Josh Paiement started at QB in Marist's opener against Corvallis. He completed his first pass but his throwing hand came down on a helmet, causing a fracture. Josh sat out a few weeks, then came back and helped the Spartans march to the state final as a starting receiver and also played defensive back.
GH is Gary Haliski
JP is Josh Paiement
GH: Josh, what is your favorite sport? You've played football all four years, you'll play four years of basketball, you played baseball for two years, and last year you were on the track team.
JP: Football. It's unlike any other sport. Also, my dad, Ray, was on the 1973 Marist team that won our school's first state football title. I've always been around the program and I've always looked up to the players. I also like the tradition of brotherhood.
GH: Which school do you want to beat the most?
JP: The one we play each week, and especially our opponents in the championship game if we get there.
GH: What have you worked on most this summer to make yourself better in football?
JP: My strength, speed and stamina. I attended several camps, including the Barton camp and Portland State.
GH: What's your pregame meal?
JP: Whatever our lovely mothers make. They cook a different meal every week. We eat it and then we have mass. It's always good.
GH: What music do you have on your Ipod?
JP: Everything. Country, Hip Hop, Alternative, Christian.
GH: No Rap?
JP: Yeah, I have some Rap.
GH: Rap isn't music.
GH: Where is your favorite place to eat?
JP: QDoba on campus. It's a Mexican place. All of the guys go there. I like the Queso Burrito.
GH: Who on the team impressed you over the summer?
JP: Everybody on the team worked hard. Paxton Miller pushes himself hard every day. He leads by example and that really pushes the rest of us.
GH: What's your favorite college or pro team?
JP: The Ducks and the Yankees.
GH: Who is your favorite player from those teams?
JP: Brian Paysinger. He was my favorite receiver. I got to know him and spent time with him on media day.
GH: What is the best thing to do in Eugene on a summer day?
JP: Go to Fern Ridge Lake and go boating, wake boarding and tubing.
GH: Does coach Geske let you guys date?
JP: [laughs] Yeah.
GH: What do you consider a proper date?
JP: Dinner and a movie.
GH: Where would you take a girl to eat.
JP: Red Robin because it's close to the theater.
GH: What type of movie would you take a date to?
JP: A Comedy.
GH: What type of movie would you go to with the guys?
JP: Action or a different type of comedy.
GH: Where would you take a date to eat on a more formal date?
JP: The Electric Station.
GH: Any nicknames on the team?
JP: Baird Cat. That's Austin Baird. When he was a frosh, he came up to JV's and he was the wild cat.
We call Cameron Crawley 'Crawlspace' or 'Kama-Lama Ding Dong'.
GH: I don't want to know why.
JP: Hammersmith is Hammertime.
GH: You're on injured reserved for at least a short time. How do you feel, especially thinking back to that first game of last year when you had your fracture.
JP: I'm hoping to be back in few days. Last year I was bummed about it. I broke my thumb on the first play. I completed the pass! That was tough last year. But this year I'm not as worried about it. It doesn't help to worry about it.
GH: Thanks, Josh.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Different look on O this year at Marist. Could it get better than last year?
First, lets get to the rumors about the Marist transfers. The 6' 8" Texan is only 6' 7". Okay, there is no transfer from Texas. There is also no 6' 5" transfer from South Eugene. Kamerun Smith did transfer in from Willamette High as well as James Banks from South Eugene. Both are juniors. We know Kamerun is tall, but Banks is only 6' 1", I'm sure that's disappointing to the Spartan fans who were seeing visions of a 6' 5" beast. However, Banks is pure football guy and even more of a smart guy - what with his calculus class at the U of O.
Turnout: Marist has 58 players listed on the varsity roster. There's another 22 frosh.
Returning starters: Marist lost 10 defensive starters. Paxton Miller is the returnee. Marist returns six all league players on offense. Taylor Walcott, Austin Baird, and Josh Paiement at receiver spots. Greg Park in the backfield and Mitch Olive and Paxton Miller on the line.
I spent a lot of time with coach Geske in a far reaching interview. Here's a paraphrasing of our talk.
GH is Gary Haliski
FG is coach Frank Geske
GH: Several MWL coaches have asked me, "Marist can't be as good as last year, can they?". Well, can you?
FG: No. We were able to do some extra things because of Devereaux and Mayes on defense. The other teams had to account for them at all times. We were also incredibly fortunate to have guys like Inouye and Beattie on the corners. They didn't weigh a buck forty, but they had perfect technique and would drill guys. Silver was special on offense. We've got to replace 10 starters on defense. We'll be good on D because we have so many players who can play each position and we have a lot of competition within our team. Our offense is really, really good and has an opportunity to be outstanding.
GH: What were your subvaristy records last year?
FG: Our frosh team had one win while the JV's went undefeated.
GH: Non of the MWL teams return their QB. You've got Kamerun Smith, who played at Willamette last year. Who's it going to be at QB?
FG: Smith is our quarterback. We have several guys who can come in at QB. Josh Paiement and Tyler Dennis could handle the job as well as some others, but Smith is our QB and is picking up the system quickly.
GH: Smith is a drop back passer, whereas Logan Silver was a passing tailback at QB last year. With Greg Park back as a running back and James Banks in the backfield, will you have a different look?
FG: Park and Banks are two really good backs. We'll be able to have different sets. Two back sets, a set with one back with an H back. They can catch so they might not be in the backfield at all, sometimes.
GH: You've got Walcott, Baird and Paiement back at receiver spots. Any other receivers?
FG: We're loaded at the receiver position. You can expect to see Jonathon Tharpe, Josh Harper, Sam Krier a lot. I call Krier "Mr. Diggs', he's fearless over the middle.
GH: Do you have more depth this year? Can you have more players play just one way? Perhaps Walcott and Kamerun Smith?
FG: I'd like to get Kamerun on the D line, but he's most likely just going to see Qb duty. I'll try and hold Walcott to the offense, but he can chase anything down from a free safety spot - so I wouldn't be surprised to see him on D at times.
GH: You lost 10 starting defenders. How do you reload your defense?
FG: All of our running backs are linebackers. All of our O linemen are D linemen and our receivers are our DB's. We'll be rotating a lot of players through all positions a lot. We're getting pretty good on D. And this is really helping our Qb, Kamerun. Kamerun gets to see six to seven coverages every day. That's going to help him a lot and he has to mature very quickly in our first two games. [Marist opens at Corvallis and then travels to Ashland]
GH: Your practices are at tempo on the very first day. It seems like all of the kids know what station to go to and when to go there. Even the frosh.
FG: We spend time during conditioning going over practice and tell the kids we expect them to be ready on the first day. We do 80 minutes of technique to start each practice. We rotate every player of every class through each station.
GH is thinking.[So maybe some of the players don't really know what's going on the first day, they just follow their group around from station to station. Looked good to me. Practice was fast paced, and the Spartans really do spend the first 80 minutes on technique.]
GH: Last year you were loaded with horses and it looked like you had great leadership. Do you think the leadership will develop to the same level this year?
FG: I think it will be the same. I am well aware that I am very fortunate to be coaching at Marist. I remember how busy I was coaching at Franklin and Tigard. A fair amount of my time was spent dealing with peripheral player issues that didn't have anything to do with the kids on the field. At Marist, the varsity kids are already good citizens with good habits.
It took me awhile to figure out why our frosh teams do so poorly and then they end up doing very well. Our current group of juniors were winless as frosh in the Sky-Em league. I finally realized that when the frosh come into Marist, every one of their teachers loads them up all day long with doing the right thing. The frosh would get that all day long and would figure out that they probably shouldn't have an aggressive football attitude in their every day activities. Then they'd show up to practice with a good citizen smile, and we'd want them to go after it. We coaches wanted more of the Joe Paterno thing, "Gentlemen off the field", but be able to flip a switch when they get on the field.
