Week 8: Wheelersburg vs Waverly

[wobycat]

I was totally expecting Waverly to come out throwing the ball all over the field, deep balls especially and it never happened. Burg executed their game plan to perfection in the first half (except they have to score TD's that close to the end zone) by running the ball and controlling the clock.

Then when Burg got up 13-0 Mr. Conservative play caller for Burg shows back up and they tried to put the game on the defense and Burg's defense was getting gassed in the second half, especially the 4th qtr. Burg has done that a few times this year and I just don't get it.

What's also crazy is the amount of people not even affiliated with Burg are saying how the Lattimore's need to touch the ball more!!! Derrick averaged 11.6 yards a carry last night. ELEVEN.POINT.SIX!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's insane!!!! Also, I'm not a relative of the boys. Just a long time fan of Burg, who like everyone in the stands wonder the same thing on how you don't run him more.

Your coaching staff is getting conservative in their old age? Maybe burg needs a youth movement like Ironton a few yrs ago. Ambition. More modern ideas? Maybe the clock is starting to wind down on the old guy at the helm?

Burgs coaches know what they can or can’t do. Lol. It’s not a matter of calling what you want and expecting it to work.

[greygoose]

Why does Waverly not field punts instead of letting them roll for an additional 20 yards? I'm talking about easily fair caught balls. It has been going on for years.

As I watched this game that was something I wondered, especially when you need to conserve field position and time they only had 1 returner back there. That last punt there was going to be very little time and they lost what 15-20 yards on the bounce and possibly 10 seconds of clock as it rolled dead. Also something that stuck out were the personal protectors on the punt, 3 of the biggest OL?? No offense to the player but as a coach who do you believe these guys are going to chase down if the returner oh says breaks one like the young man did for Burg. As they replayed it none of the 3 were anywhere near being able to make a play, so at that point you're playing 11-8 when it comes to a punt. I don't recall ever seeing a team use this method nor was there any point in the game when Waverly punted that I see it being beneficial. Maybe someone from Waverly can help me out with that one but I just found it very odd. It's possible with the right personnel back there who can run he doesn't return it all the way he still breaks it for a big game but at least someone with speed would've had a shot towards the boundary.

[Giorgio Tsoukalous]

Well I was able to sit back and watch this one at the house and there's several things I walked away with after taking this one in. For as bad as Waverly played in the 1st half offensively they were still only down 3-0 at half, missed FG and a stop on 4th down and this game is possible 13-0 at the half. When you have the ball for a little over 5 minutes in a half to the other teams 18+ minutes you've got to feel great about 3-0. For Burg to play as well as they did I'm sorry but you can't tell me those coaches weren't upset about the score at half. At this point Burg had just over 200 yards of offense.

2nd half tail of 2 halves really as Burg was unable to muster any offense with the exception of the go ahead TD drive, if you look at yard totals Burg didn't hit 100 yards and 65 came on that go ahead drive. I know they had a punt return for a TD and it was a nice return but for Waverly why do you have 3 of your biggest lineman on personal protectors on the punt?? I mean seriously if a guy breaks it who are they catching?? Probably a rare thing to happen but it did tonight and they paid for that type of alignment as none of those personal protectors were able to offer any help, so you played 11-8 on a crucial punt return TD.

Let's roll into the 4th quarter and all of a sudden Waverly decides, hey it's Friday night and we've got a ball game right? Waverly's offense couldn't be stopped in the 4th quarter and it was all because of the running game and the defense stepped up and poof we've got a game. The decision not to hand it to Hurd on 4th and 1-2 was just crazy, they had just got the 1st down using the jet sweep with Fuethey a few plays before I don't think anyone was buying that play again that soon.

Final takes--Burg done an excellent job in ball control in the 1st half but a terrible job of putting it away early on, should've easily had a 2 score lead. The Lattimores played great in this one especially the speedster who was the difference in this game. #4 for Burg I believe they said he had 5 pass breakups but when everything is thrown 10 yards and closer at you it makes it pretty easy but he still had to make the plays and he did that. Burg done just enough to win this game which is what you're supposed to do in these types of games. For Waverly, hey if you got off the bus playing like you did in the 4th quarter you blow Burg out of the water that's just the simple facts of things but once again you guys got off to a slow slow start and you don't beat good teams doing that. Not throwing anything deep and not riding Hurd until the end of that game was your own mistake as the young man had over 100 yards and 2 TDs in the 2nd half and simply was unstoppable at that point. Also not sure what you were trying to accomplish by running 5 yard patterns all night long, you've got 2 of the biggest WRs in the area with speed and you don't give them 1-1 jump balls at least 2-3-4 times in the game?? COME ON MAN. Also thought there was some serious safe play calling from an offensive stand point, couple times just handing off on 3rd and 7 or 8 in that 1st half just seemed like you were playing not to mess up. A bunch of what if's if you're a Waverly faithful watching this one.

