how many tackles Loop broke. Maybe 30 or 40? Seemed like it! Was it a result of Portsmouth's poor tackling or is he that good? Maybe a little of both!
Valley's success this season hinges of staying healthy. To said they are thin on the depth chart is an understatement. If I'm correct they had eight players going both ways. They started two seniors and one sophomores. They rest were juniors.
One more comment. A few folks saying Portsmouth was more athletic and the faster team. I disagree. Portsmouth had three or four very fast and athletic players. But overall team speed favored Valley. It was evident on defense when Valley had better team pursuit. Should be an interesting season for both teams.
The only downfall I saw was him trying to do too much, get too "cute" and lose the ball a few times. I dont know how many pitches he tried to make to the RB on option plays that were nearly a disaster and one ended up in a lost fumble. Both teams have much to look at and correct in the film room Monday, but I have to think that Oliver was the best athlete on the field last night.
Re: WEEK 1: PORTSMOUTH @ VALLEY
I watche the tail end on vsn. Great production. If Portsmouth could tackle they would have won the game. 34 is a tough RB for valley. Both teams will have to fix defenses to have a successful year.
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Buckeye-4-Life
- JV Team
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Re: WEEK 1: PORTSMOUTH @ VALLEY
So many good comments on here about the game. All are very accurate, from tackling to turnovers everyone is right on.
The 2 biggest things I take from this game is the toughness of the Trojan Players and the Scheming of the Trojan staff.
You cannot build a good program if you are not teaching toughness everyday and it looked like the Trojans lacked in that area big time. That's what helps lead to turnovers and tackling. But it goes beyond just the tackling, what I seen was one or two Trojans going for tackles and everyone else stopped assuming the play would be over. I noticed on the screen play Valley scored on, there were 2-3 Trojans in the area that could have gotten in position for a tackle when #34 broke the first 2 tackles, but they completely stopped. That's unacceptable against quality teams.
The second thing is the Trojans schemes on both sides of the ball. Offensively they are going to score, but they have to be defensive minded as well limiting turnovers and at times playing smash mouth football and use big packages and run north and south. The Trojans have the speed but when you are needing them to run long distance the entire game it can be taxing. Especially when you have a ton of guys going both ways. I was also a little surprised not to see more passing plays that were designed short yardage timing routes. I think with Skye's ability, and the speed of the Trojans, they could easily line up 4 and 5 wide and just pick different areas to exploit the defense on quick slants and spacing routes.
Defensively the 3-3-5 scheme needs to be refurbished. I think it can work, but it needs to be fixed to where they have 8 of them on the line protecting against the run. Not many teams are going to have the speed to beat Portsmouth deep via the pass very often so all they need is a smart safety that plays deep and let everyone else focus on the run. Then preach gain tackling, and pursuing the ball until the whistle blows.
A lot of people say you can't teach tackling this late but I find that as false. It make take a few weeks to get it planted completely into the kids minds but toughness can be taught at any time. And should be taught daily. They may not be great at it but they can definitely improve.
All in all I felt good about the Trojans after watching and I think they have the ability to be a good team. Valley is going to be tougher than many people thought as well.
The 2 biggest things I take from this game is the toughness of the Trojan Players and the Scheming of the Trojan staff.
You cannot build a good program if you are not teaching toughness everyday and it looked like the Trojans lacked in that area big time. That's what helps lead to turnovers and tackling. But it goes beyond just the tackling, what I seen was one or two Trojans going for tackles and everyone else stopped assuming the play would be over. I noticed on the screen play Valley scored on, there were 2-3 Trojans in the area that could have gotten in position for a tackle when #34 broke the first 2 tackles, but they completely stopped. That's unacceptable against quality teams.
The second thing is the Trojans schemes on both sides of the ball. Offensively they are going to score, but they have to be defensive minded as well limiting turnovers and at times playing smash mouth football and use big packages and run north and south. The Trojans have the speed but when you are needing them to run long distance the entire game it can be taxing. Especially when you have a ton of guys going both ways. I was also a little surprised not to see more passing plays that were designed short yardage timing routes. I think with Skye's ability, and the speed of the Trojans, they could easily line up 4 and 5 wide and just pick different areas to exploit the defense on quick slants and spacing routes.
Defensively the 3-3-5 scheme needs to be refurbished. I think it can work, but it needs to be fixed to where they have 8 of them on the line protecting against the run. Not many teams are going to have the speed to beat Portsmouth deep via the pass very often so all they need is a smart safety that plays deep and let everyone else focus on the run. Then preach gain tackling, and pursuing the ball until the whistle blows.
A lot of people say you can't teach tackling this late but I find that as false. It make take a few weeks to get it planted completely into the kids minds but toughness can be taught at any time. And should be taught daily. They may not be great at it but they can definitely improve.
All in all I felt good about the Trojans after watching and I think they have the ability to be a good team. Valley is going to be tougher than many people thought as well.
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local superstar
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Re: WEEK 1: PORTSMOUTH @ VALLEY
If Ptown doenst change their defense from 3-3-5 they could be in trouble.
Re: WEEK 1: PORTSMOUTH @ VALLEY
PHS and Valley had a long time to work on defense. From what I am reading it appears neither team did a good job on D.
Coaching, coaching, coaching is the name of the game at this level and it appears PHS is worse off than last year. I sure hope they pick it up. Valley's coaching staff has earned their strips and wlll improve. The question is----will PHS coaching staff get it done!?
Coaching, coaching, coaching is the name of the game at this level and it appears PHS is worse off than last year. I sure hope they pick it up. Valley's coaching staff has earned their strips and wlll improve. The question is----will PHS coaching staff get it done!?