The losing frosh seasons were frustrating but I figured out why and worked with my coaches on it, telling the coaches that the frosh year in the classroom pays dividends. We end up with kids who are diligent, they eat right, they train right, they take care of their families and they take care of each other. By the time a player makes varsity, 'It' has just happened. And I get to focus on football.
GH: Thanks, coach.
Coach Geske touched on a lot of players that I haven't fit into the above conversations, sometimes because I can't read my scratch notes. Here's some mentions that I can still read:
Jet Taylor (5' 8", 205 LB/RB) is The Little Stud.
'Hammertime' (junior Eric Hammersmith) is battling senior Ryan Whalen for the center spot.
Tony Ford (6' 2", 24) will be joining Hammertime, Mitch Olive, Paxton Miller and Whalen rotating on the D line.
Colton Bowden, Cody King (MiddleLB), Jet Taylor and James Banks give the Spartans a lot to work with at the LB position.
Sophomore Dante Castille (5'10", 310) is pushing around some of the junior and senior linemen and just might see a lot of playing time.
Three juniors really stand out. Austin Baird, Paxton Miller, and James Banks. Banks is tough and has a super high football IQ to go along with the U of O calculus class. Miller is all football, and Baird is super quick and tough as nails. I grabbed Baird and state sprint champion Taylor Walcott for a staged photo for a story of who is faster. Walcott is a senior and has proof of how fast he is via his OSAA state sprint champion medal. Baird is fast, but he is a lowly junior and a baseball player, so he doesn't get to show off his speed. During conditioning, the Spartans run lots of 100's, so eyes are on Walcott and Taylor. Walcott seems to win those. But football is about the 40 yard dash, and one day the team had to put them to the test, and the version I heard was that Baird eeked out Walcott in the 40. Being competitive, Walcott challenged Baird to a 100, where Walcott proved that he would be the guy to throw to if Marist is ever first and ten from their own one yard line. During the photo shoot, when I asked them who won the 40, they laughed and said it was really, really close.
Best coaching comment of the day as I was walking around taking photos: A non varsity player was explaining to a coach that the player should only play on one side of the ball and there wasn't any reason to practice both ways. The coach said, " Football isn't a democracy. At Marist we give you an equal opportunity to play both offense and defense.
I'll post Josh Paiement's pop quiz answers Friday, and I'll be posting practice photos of all teams next Monday.
Off to Ashland and Eagle Point Thursday.
Turnout: Marist has 58 players listed on the varsity roster. There's another 22 frosh.
Returning starters: Marist lost 10 defensive starters. Paxton Miller is the returnee. Marist returns six all league players on offense. Taylor Walcott, Austin Baird, and Josh Paiement at receiver spots. Greg Park in the backfield and Mitch Olive and Paxton Miller on the line.
I spent a lot of time with coach Geske in a far reaching interview. Here's a paraphrasing of our talk.
GH is Gary Haliski
FG is coach Frank Geske
GH: Several MWL coaches have asked me, "Marist can't be as good as last year, can they?". Well, can you?
FG: No. We were able to do some extra things because of Devereaux and Mayes on defense. The other teams had to account for them at all times. We were also incredibly fortunate to have guys like Inouye and Beattie on the corners. They didn't weigh a buck forty, but they had perfect technique and would drill guys. Silver was special on offense. We've got to replace 10 starters on defense. We'll be good on D because we have so many players who can play each position and we have a lot of competition within our team. Our offense is really, really good and has an opportunity to be outstanding.
GH: What were your subvaristy records last year?
FG: Our frosh team had one win while the JV's went undefeated.
GH: Non of the MWL teams return their QB. You've got Kamerun Smith, who played at Willamette last year. Who's it going to be at QB?
FG: Smith is our quarterback. We have several guys who can come in at QB. Josh Paiement and Tyler Dennis could handle the job as well as some others, but Smith is our QB and is picking up the system quickly.
GH: Smith is a drop back passer, whereas Logan Silver was a passing tailback at QB last year. With Greg Park back as a running back and James Banks in the backfield, will you have a different look?
FG: Park and Banks are two really good backs. We'll be able to have different sets. Two back sets, a set with one back with an H back. They can catch so they might not be in the backfield at all, sometimes.
GH: You've got Walcott, Baird and Paiement back at receiver spots. Any other receivers?
FG: We're loaded at the receiver position. You can expect to see Jonathon Tharpe, Josh Harper, Sam Krier a lot. I call Krier "Mr. Diggs', he's fearless over the middle.
GH: Do you have more depth this year? Can you have more players play just one way? Perhaps Walcott and Kamerun Smith?
FG: I'd like to get Kamerun on the D line, but he's most likely just going to see Qb duty. I'll try and hold Walcott to the offense, but he can chase anything down from a free safety spot - so I wouldn't be surprised to see him on D at times.
GH: You lost 10 starting defenders. How do you reload your defense?
FG: All of our running backs are linebackers. All of our O linemen are D linemen and our receivers are our DB's. We'll be rotating a lot of players through all positions a lot. We're getting pretty good on D. And this is really helping our Qb, Kamerun. Kamerun gets to see six to seven coverages every day. That's going to help him a lot and he has to mature very quickly in our first two games. [Marist opens at Corvallis and then travels to Ashland]
GH: Your practices are at tempo on the very first day. It seems like all of the kids know what station to go to and when to go there. Even the frosh.
FG: We spend time during conditioning going over practice and tell the kids we expect them to be ready on the first day. We do 80 minutes of technique to start each practice. We rotate every player of every class through each station.
GH is thinking.[So maybe some of the players don't really know what's going on the first day, they just follow their group around from station to station. Looked good to me. Practice was fast paced, and the Spartans really do spend the first 80 minutes on technique.]
GH: Last year you were loaded with horses and it looked like you had great leadership. Do you think the leadership will develop to the same level this year?
FG: I think it will be the same. I am well aware that I am very fortunate to be coaching at Marist. I remember how busy I was coaching at Franklin and Tigard. A fair amount of my time was spent dealing with peripheral player issues that didn't have anything to do with the kids on the field. At Marist, the varsity kids are already good citizens with good habits.
It took me awhile to figure out why our frosh teams do so poorly and then they end up doing very well. Our current group of juniors were winless as frosh in the Sky-Em league. I finally realized that when the frosh come into Marist, every one of their teachers loads them up all day long with doing the right thing. The frosh would get that all day long and would figure out that they probably shouldn't have an aggressive football attitude in their every day activities. Then they'd show up to practice with a good citizen smile, and we'd want them to go after it. We coaches wanted more of the Joe Paterno thing, "Gentlemen off the field", but be able to flip a switch when they get on the field.
The losing frosh seasons were frustrating but I figured out why and worked with my coaches on it, telling the coaches that the frosh year in the classroom pays dividends. We end up with kids who are diligent, they eat right, they train right, they take care of their families and they take care of each other. By the time a player makes varsity, 'It' has just happened. And I get to focus on football.
GH: Thanks, coach.
Coach Geske touched on a lot of players that I haven't fit into the above conversations, sometimes because I can't read my scratch notes. Here's some mentions that I can still read:
Jet Taylor (5' 8", 205 LB/RB) is The Little Stud.
'Hammertime' (junior Eric Hammersmith) is battling senior Ryan Whalen for the center spot.
Tony Ford (6' 2", 24) will be joining Hammertime, Mitch Olive, Paxton Miller and Whalen rotating on the D line.
Colton Bowden, Cody King (MiddleLB), Jet Taylor and James Banks give the Spartans a lot to work with at the LB position.