Couldn’t of said it any better. Don’t Disagree with a thing. It would of been better for Waverly to take little more of a thumping to wake up.

Just to add on the only difference for Waverly from 1st to 4th seemingly being playcall and burgs d wearing down to stop the run. 3rd and 9 in crunch time and you have 2 handoffs.

For the first time in a longtime Waverly was really able to get really good stops on D. And it didn’t take luck or a penalty to finally get a stop. And Waverly capitalized on that by running in passing downs. Worked once or twice but come on. Sometimes you have to use Will Futhey. Wheelersburg didn’t attempt a pass until so late onto the 2nd and where did that get them.

Go-ahead was seeable from anyone that has any understanding of how to actually play the game. You could of stacked 9 or 10 as long as you kept Penn(safety) over the top to play center field for that long pass everyone knew was coming again at some point. Wasn’t busted coverage just got over zealous with the lead

Also blew my mind was that the overused WR screen we have used all season was there in the 2nd half and during the drive before half time and end of game and they are calling plays across the middle and all the way across the hash. I don’t like bashing coaches but something needs to change if they want to go far with that scheme. It’s taken a lot of points off the board because we do gimmick plays instead of one qb sneak behind center or do stuff that Is out of their element.

Waverly didn't play bad in the first half Burgs defense just played better so I would give credit where credit is due! #4 burgs cornerback played lights out on Waverlys reciever #6 imo he should have gotten player of the game. I truly believe that Waverly way underestimated Burgs defense. Plus Burg was the more physical team last night. Great game by both teams it was a classic

Was definitely not a great game by both teams. This years conference champion or champions will be one of the worst I've seen in the soc conference in years. That was a poor display of offensive play calling by both teams.

[S.O.C]

Wheelersburg 21-14

Look into my crystal ball,

[wobycat]

Wheelersburg 21-14

Look into my crystal ball,

Nice

[Omega]

The better team won! Burgs defense played lights out in the first half ! I think they got a little tired toward the end of the 3rd and all of the 4th . But imo Burg was the favorite coming into this game .Burg was just more physical than waverly and I knew that coming into this game . Good luck to Waverly the rest of the way. The Gold football is back to where it belongs atleast a share of it anyways

I agree. Waverly had the best individual talent(s) while Wheelersburg was the more complete squad top to bottom in terns of physicality, fundamentals and expectations. The game was the classic battle of finesse versus power and power won out. That said, Waverly competed well.

Watching the stream, the game was close and lived up to expectations. That and speaking of the stream, kudos to the Wheelersburg Media crew. Their streamcast production was first class in camera work and production and the announcing was well done.

[Proud_Pirate63]

The better team won! Burgs defense played lights out in the first half ! I think they got a little tired toward the end of the 3rd and all of the 4th . But imo Burg was the favorite coming into this game .Burg was just more physical than waverly and I knew that coming into this game . Good luck to Waverly the rest of the way. The Gold football is back to where it belongs atleast a share of it anyways

I agree. Waverly had the best individual talent(s) while Wheelersburg was the more complete squad top to bottom in terns of physicality, fundamentals and expectations. The game was the classic battle of finesse versus power and power won out. That said, Waverly competed well.

Watching the stream, the game was close and lived up to expectations. That and speaking of the stream, kudos to the Wheelersburg Media crew. Their streamcast production was first class in camera work and production and the announcing was well done.

Their broadcasts are student ran with the school’s IT guy supervising. I agree, they do a great job.

[Yh8awinner]

Gimme a break bucknuts. With all the talent Ironton has been recruiting the last couple of years even I could coach well against southern Ohio. Win against the upper half of Ohio and we'll talk. Nobody on burg coaching staff is nowhere near envious of Ironton coaching staff.

[yabbadabbadoo]

Gimme a break bucknuts. With all the talent Ironton has been recruiting the last couple of years even I could coach well against southern Ohio. Win against the upper half of Ohio and we'll talk. Nobody on burg coaching staff is nowhere near envious of Ironton coaching staff.

Watch out, you will strike a nerve. Ironton doesn’t bring 5-6 players in each year the last three years.

[oldschoolqb13]

Burg played cover 2 like they have against us for the last 30 years...no surprises there. They played man-under on Futhey and Morrison and dared the Tigers to run the football. We didn't figure that out until late in the game. We tried to attack them with concepts that don't work well against that coverage. Sometimes as a player or coach, you have games where you just can't get it going or you get pigeon-holed into thinking your plan will work no matter what. I think this may have been one of those games for the Tigers offensive staff. I commend the Pirate staff for an excellent plan and also the kids for executing and getting after us on D. I don't think I've ever seen a more limited Pirate offense, but they obviously had enough to get it done Friday.

