GAHS FOOTBALL 2012

[iluvgahs]

Any predictions on this years blue devils?? upcoming players etc..

[bigblue22]

Should have a very good team year. A lot of players with experience coming back. Look for them to surprise teams next year!

[bigblue22]

Should have a very good team next year! A lot of players with experience coming back, look for them to surprise a lot of people next season

[jottings]

What was the name of Gallia's fullback who got injured in a scrimmage in 2011 and was lost for the year. He should be a senior this fall? I believe his last name began with an S.

[GAHSfootball]

Luke Pullins

[iluvgahs]

Yes Luke Pullins recovered very well from his injury and did great at the state power lifting meet he squated around 600

[jottings]

I remembered his name after I signed off last night. Will be be playing fullback again this year? With Cody Russell, Ty Warnimont, Wade Jarrell . Nick Craft and Logan Allison leading candidates in the backfield, GAHS should have an explosive team this fall.

[Blackjack]

Gallia should be the team to beat this year. Fourth year coach needs to produce a championship.

[GalliaGrad78]

I hope the clock isn't ticking on Coach Eddy, the kids seem to respond well to him. I am a bit concerned however, about the O and D lines this year, there were some very big boys graduating. Who is coming up on the lines?

[superblue]

Tic-Tock….Tic-Tock…..The clock never stops ticking…GAHS football fans have been spoiled by the success of previous coaching staffs… Saunders & Boko usually were vying for league championships and play-off berths… 4 years of neither have made the fans a little restless… Schools that pride themselves in having a great football tradition usually judge there coaches success by the number of play-off and league championships… Hopefully we can start a new trend this year…..

[seoal83]

I would love to see the boys win a league championship but i'm not sure its in the cards this year. If i would guess i would say 80 to 85% of the offense graduated. I don't have stats just guessing. The numbers for gallia last year were in the low 40's and they had a decent size senior class. There are going to be a lot of green young men on the field in early fall. I like the changes to the coaching staff for the upcoming year. I like that they are committed to doing more 7 on 7's this year. Not that i think we are going to turn into a passing offense. But we have lacked in coverage and offensive passing efficiency and the extra work could not hurt.

I have heard of nothing but good things about the weight room and the work ethic. Numbers this year should be up. I think we are finally getting the bounce back after adding soccer at varsity and junior high level. We now how more kids competing at lower levels of the program for a bright future but we it might not quite be there this year. I think this team will have a good mix of seniors but i think quite a few under class-men should get a lot of playing time.

I think the true test will be in the opener at Athens. I really don't think the blue devils stand a chance in this one. I scene all 3 games last year. Varsity, jv and freshmen at at each level they were able to play as complete units. that is something we have not been able to do with only 40 kids in the program. If the blue devils can hang tough at Athens i think this team can finish 8-2 and qualify for the playoffs. if not it is probably a 7-3 or 6-4 record and another runner-up spot in league play.

Looking past this season though i see all the things in place for quite a nice run into the future. If the clock is ticking i certainly hope not very fast because i really think we are on the right track.

[galliagrad89]

So who is on the coaching staff now?

[seoal83]

The last i heard final coach or coaches not bored approved so not official yet.
penrod still defense coordinator
saunders special special teams
streiter freshman coach
mcclendon offensive coordinator
and i think other coaches would be new. since not official would hate to get names wrong.

[GAHS83]

I hope the clock isn't ticking on Coach Eddy, the kids seem to respond well to him. I am a bit concerned however, about the O and D lines this year, there were some very big boys graduating. Who is coming up on the lines?

The line was the strength of the team last year. Offensively, Adkins, Barr, Guisinger and Saunders at TE were all big and experienced. They'll have Shoemaker and Campbell back who are both experienced and productive. I was impressed with both at times last year, though they were a bit incosistent. They'll both need to be leaders and be the veteran leaders. Williams will be a key to the offensive line. Although he'll only be a junior, he got valuable experience last year and showed flashes of excellence. With his combination of size, strength and quickness, he could be dominant if he keeps progressing. Others to keep an eye on are Gragg, Moore, Byus and Warren.