Sophomore Dante Castille (5'10", 310) is pushing around some of the junior and senior linemen and just might see a lot of playing time.
Best coaching comment of the day as I was walking around taking photos: A non varsity player was explaining to a coach that the player should only play on one side of the ball and there wasn't any reason to practice both ways. The coach said, " Football isn't a democracy. At Marist we give you an equal opportunity to play both offense and defense.
I'll post Josh Paiement's pop quiz answers Friday, and I'll be posting practice photos of all teams next Monday.
Off to Ashland and Eagle Point Thursday.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Pop quiz for Dalton Milburn - All league tight end
Pop Quiz of Marshfield's Dalton Milburn 6' 7" 260 lb All League Tight End
The underlying theme of the first question is that the Ainsworth brothers are the head coaches of football and basketball at Marshfield. Justin is the head football coach and Jesse is the head basketball coach. Dalton Milburn was all league in both sports last year.
GH is Gary Haliski
DM is Dalton Milburn
GH: I was hoping your head football coach would be standing next to you when I asked this question, but he's not. What is your favorite sport to play, football or basketball?
DM: [Dalton looks around for coach Justin Ainsworth]. Basketball, but if coach was standing here, I would say football.
GH: Now the toughie. Which coach is better? Justin in football or Jesse in basketball?
DM: [Laughs, squirms, and after a pause...] Uh, they both have their unique attributes.
GH: You're ready for TV interviews.
GH: What did you work on the hardest through the summer to get better in football?
DM: Strength.
GH: Which school do you want to beat most this year?
DM. No doubt about it, while the league games are the most important, we have to beat the [North Bend] Bulldogs.
GH: I sense a little revenge.
DM: A lot.
GH: What is your pregame meal?
DM: For lunch it's Subway. About 2 to 3 hours before the game I start chugging Gatorade.
GH: What music do you listen to on your Ipod?
DM: I start off slow with some country. About two hours before the game I listen to rap, and in the locker room it's all rock til we step on the field.
GH thinking: [Is Rap music?]
GH: Who on the team has impressed you the most so far this year?
DM: Jason Sweet.. He's really stepping up to the role of quarterback.
GH: What is your favorite college football team?
DM: The Ducks.
GH: Who is your favorite Oregon player?
DM: Joey Harrington.
GH: What's the best thing to do in Coos Bay in the summer? Especially on a glorious day like today.
DM: Go upriver [Coos River} or go to the beach and have a bonfire. Get outdoors.
GH: Thanks, Dalton.
The underlying theme of the first question is that the Ainsworth brothers are the head coaches of football and basketball at Marshfield. Justin is the head football coach and Jesse is the head basketball coach. Dalton Milburn was all league in both sports last year.
GH is Gary Haliski
DM is Dalton Milburn
GH: I was hoping your head football coach would be standing next to you when I asked this question, but he's not. What is your favorite sport to play, football or basketball?
DM: [Dalton looks around for coach Justin Ainsworth]. Basketball, but if coach was standing here, I would say football.
GH: Now the toughie. Which coach is better? Justin in football or Jesse in basketball?
DM: [Laughs, squirms, and after a pause...] Uh, they both have their unique attributes.
GH: You're ready for TV interviews.
GH: What did you work on the hardest through the summer to get better in football?
DM: Strength.
GH: Which school do you want to beat most this year?
DM. No doubt about it, while the league games are the most important, we have to beat the [North Bend] Bulldogs.
GH: I sense a little revenge.
DM: A lot.
GH: What is your pregame meal?
DM: For lunch it's Subway. About 2 to 3 hours before the game I start chugging Gatorade.
GH: What music do you listen to on your Ipod?
DM: I start off slow with some country. About two hours before the game I listen to rap, and in the locker room it's all rock til we step on the field.
GH thinking: [Is Rap music?]
GH: Who on the team has impressed you the most so far this year?
DM: Jason Sweet.. He's really stepping up to the role of quarterback.
GH: What is your favorite college football team?
DM: The Ducks.
GH: Who is your favorite Oregon player?
DM: Joey Harrington.
GH: What's the best thing to do in Coos Bay in the summer? Especially on a glorious day like today.
DM: Go upriver [Coos River} or go to the beach and have a bonfire. Get outdoors.
GH: Thanks, Dalton.
Marshfield Preview: Lots going on
There's lots going on at Marshfield!!!!
New turf, no more road trips for home games, going to a no huddle offense, new junior quarterback, two new assistant coaches, an odd D front.....
What a gorgeous day on the bay! Friends try and convert me to the beauty of the Yachats area, but there's nothing better than Coos Bay and the beaches on a summer day.
Head coach Justin Ainsworth and the Pirates will be playing their home games at Susick Stadium. The turf is awesome, both in looks and performance. The Pirates should have an extra spring in their step now that they are back at home in arguably one of the best high school football venues in Oregon.
I sat down with coach Ainsworth and some of his staff and gathered the following info:
Turnout: 74 players as of Tuesday, frosh thru seniors. Of interest is that this years group of frosh are the first class to enter Marshfield who have participated in a three year old south coast youth tackle program. Next year's incoming frosh group is projected to have 30 or more players and will have another year of the youth tackle program under their belts.
Returning starters. Marshfield lost a ton of seniors last year, including a first team all league back and six all league defenders. All league tight end Dalton Milburn returns as well as strong safety Ty Cutting. Both Milburn and Cutting will be three year starters. Chase Messerle returns at safety. Parker Forte returns and will be the Pirate center. Brad Beaudry and Frank Montenegro also return on the line.
GH is Gary Haliski
JA is head coach Justin Ainsworth
GH: No MWL team returns their quarterback. All the coaches have to be concerned. Who is fighting for your starting QB spot?
JA: Jason Sweet, a junior, is our QB. He was the JV starter last year. We'll probably be much more balanced this year between running and passing with Jason as QB.
GH: You lost a first team running back to graduation. Who is going to try and fill those shoes?
JA: We're deep at running back, but not experienced. Seniors Ty Cutting and Chase Messerle figure to be our main ball carriers with sophomore Alex Brown getting playing time. Again, we're deep, we have a lot of potential tailbacks behind those guys.
GH: What about your receivers? Obviously you have 6' 7" Dalton Milburn back at tight end.
JA: Yes, MIlburn's obviously our tight end. 6' 2" junior Jacob McAvoy will be our wide receiver.
GH: You mentioned Beaudry, Forte and Montenegro on the line. That doesn't fill all of the holes the graduating seniors left. Any others own starting spots so far?
JA: Looks like sophomore Bill Fields will be a guard for us, and we're going to be using Dalton two ways. You'll see him as a defensive end a lot more this year.
GH: McAvay, Cutting and Messerle can cover the pass. Who's going to be joining them as a DB?
JA: We're expecting Cody Roark to step up and play well right alongside those guys.
GH: You were up and down last year at game time. A big loss to Springfield, a solid win over Willamette, an upset over Eagle Point, a loss to North Bend?
JA: We've got to get more consistent. We talk to the players about it, but they are the ones who have to do it.
GH: Turnovers cost you last year, what....
JA: They KILLED us! We've just got to emphasize it!
GH: The Coos Bay school district is going to a four day week for the kids. Do you anticipate any problems or opportunities?
JA: I'm concerned about a couple of things. Our class day starts at 7:40 AM and goes to 3:30. Add in practice and homework and that's a long day. We're going to have to help the kids manage that. The other issue I am concerned about is what the kids will do on Friday's when they don't have school. They've got to make good choices and be ready to play Friday night. The coaches will have in-service day's on a lot of Friday's, so we'll have to rely on the team to manage themselves.
GH: This is your third year as head coach. Did you make many changes when you took over, and if you did, have the players bought into the changes?