[wobycat]

Burg played cover 2 like they have against us for the last 30 years...no surprises there. They played man-under on Futhey and Morrison and dared the Tigers to run the football. We didn't figure that out until late in the game. We tried to attack them with concepts that don't work well against that coverage. Sometimes as a player or coach, you have games where you just can't get it going or you get pigeon-holed into thinking your plan will work no matter what. I think this may have been one of those games for the Tigers offensive staff. I commend the Pirate staff for an excellent plan and also the kids for executing and getting after us on D. I don't think I've ever seen a more limited Pirate offense, but they obviously had enough to get it done Friday.

The QB for burg is definitely more of a runner than a passer and that hampers them. Waverly started to load the box and dared them to pass. Credit burg staff to have the confidence and trust that he could pass it when he needed too. If burgs QB can complete some passes in future games, that offense gets a lot better.

[oldschoolqb13]

Burg played cover 2 like they have against us for the last 30 years...no surprises there. They played man-under on Futhey and Morrison and dared the Tigers to run the football. We didn't figure that out until late in the game. We tried to attack them with concepts that don't work well against that coverage. Sometimes as a player or coach, you have games where you just can't get it going or you get pigeon-holed into thinking your plan will work no matter what. I think this may have been one of those games for the Tigers offensive staff. I commend the Pirate staff for an excellent plan and also the kids for executing and getting after us on D. I don't think I've ever seen a more limited Pirate offense, but they obviously had enough to get it done Friday.

The QB for burg is definitely more of a runner than a passer and that hampers them. Waverly started to load the box and dared them to pass. Credit burg staff to have the confidence and trust that he could pass it when he needed too. If burgs QB can complete some passes in future games, that offense gets a lot better.

I agree woby. I don’t think he’s ever going to beat somebody with his arm, but I think he can be extremely effective a la the old Ironton teams. You run the guts out of it, and when you do pass, it’s a huge play. Ironton’s old stat line used to look like 6/7 for 140 yards and two td’s.

[oldschoolqb13]

And you have to give a TON of credit to Burg’s secondary. Those corners took our two best receivers to the woodshed, and it affected them on both sides of the ball. At the end of the day, your best players have to play well to win games like this, and unfortunately we came up short. Good luck to Burg in the playoffs.

[smurray]

And you have to give a TON of credit to Burg’s secondary. Those corners took our two best receivers to the woodshed, and it affected them on both sides of the ball. At the end of the day, your best players have to play well to win games like this, and unfortunately we came up short. Good luck to Burg in the playoffs.

20-38 passing with 95% of those passes and a majority of the incompletions to the sidelines. It was obvious that want working. Not a single attempt that I can remember downfield other than the hail Mary at the end of the first half. You have to soften the secondary up and they never once attempted that.

[RBH23]

And you have to give a TON of credit to Burg’s secondary. Those corners took our two best receivers to the woodshed, and it affected them on both sides of the ball. At the end of the day, your best players have to play well to win games like this, and unfortunately we came up short. Good luck to Burg in the playoffs.

20-38 passing with 95% of those passes and a majority of the incompletions to the sidelines. It was obvious that want working. Not a single attempt that I can remember downfield other than the hail Mary at the end of the first half. You have to soften the secondary up and they never once attempted that.

No throws downfield because Burg was in a cover 2. Throwing downfield would have been throwing into double coverage; would have little chance of success and would have done nothing to change Burg’s D. Waverly did the right thing by trying to run the ball. It just took time to get the run game going.

[PowerLifitingNut]

Some people will do anything to get an edge. I don't have a problem at all if players and/or coaches use message boards or what have you to help light a fire. It might be that one thing that makes the difference. It's even better than just making stuff up.

Oh if that’s the case, I heard the Waverly players and coaches were already working on minford cause they had this game in the bag.

See there, that worked and got your team fired up.

[Shoedaddy]

Why does Waverly not field punts instead of letting them roll for an additional 20 yards? I'm talking about easily fair caught balls. It has been going on for years.

All year Waverly has had two guys back, not sure the change for Friday. It cost Waverly 40-50 yards on two punts. I've always hated having one guy back to field punts

[yabbadabbadoo]

And you have to give a TON of credit to Burg’s secondary. Those corners took our two best receivers to the woodshed, and it affected them on both sides of the ball. At the end of the day, your best players have to play well to win games like this, and unfortunately we came up short. Good luck to Burg in the playoffs.

20-38 passing with 95% of those passes and a majority of the incompletions to the sidelines. It was obvious that want working. Not a single attempt that I can remember downfield other than the hail Mary at the end of the first half. You have to soften the secondary up and they never once attempted that.

No throws downfield because Burg was in a cover 2. Throwing downfield would have been throwing into double coverage; would have little chance of success and would have done nothing to change Burg’s D. Waverly did the right thing by trying to run the ball. It just took time to get the run game going.

I think Waverly was able to start running the ball because Burgs defense was wore out. Burg only had one timeout left in the fourth quarter because they wasted two in the third getting the play in. How do you do that with a 40 second play clock now?? Burg was gassed and could not stop the momentum Waverly had going.