Defensively is where I think they're going to be hurt by the losses on the line the most. From their front 7 last year I think they only return Gragg and Warnimont. Gragg was excellent last year. Warnimont looked brilliant at times and lost at times. The problem is the Moss, Saunders and Guisinger along with Gragg controlled the front against most teams. The combination of Guisinger and Gragg in the middle tying up blockers left the backers free to make alot of plays. I think they're really going to miss Guisinger's size at DT plugging the run. There just weren't many times that teams could move him. Who will play that spot? Will they try to play Williams both ways? Will someone else grow or get stronger?

Don't get me wrong. I don't think they'll be under-sized, but they won't be as big as last year. Guisinger was 310 and Barr and Adkins were both in the 260-270 range. I could be wrong, but I think our largest linemen this year won't be quite that big.

[dewdrinker]

Gallia best learn how to score some points this year. Even with that big ol line they had last year they couldnt take it down the field and punch it in like they should have been able to. New offensive coordinator, hope he realizes you cant throw 20-30 yard passes with sophomore qb and a line that couldnt block for over 2 seconds, like last years did. I think the o will be way better than last . d gonna be a weaker. will be an interesting year.

[GAHS83]

Gallia best learn how to score some points this year. Even with that big ol line they had last year they couldnt take it down the field and punch it in like they should have been able to. New offensive coordinator, hope he realizes you cant throw 20-30 yard passes with sophomore qb and a line that couldnt block for over 2 seconds, like last years did. I think the o will be way better than last . d gonna be a weaker. will be an interesting year.

I agree with you that the straight drop or shotgun snap to a pass that was 15 or more yards down the field wasn't something we could run at all. However, the problem with pass-blocking last year wasn't all the kids on the line. I'm not saying that they couldn't have done better, but the scheme and playcalling definitely didn't help. First off, we got to the point where teams knew we were going to pound it and we couldn't throw well, so we were facing 9 or 10 in the box with an all-out blitz to stop the run much of the time. Because of this, it was often a case of having too many defenders to block. We also didn't have many quick hitters like a slant, TE dump or quick bubble to keep defenders honest. Like you mentioned, we seemed to have all the receivers running intermediate routes that take time to develop. We tried to run the screen game a little, but that is something that is difficult to execute at the HS level. It takes a lot of practice to develop the timing needed. Also, as potent as the running game was at times, it cried out to have play action passes added to keep the backers and safeties from crowding the box to stop the run. We did none of these things. I'm really hoping that a new OC and scheme will help.

[dewdrinker]

Agree !! Can't block 10 or 11 and setting a team up like you say is a must.

[JLHWSSGGAHS]

Eddy has had 4 years to get this team vying for a league championship, and into the playoff's. I personally feel that the previous coaching staffs would have had the teams of the past 3 years, competing for the opportunity to win the league and get into the playoffs. So I ask, what is different between Eddy's Staff and the previous Coaching Staffs of Saunders and Boko? From my perspective, the previous staffs were excellent at using the strengths of their players, and putting them in situations to excel. In high school you must be able to adjust your scheme to the personel you have, and that is the big question mark I have on Eddy. Yes the players seem to respond well to him and work hard for him, but if you are not making the decisions to set them up for success, then everything else is irrelevent. I am very curious how Eddy's new staff will work out. Will they be able to make the adjustments necessary? Please do not get me wrong, I want nothing but the best for GAHS this fall and hope they win everything, but I am spectical because of the high standards that was set under Coach Saunders and previous staffs.

[kvnchambers]

What i would like to see this team do is when all the games that it should win. in each of the last 2 years this team has not shown up to play at least one week. two years ago it was the. chillicothie game and last year it was the logan game. 2 years ago it definitely cost them a playoff spot and last year they would of been really close if not in with a win against Logan. I am excited for the boys to have the experience. About the only other thing i want to say is good luck to the boys and coaches this year. Now that my son is part of the program i don't believe as a parent i should be second guessing a coach in a public forum where my son could see me not backing up his coach so nothing but good luck and congrats from me on forums this year.

[GalliaGrad78]

I honesly believe that the only loss last year should have been against Jackson. The other nine games should/could have been won.