JA: One of the reasons I took this job is that coach Wigle had a blueprint for success and I didn't need to make a lot of changes. He also left me with a great staff. But this year we're making lots of changes - some due to the type of personnel we have on the field and some other changes we had planned on. We're going no huddle. We're really pleased with the way the guys are picking it up. Hopefully, we'll be doing more spread offense. We're putting in on odd line on D, we've got a new young quarterback, we're planning on being more balanced on offense and we've got two new coaches. Mark Wheeling will be coaching our frosh. Wheeling was a stud QB for Reedsport's state championship team. And we're fortunate to get recent Marshfield grad, Colin Cooper, on the staff. We lost some really good coaches, but coach Chad Scriven returns and will handle the D-line.
GH: Looking at last year's roster, either you have the shortest team in the league or have the most honest height and weight roster listings in the league. Which is it? (Coaches in the coaches room laugh)
JA: Neither, we stretched every 1'4 inch we could last year.
GH: Thanks for the visor.
JA: You're welcome.
New turf, no more road trips for home games, going to a no huddle offense, new junior quarterback, two new assistant coaches, an odd D front.....
What a gorgeous day on the bay! Friends try and convert me to the beauty of the Yachats area, but there's nothing better than Coos Bay and the beaches on a summer day.
Head coach Justin Ainsworth and the Pirates will be playing their home games at Susick Stadium. The turf is awesome, both in looks and performance. The Pirates should have an extra spring in their step now that they are back at home in arguably one of the best high school football venues in Oregon.
I sat down with coach Ainsworth and some of his staff and gathered the following info:
Turnout: 74 players as of Tuesday, frosh thru seniors. Of interest is that this years group of frosh are the first class to enter Marshfield who have participated in a three year old south coast youth tackle program. Next year's incoming frosh group is projected to have 30 or more players and will have another year of the youth tackle program under their belts.
Returning starters. Marshfield lost a ton of seniors last year, including a first team all league back and six all league defenders. All league tight end Dalton Milburn returns as well as strong safety Ty Cutting. Both Milburn and Cutting will be three year starters. Chase Messerle returns at safety. Parker Forte returns and will be the Pirate center. Brad Beaudry and Frank Montenegro also return on the line.
GH is Gary Haliski
JA is head coach Justin Ainsworth
GH: No MWL team returns their quarterback. All the coaches have to be concerned. Who is fighting for your starting QB spot?
JA: Jason Sweet, a junior, is our QB. He was the JV starter last year. We'll probably be much more balanced this year between running and passing with Jason as QB.
GH: You lost a first team running back to graduation. Who is going to try and fill those shoes?
JA: We're deep at running back, but not experienced. Seniors Ty Cutting and Chase Messerle figure to be our main ball carriers with sophomore Alex Brown getting playing time. Again, we're deep, we have a lot of potential tailbacks behind those guys.
GH: What about your receivers? Obviously you have 6' 7" Dalton Milburn back at tight end.
JA: Yes, MIlburn's obviously our tight end. 6' 2" junior Jacob McAvoy will be our wide receiver.
GH: You mentioned Beaudry, Forte and Montenegro on the line. That doesn't fill all of the holes the graduating seniors left. Any others own starting spots so far?
JA: Looks like sophomore Bill Fields will be a guard for us, and we're going to be using Dalton two ways. You'll see him as a defensive end a lot more this year.
GH: McAvay, Cutting and Messerle can cover the pass. Who's going to be joining them as a DB?
JA: We're expecting Cody Roark to step up and play well right alongside those guys.
GH: You were up and down last year at game time. A big loss to Springfield, a solid win over Willamette, an upset over Eagle Point, a loss to North Bend?
JA: We've got to get more consistent. We talk to the players about it, but they are the ones who have to do it.
GH: Turnovers cost you last year, what....
JA: They KILLED us! We've just got to emphasize it!
GH: The Coos Bay school district is going to a four day week for the kids. Do you anticipate any problems or opportunities?
JA: I'm concerned about a couple of things. Our class day starts at 7:40 AM and goes to 3:30. Add in practice and homework and that's a long day. We're going to have to help the kids manage that. The other issue I am concerned about is what the kids will do on Friday's when they don't have school. They've got to make good choices and be ready to play Friday night. The coaches will have in-service day's on a lot of Friday's, so we'll have to rely on the team to manage themselves.
GH: This is your third year as head coach. Did you make many changes when you took over, and if you did, have the players bought into the changes?
JA: One of the reasons I took this job is that coach Wigle had a blueprint for success and I didn't need to make a lot of changes. He also left me with a great staff. But this year we're making lots of changes - some due to the type of personnel we have on the field and some other changes we had planned on. We're going no huddle. We're really pleased with the way the guys are picking it up. Hopefully, we'll be doing more spread offense. We're putting in on odd line on D, we've got a new young quarterback, we're planning on being more balanced on offense and we've got two new coaches. Mark Wheeling will be coaching our frosh. Wheeling was a stud QB for Reedsport's state championship team. And we're fortunate to get recent Marshfield grad, Colin Cooper, on the staff. We lost some really good coaches, but coach Chad Scriven returns and will handle the D-line.
GH: Looking at last year's roster, either you have the shortest team in the league or have the most honest height and weight roster listings in the league. Which is it? (Coaches in the coaches room laugh)
JA: Neither, we stretched every 1'4 inch we could last year.
GH: Thanks for the visor.
JA: You're welcome.
Monday, August 8, 2011
2011 MWL Football Warm Ups - 1st Statewide Poll & more
I'll start football coverage in earnest starting next Tuesday, the 16th. But the first OregonLive polls have been posted and I thought I'd let you know how I voted and issue my annual 'Way to Early MWL football Prediction'. I also have some comments on Marshfield considering a request to move to 4A.
OregonLive Preseason Poll
Preseason polls are mostly an exercise in futility. Voters, including me, aren't sure who has transferred in or out of schools. And how many voters are really tracking how many seniors graduated throughout the state and how good a school's JV team was? Not me, I can barely keep up with the MWL. Here's how I voted with the OregonLive poll rank in parenthesis.
1. Sherwood (2) The Bowmen lost Long to Lake Oswego, but so what?
2. Mt. View (4)
3. Marist (1) Yes, the Spartan receivers return, but......
4. Corvallis (3)
5. Crsnt Valley (6)
6. Lebanon (8) A periodic MWL team throughout history, so they must be good.
7. Wilsonville (7)
8. Liberty (10)
9. Jefferson (5) Jeff is usually good for at least a q-final game. I'll probably move them up in my next vote.
10. Eagle Pt. (12) It's gonna be Snowing in the South
At the 6A level, I voted Aloha #1, Sheldon #4 and Roseburg #7.
My Way Too Early MWL Prediction - August 8th
1. Marist. Not as easy of a route to the title as last year. A team doesn't lose Silver, Mayes, Deveraux, Swindling, Beattie and more without going down a notch. But the entire speedy, tough, sure handed receiving corp returns. Austin Baird was second in league receiving yards last year, Taylor Walcott was fourth and Josh Paiment was good for 29.6 yards per catch after coming back from an injury while playing QB. Whoever ends up at QB just needs to put the ball out there for the receivers to catch. Not to be overlooked will be the return of running back Greg Park, at 89 yards per game - 4th in league last year.. That gives the Spartans great flexibility on O. If the lineman develop quickly, look out MWL! A lot of talk about ex-Wolverine Kamerun Smith at QB. My stepson, Alex Brink, came home from a camp he was working this summer and asked me if 'Smith' was the name of the Willamette QB I had been touting. Alex liked what he saw. Here are my thoughts - Smith throws a sweet ball, but expect to see a lot of speed rushers attack from the outside to test Smith's running ability. Smith is tall enough to dink the ball to an outlet back in a jam, so he might not have to run, but I sure wouldn't let Smith stand back and throw all day.
2. Eagle Point. I liked the fight the Eagles showed in their game at Churchill last year. The Eagles came out and looked like they were going to destroy Air Lancer, going up 14-0 in the first Q. But Churchill tied it by halftime. The Lancers were up 21-20 after three. Eagle Point said enough of this fancy-pants passing game and played Snowball, by rumbling Garrett Snow the fourth quarter for a 39-21 win. Eagle Point then easily handled Willamette the next week, but had a Jekyll & Hyde season after that. I like the fact they DL/T Tryone Homes is back. He was 6-4, 240 last year. The Eagles can fill four other positions with all-stars besides Snow and Holmes. Zach Reed and Devon Adams return in the secondary along with Daniel Morgan (6' ", 200 lb LB last year). Adams doubled as a very good receiver. Bryan Strong returns as an all league O lineman. In case you've forgotten - Snow isn't just a running back, he also caught 18 passes in league last year.
3. Air Lancer. Running Back Aaron Ingram (6th in league rushing yardage last year) alone should be enough for me to rank Churchill number two. But the Lancer's lost their top three receivers and their quarterback, so Air Lancer will struggle. Hah! I've seen Churchill lose a ton of talent before. Before you know it, the other team's heads are spinning. Junior receiver Andrew Bennion will likely be one of the Lancer's who keep the Air Lancer tradition going. Jake Dezarn returns as an all league DB. I'm sure the Lancers will put his hands to use somewhere as he is an excellent baseball player. Juniors to be all leaguers DL Gavin Cowles (6' 2", 200 last year) and center Jermeny Crutchfield (5-10, 170 in 2010) return. By the way, RB Ingram is much like Eagle Point's Snow in that Ingram also catches the ball out of the backfield a lot.
4. Ashland. Ashland tore up Japan in the Pacific Rim Bowl earlier this month. Looks like the Grizzlies found a good QB in soph Daniel White. He has good receivers in Sam Geisslinger, Franklin Limema, Taylor Humphrey and Quaid Walters. One Volz graduated at running back. This year it looks like junior Jon Volz will get more carries. The Grizzlies lost Jake McCoy in a trade for another player to be named later - or maybe never.
The top four teams are from the top of the MWL alphabet - A, C. EP M - , therefore the bottom four must be from the bottom of the MWL alphabet - M, NE, S, W.
5. Willamette. I"m going with the Wolverines over Springfield for 5th. Every team in the league lost their starting quarterback. I think it's easier to build on a good returning running game and Willamette has some good backs returning. Jordan Visarraga, Dante Giles and Bryce York all got a decent amount of carries behind Skyler Moore. Visarraga had occasional glimpses of brilliance, which he'll need to turn into a regularity if the Wolverines are to succeed. The receiving corp should be quite capable with 6' 1 ' Zach Hatefi and 6' 4 '" Mitch Crownover returning. Keep an eye on two-way all leaguer (LB, OT) junior to be Tyler Johnson.
6. Springfield. The Millers can build their O line around 1st team guard Clanton Self (6' 0", 260) and all league center Isias Giron (5' 8", 210). Junior Jon Emerald was an all league DB and will likely be on the receiving end of passes along with returning receivers Alister Jorkan and Dylan Pullen. (I threw away the Springfield-Marshfield game roster last year as Springfield was shellacking my Pirates 50-6. With the roster went my list of underclassmen who were getting significant playing time for the Millers.)
7. Marshfield. Marshfield returns just one all league player, but he's a big one. Receiver Dalton Milburn was listed at 6' 6" and 260 last year. Running back chores will likely be filled by Ty Cutting. Marshfield had three huge sophomore linemen on the roster last year. If these guys get in shape, look out. But the tendency the last few years has been to go with whoever is in shape, and a lot of small linemen have pushed the big boys out of the way.
8. North Eugene. Welcome back head coach Edmund Rivera. I'll keep expectations low so you can exceed them. The Highlanders need to get baseball pitcher Andrew Moore to pull a Blake Stepp and play quarterback his senior year. Not likely, as Moore is committed to gnaw on trees 45 miles to the north, and play some baseball there, too. Rivera will start with a couple of good returning offensive weapons. Running back Travis Brumwill was good for over 5 yards per carry while watching Alex Wilson get most of the workload. Receiver Ryan Koth was 10th in league in yardage.
That's it for the 'way too early' poll. I hope to visit some practices of several schools before the first games Sept 2. I had fun visiting the teams last year and got a good feel for the spirit of the teams. I'll post another MWL poll update right before the September 2 games.
Please email me with any corrections or comments at mwlnow@yahoo.com
Web Site Restructuring
I'm adding some sports - Soccer and Volleyball. I added Softball in the spring and the kids and parents seemed to love it, even though it was pretty bare bones. The fall additions have caused me to change the 'templates' throughout the entire website. You may notice some odd looking menus at the top of the pages as I work through the various sports. I think football is in okay shape. Also, I added an At-A-Glance feature where you can see all MWL schedules and scores on one page - hover over 'Football Home' and you should see 'At-A-Glance' in the dropdown list. The 'At-A-Glance' page is a bit boring, but you can see it's an easy way to check your opponents schedules and results without bouncing back and forth to other web pages.
If you know any soccer or volleyball fans, please let them know about the pages. I'd like to find parents for each sport to blog for the three sports. (Boys soccer, Girls Soccer and Volleyball) Parents also might want to send photos or match recaps for me to post, much like happened in softball.
Also, there is a MWL page with news about the teams and OSAA, as well as a section of news about current and former MWL players. I think you'll find it interesting. If you ever have any info to share, email me at mwlnow@yahoo.com
Marshfield Going 4A in 2012?
If you subscribe to the MWL twitter feed, you saw the article on Marshfield considering appealing to the OSAA to move to the 4A classification in 2012.
As a Pirate alum and someone who was working at Marshfield High School just a few years ago - I moved back to Eugene in 2008 - here are my thoughts:
It hurts to see the Pirates even think about moving down. I would have hoped my once powerhouse home town high school would try to stay in 5A as their enrollment likely falls to 800 this fall. The 5A cutoff is 570. Madison (797) and Jefferson (465) play at the 5A level even though they fall in the 4A classification. Marist (489), of course, is 5A.
But things are quite different in Coos Bay and I think they tip the balance towards 4A - even if it just for a couple of years. (Marshfield apparently has two very small classes going through the system, but may jump back up in enrollment in 2014 when larger size classes are expected to enter high school.) The key difference is that the two Portland schools and Marist play in geographical areas that have a lot of other 5A schools. Marshfield, on the other hand, has to do a lot of travelling. Travelling wasn't so bad in the 'old days', as there were no girls sports (so the girls didn't lose study time and get home at midnight or later) and we boys played basketball games on Friday and Saturday nights - no weekday games. In the modern era, it goes like this: I remember a bus ride back and forth between Coos Bay and Eugene in 2004 as a JV baseball coach. We shared the bus with the varsity softball team. Most of the girls studied non stop on the way back while I tried to convince the boys to bring their schoolbooks next time. The girls even had flashlights to help read their books on a trip that got back to Coos Bay at 10:30 PM. Point being, a bus isn't a good place to study.
The other issue besides study time is costs. Marshfield is going to a four day school week, moving the 8th graders to the high school campus and shutting down a beloved elementary school. It just doesn't make sense to be spending money on travel for sports when so much money is being squeezed out of the system on the academic side.
Will student population turn around? Not likely. There are no jobs on the coast. Government policies nationally and in our state moves people to more efficient urban settings. As the population shifts, rural areas lose their voting and politcal clout. No improved transportion routes from I-5, no new large federal buildings, no state or veterans hospitals, no Navy NOAA relocation, no state aquarium. Coos County's population has declined 2 percent since 1980, while Lane county has grown 27%, and Deschutes county 154%! An interesting observation is that combining Marshfield's and North Bend's student bodies would only make them middle of the pack in 5A, student body wise. And speaking of Marshfield and North Bend high schools in the same sentence - they should consolidate so they can have better class offerings. My dad just turned over in his grave. I can't believe I wrote that.
Final Farewell to Bob Line, Springfield Miller, adminstrator and coach.
I had the pleasure of meeting Bob Line in 2003 when I moved to Coos Bay where he was principal at Marshfield High School. I got to know him well and seemed to bump into him quite often after I moved back to Eugene. He was an extremely positive person with his only flaw being a member of Springfield's 1967 football team that knocked Marshfeild (my senior year) out of the state playoffs even though the two teams finished 8-1 in regular season. Bob was tabbed to be the head football coach at Waldport this fall. Sadly, he passed away this June. He will be missed. Article - Waldport will miss Bob Line
Here's that league news page link. If you have any player, alum, team or coach news to share email me at mwlnow@yahoo.com MWL League News
OregonLive Preseason Poll
Preseason polls are mostly an exercise in futility. Voters, including me, aren't sure who has transferred in or out of schools. And how many voters are really tracking how many seniors graduated throughout the state and how good a school's JV team was? Not me, I can barely keep up with the MWL. Here's how I voted with the OregonLive poll rank in parenthesis.
1. Sherwood (2) The Bowmen lost Long to Lake Oswego, but so what?
2. Mt. View (4)
3. Marist (1) Yes, the Spartan receivers return, but......
4. Corvallis (3)
5. Crsnt Valley (6)
6. Lebanon (8) A periodic MWL team throughout history, so they must be good.
7. Wilsonville (7)
8. Liberty (10)
9. Jefferson (5) Jeff is usually good for at least a q-final game. I'll probably move them up in my next vote.
10. Eagle Pt. (12) It's gonna be Snowing in the South
At the 6A level, I voted Aloha #1, Sheldon #4 and Roseburg #7.
My Way Too Early MWL Prediction - August 8th
1. Marist. Not as easy of a route to the title as last year. A team doesn't lose Silver, Mayes, Deveraux, Swindling, Beattie and more without going down a notch. But the entire speedy, tough, sure handed receiving corp returns. Austin Baird was second in league receiving yards last year, Taylor Walcott was fourth and Josh Paiment was good for 29.6 yards per catch after coming back from an injury while playing QB. Whoever ends up at QB just needs to put the ball out there for the receivers to catch. Not to be overlooked will be the return of running back Greg Park, at 89 yards per game - 4th in league last year.. That gives the Spartans great flexibility on O. If the lineman develop quickly, look out MWL! A lot of talk about ex-Wolverine Kamerun Smith at QB. My stepson, Alex Brink, came home from a camp he was working this summer and asked me if 'Smith' was the name of the Willamette QB I had been touting. Alex liked what he saw. Here are my thoughts - Smith throws a sweet ball, but expect to see a lot of speed rushers attack from the outside to test Smith's running ability. Smith is tall enough to dink the ball to an outlet back in a jam, so he might not have to run, but I sure wouldn't let Smith stand back and throw all day.
2. Eagle Point. I liked the fight the Eagles showed in their game at Churchill last year. The Eagles came out and looked like they were going to destroy Air Lancer, going up 14-0 in the first Q. But Churchill tied it by halftime. The Lancers were up 21-20 after three. Eagle Point said enough of this fancy-pants passing game and played Snowball, by rumbling Garrett Snow the fourth quarter for a 39-21 win. Eagle Point then easily handled Willamette the next week, but had a Jekyll & Hyde season after that. I like the fact they DL/T Tryone Homes is back. He was 6-4, 240 last year. The Eagles can fill four other positions with all-stars besides Snow and Holmes. Zach Reed and Devon Adams return in the secondary along with Daniel Morgan (6' ", 200 lb LB last year). Adams doubled as a very good receiver. Bryan Strong returns as an all league O lineman. In case you've forgotten - Snow isn't just a running back, he also caught 18 passes in league last year.
3. Air Lancer. Running Back Aaron Ingram (6th in league rushing yardage last year) alone should be enough for me to rank Churchill number two. But the Lancer's lost their top three receivers and their quarterback, so Air Lancer will struggle. Hah! I've seen Churchill lose a ton of talent before. Before you know it, the other team's heads are spinning. Junior receiver Andrew Bennion will likely be one of the Lancer's who keep the Air Lancer tradition going. Jake Dezarn returns as an all league DB. I'm sure the Lancers will put his hands to use somewhere as he is an excellent baseball player. Juniors to be all leaguers DL Gavin Cowles (6' 2", 200 last year) and center Jermeny Crutchfield (5-10, 170 in 2010) return. By the way, RB Ingram is much like Eagle Point's Snow in that Ingram also catches the ball out of the backfield a lot.
4. Ashland. Ashland tore up Japan in the Pacific Rim Bowl earlier this month. Looks like the Grizzlies found a good QB in soph Daniel White. He has good receivers in Sam Geisslinger, Franklin Limema, Taylor Humphrey and Quaid Walters. One Volz graduated at running back. This year it looks like junior Jon Volz will get more carries. The Grizzlies lost Jake McCoy in a trade for another player to be named later - or maybe never.
The top four teams are from the top of the MWL alphabet - A, C. EP M - , therefore the bottom four must be from the bottom of the MWL alphabet - M, NE, S, W.
5. Willamette. I"m going with the Wolverines over Springfield for 5th. Every team in the league lost their starting quarterback. I think it's easier to build on a good returning running game and Willamette has some good backs returning. Jordan Visarraga, Dante Giles and Bryce York all got a decent amount of carries behind Skyler Moore. Visarraga had occasional glimpses of brilliance, which he'll need to turn into a regularity if the Wolverines are to succeed. The receiving corp should be quite capable with 6' 1 ' Zach Hatefi and 6' 4 '" Mitch Crownover returning. Keep an eye on two-way all leaguer (LB, OT) junior to be Tyler Johnson.
6. Springfield. The Millers can build their O line around 1st team guard Clanton Self (6' 0", 260) and all league center Isias Giron (5' 8", 210). Junior Jon Emerald was an all league DB and will likely be on the receiving end of passes along with returning receivers Alister Jorkan and Dylan Pullen. (I threw away the Springfield-Marshfield game roster last year as Springfield was shellacking my Pirates 50-6. With the roster went my list of underclassmen who were getting significant playing time for the Millers.)
7. Marshfield. Marshfield returns just one all league player, but he's a big one. Receiver Dalton Milburn was listed at 6' 6" and 260 last year. Running back chores will likely be filled by Ty Cutting. Marshfield had three huge sophomore linemen on the roster last year. If these guys get in shape, look out. But the tendency the last few years has been to go with whoever is in shape, and a lot of small linemen have pushed the big boys out of the way.
8. North Eugene. Welcome back head coach Edmund Rivera. I'll keep expectations low so you can exceed them. The Highlanders need to get baseball pitcher Andrew Moore to pull a Blake Stepp and play quarterback his senior year. Not likely, as Moore is committed to gnaw on trees 45 miles to the north, and play some baseball there, too. Rivera will start with a couple of good returning offensive weapons. Running back Travis Brumwill was good for over 5 yards per carry while watching Alex Wilson get most of the workload. Receiver Ryan Koth was 10th in league in yardage.
That's it for the 'way too early' poll. I hope to visit some practices of several schools before the first games Sept 2. I had fun visiting the teams last year and got a good feel for the spirit of the teams. I'll post another MWL poll update right before the September 2 games.
Please email me with any corrections or comments at mwlnow@yahoo.com
Web Site Restructuring
I'm adding some sports - Soccer and Volleyball. I added Softball in the spring and the kids and parents seemed to love it, even though it was pretty bare bones. The fall additions have caused me to change the 'templates' throughout the entire website. You may notice some odd looking menus at the top of the pages as I work through the various sports. I think football is in okay shape. Also, I added an At-A-Glance feature where you can see all MWL schedules and scores on one page - hover over 'Football Home' and you should see 'At-A-Glance' in the dropdown list. The 'At-A-Glance' page is a bit boring, but you can see it's an easy way to check your opponents schedules and results without bouncing back and forth to other web pages.
If you know any soccer or volleyball fans, please let them know about the pages. I'd like to find parents for each sport to blog for the three sports. (Boys soccer, Girls Soccer and Volleyball) Parents also might want to send photos or match recaps for me to post, much like happened in softball.
Also, there is a MWL page with news about the teams and OSAA, as well as a section of news about current and former MWL players. I think you'll find it interesting. If you ever have any info to share, email me at mwlnow@yahoo.com
Marshfield Going 4A in 2012?
If you subscribe to the MWL twitter feed, you saw the article on Marshfield considering appealing to the OSAA to move to the 4A classification in 2012.
As a Pirate alum and someone who was working at Marshfield High School just a few years ago - I moved back to Eugene in 2008 - here are my thoughts:
It hurts to see the Pirates even think about moving down. I would have hoped my once powerhouse home town high school would try to stay in 5A as their enrollment likely falls to 800 this fall. The 5A cutoff is 570. Madison (797) and Jefferson (465) play at the 5A level even though they fall in the 4A classification. Marist (489), of course, is 5A.
But things are quite different in Coos Bay and I think they tip the balance towards 4A - even if it just for a couple of years. (Marshfield apparently has two very small classes going through the system, but may jump back up in enrollment in 2014 when larger size classes are expected to enter high school.) The key difference is that the two Portland schools and Marist play in geographical areas that have a lot of other 5A schools. Marshfield, on the other hand, has to do a lot of travelling. Travelling wasn't so bad in the 'old days', as there were no girls sports (so the girls didn't lose study time and get home at midnight or later) and we boys played basketball games on Friday and Saturday nights - no weekday games. In the modern era, it goes like this: I remember a bus ride back and forth between Coos Bay and Eugene in 2004 as a JV baseball coach. We shared the bus with the varsity softball team. Most of the girls studied non stop on the way back while I tried to convince the boys to bring their schoolbooks next time. The girls even had flashlights to help read their books on a trip that got back to Coos Bay at 10:30 PM. Point being, a bus isn't a good place to study.
The other issue besides study time is costs. Marshfield is going to a four day school week, moving the 8th graders to the high school campus and shutting down a beloved elementary school. It just doesn't make sense to be spending money on travel for sports when so much money is being squeezed out of the system on the academic side.
Will student population turn around? Not likely. There are no jobs on the coast. Government policies nationally and in our state moves people to more efficient urban settings. As the population shifts, rural areas lose their voting and politcal clout. No improved transportion routes from I-5, no new large federal buildings, no state or veterans hospitals, no Navy NOAA relocation, no state aquarium. Coos County's population has declined 2 percent since 1980, while Lane county has grown 27%, and Deschutes county 154%! An interesting observation is that combining Marshfield's and North Bend's student bodies would only make them middle of the pack in 5A, student body wise. And speaking of Marshfield and North Bend high schools in the same sentence - they should consolidate so they can have better class offerings. My dad just turned over in his grave. I can't believe I wrote that.
Final Farewell to Bob Line, Springfield Miller, adminstrator and coach.
I had the pleasure of meeting Bob Line in 2003 when I moved to Coos Bay where he was principal at Marshfield High School. I got to know him well and seemed to bump into him quite often after I moved back to Eugene. He was an extremely positive person with his only flaw being a member of Springfield's 1967 football team that knocked Marshfeild (my senior year) out of the state playoffs even though the two teams finished 8-1 in regular season. Bob was tabbed to be the head football coach at Waldport this fall. Sadly, he passed away this June. He will be missed. Article - Waldport will miss Bob Line
Here's that league news page link. If you have any player, alum, team or coach news to share email me at mwlnow@yahoo.com MWL League News
Monday, December 6, 2010
Marist-Sherwood. Oh, so close!
The words Coach Geske spoke to me last August came back to me when Taylor Walcott left the game in the second quarter. I had just finished watching a practice and weight room workout on a hot August day. When I left the weight room, I knew that no team in the MWL was going to touch Marist. Then I watched them practice on the field, and I knew they were in late season form already.
Coach Geske knew he had a special group. His words were "We have the talent and work ethic to make it to the finals, but we're not very deep."
Walcott joins Park on injury list.
So when Walcott joined running back Greg Park on the sideline I figured it was lights out for Marist. Marist had been playing without Park for several playoff games. And while Logan Silver has been spectacular on the ground during the playoffs, it was getting more and more evident, playoff quarter by playoff quarter, that Marist was going to ride Silver's legs and arm all the way.
Walcott's departure cut Silvers's passing options from three great receivers (Walcott, Baird and Paiement) to two. And Walcott was the one with the most speed. That added even more pressure on Silver's running game. I was also expecting a Steven Long explosion in the second half, as Walcott was the only Spartan able to catch Long on those 40 and 50 yard breakaways.
Spartans Rise to the Challenge.
Marist had obviously been in a personnel jam before. Starting with the first game of 2009 and recovering nicely. Then the first game of 2010. Then the Park injury in the playoffs. But none of the opponents were Sherwood. Nevertheless, when Sherwood should have been exploding by Marist, the opposite happened. Marist dug itself out of a 16-3 fourth quarter hole, to tie it up 16-16 with 7:00 minutes to go. The game had finally turned into the match everyone expected. The hitting on the field was incredibly hard.
Sherwood responded with an 86 yard drive, led by Michael Balfour and Steven Long to go up 23-16 with just 3:15 left on the clock. Marist wasn't going to let it get away that easy and marched 81 yards to tie the game. Sherwood penalties and three passes to Baird and one to Josh Harper were the keys to Marists drive to tie the game at 0:27. Believe it or not, both teams had a shot at the end zone in the final 27 seconds.
Final Thoughts
I have to acknowledge the efforts of each and every Spartan after Walcott left the game. The mountain looked huge at the beginning of the fourth quarter, and Marist was playing without the fastest man on the field for either team. I don't know that many teams could have manned up like Marist did.
We'll never know if Marist would have been state champs with Park and Walcott in the final. You can't judge by the way this game was played. Sherwood would have planned differently for Park, whose presence would have taken a ton of pressure off of Silver. But we do know that the Marist players can live the rest of their lives knowing, not just believing, that each individual is very important and will come through as needed when the going gets tough if you've worked hard and prepared as a team.
Interesting Game Tidbits
That's about it for this year. I'll take a few months off and get ready for baseball. I will post all state players when they are printed and I'll probably make some wild MWL prediction for next fall before I start the conversion to baseball.
Good Luck to all of the seniors. Marist guys, take off the next nine months. The rest of you, get back in the weight room. Close the gap on those Spartans!
Gary
Coach Geske knew he had a special group. His words were "We have the talent and work ethic to make it to the finals, but we're not very deep."
Walcott joins Park on injury list.
So when Walcott joined running back Greg Park on the sideline I figured it was lights out for Marist. Marist had been playing without Park for several playoff games. And while Logan Silver has been spectacular on the ground during the playoffs, it was getting more and more evident, playoff quarter by playoff quarter, that Marist was going to ride Silver's legs and arm all the way.
Walcott's departure cut Silvers's passing options from three great receivers (Walcott, Baird and Paiement) to two. And Walcott was the one with the most speed. That added even more pressure on Silver's running game. I was also expecting a Steven Long explosion in the second half, as Walcott was the only Spartan able to catch Long on those 40 and 50 yard breakaways.
Spartans Rise to the Challenge.
Marist had obviously been in a personnel jam before. Starting with the first game of 2009 and recovering nicely. Then the first game of 2010. Then the Park injury in the playoffs. But none of the opponents were Sherwood. Nevertheless, when Sherwood should have been exploding by Marist, the opposite happened. Marist dug itself out of a 16-3 fourth quarter hole, to tie it up 16-16 with 7:00 minutes to go. The game had finally turned into the match everyone expected. The hitting on the field was incredibly hard.
Sherwood responded with an 86 yard drive, led by Michael Balfour and Steven Long to go up 23-16 with just 3:15 left on the clock. Marist wasn't going to let it get away that easy and marched 81 yards to tie the game. Sherwood penalties and three passes to Baird and one to Josh Harper were the keys to Marists drive to tie the game at 0:27. Believe it or not, both teams had a shot at the end zone in the final 27 seconds.
Final Thoughts
I have to acknowledge the efforts of each and every Spartan after Walcott left the game. The mountain looked huge at the beginning of the fourth quarter, and Marist was playing without the fastest man on the field for either team. I don't know that many teams could have manned up like Marist did.
We'll never know if Marist would have been state champs with Park and Walcott in the final. You can't judge by the way this game was played. Sherwood would have planned differently for Park, whose presence would have taken a ton of pressure off of Silver. But we do know that the Marist players can live the rest of their lives knowing, not just believing, that each individual is very important and will come through as needed when the going gets tough if you've worked hard and prepared as a team.
Interesting Game Tidbits
- Some OregonLive.com forum members said the game was the best high school football game they've ever seen. I loved the fourth quarter, but the first three were torture. All those penalties on both teams. Yikes. Neither team could get into the flow of their offense.
- The Sherwood crowd was booing the officiating crew relentlessly. But it was clear the Sherwood players couldn't handle the Marist D line and linebackers. An old midwest college philosophy from the 70's is to keep on holding if you are an explosive running team. So what if you lose ten yards for holding after you've gained five or ten? You get the down over. And eventually the officials get tired of calling the penalties and they aren't going to see all of them anyway.
- Hats off to Sherwood's pass D. That was the difference in the game. Great job by the Sherwood D line. Silver's passing efficiency was 56 for the game. His prior low was 96 and that was early in the season when he was starting the switch from running back to quarterback.
- The hitting in the game was hard and constant from whistle to whistle. It was hard to get into the game as a fan because of the 28 penalties, but when I looked at my photos when I got home, I was happy to see that players on both sides were just hammering each other every play. Two great teams with players who went hard every play and didn't stop til the whistle.
- The flags on the flag poles at both ends of the field were being blown hard in opposite directions. Early in the first quarter Sherwood's long snapper hiked the ball way over the punters head. The punter chased it down, kept his cool, and pooch kicked it just to get a few yards back. But instead of a short punt, the ball rode the 30 knot updraft towards Old Glory at the west end of the field, then the ball was blown all the way to the Marist 4. A 50 yard punt, but actually much longer because the punter had to run back a long way to get the ball. Later, with 32 seconds left in the second quarter Sherwood kicked a 39 yard field goal towards the State of Oregon flag in the east end zone. It would have been good from 60 as the wind was howling towards the west at that end of the stadium.
- After not scoring a touchdown the first three quarters, Marist scored on three straight drives in the fourth quarter. (I had these plays in the wrong order in my original post)
- Sherwood's fans sure were fun. (Okay, I wouldn't give them a passing grade for sportsmanship because of their treatment of the officials) They seemed to have a family there for each of the 1278 students in their school and they knew how to make some noise. I loved their cheers and overall loud and noisy support of their team, including the 'Booooooo' when the leading tackler for both teams, Trent Duppenthaler had his name called. Actually, it was a 'Dooooo'. (Update to blog. Someone texted me and said it was pronounced 'Duuuuppe'. Good enough for me)
That's about it for this year. I'll take a few months off and get ready for baseball. I will post all state players when they are printed and I'll probably make some wild MWL prediction for next fall before I start the conversion to baseball.
Good Luck to all of the seniors. Marist guys, take off the next nine months. The rest of you, get back in the weight room. Close the gap on those Spartans!
Gary
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
State Finals - Marist or Sherwood
Finally, we get to the game everyone has been waiting for since before the season started. Yes, both teams are that much better than everyone else.
Sherwood has been ranked number one all year. The thinking goes like this:
1) Sherwood runs the wing offense with such power, precision and misdirection that it is impossible to stop. Lining up in the wing formation basically gives a team 9 blockers, with one of the running/blocking backs in motion building up steam. Sherwood's backs are fantastic blockers.
2) Running backs Balfour and Long are super-duper-fantastic. And they are. Balfour pounds and Long jukes and puts on the jets. Sherwoods' other backs would be star running backs on most teams.
3) Defensive ends will eventually crash down on the qb too much, and Sherwood will rip off a 40 yard cutback run; or the linebackers and db's will creep up over time and Sherwood's qb Jordan Ramp will pass the ball to Long or another all alone receiver for a long gainer.
4) Sherwood's defense is excellent.
Sherwood fans have to be thinking this is the year. Looking at Marist's stats, it is easy to conclude that all a team has to do to beat Marist is to stop Silver.
Here's what I'm thinking.
Sherwood's offense is truly fantastic. Mt. View had a good handle on Sherwood and still gave up 42 points. Marist's front three (or four) will be able to stuff the run often. But I don't think that high school players can go an entire game being disciplined enough to play their assignment or avoid chasing the quarterback from the backside and opening up their gap for the 10 yard gains. I can still envision good college players chasing Dennis Dixon too far, only to have Dixon cut some other way or hand the ball off to a back heading right to where the lineman/LB had just left and opened up a hole.
But so is Marist's offense truly fantastic. If you watched the Mountain View - Sherwood game, you might have noticed that Mountain View had a lot of opportunities to convert mid to long passes, but just didn't connect. You expect a qb-receiver combo to go an entire game with a few drops, but Mountain View had far too many missed chances. Mountain View's unconverted opportunities through the air give me hope that Marist can pass the ball. Passing the ball successfully opens the running game for Marist.
My biggest concern for Marist is if the three defensive down linemen can last the entire game against Sherwood's line. All three players go both ways most of the time. I'm hoping they realize it's their last game this year and they don't have to save anything.
My thinking brain says Sherwood should win this in a close one with both teams breaking down the other team's defense. I don't think either team should climb into the 40 point range because both teams should have several scoring drives, thus keeping the score balanced. 39-35 wouldn't surprise me.
But I'm going with Marist. I've seen coach Geske make a lot of adjustments this year. From losing Paiement at qb, to getting Paiement back as a receiver, to losing Greg Park for the playoffs. I don't recall seeing much trickery on offense or fancy stuff on special teams. Maybe we'll see something if it's tight. Who knows? I just know for sure that these are the two best 5A teams in Oregon who are going to go at each other in different fashions. It's going to be fun!!!
Any Duck or Beaver fans out there? Or soon to be Coug fans?
If you are a sports news junkie, here's a new site for you to get updates about your team all day long. The site posts tons of articles from various newspapers and websites. It's pretty wild this week with the Civil War and Apple Cup. You can even have the links Tweeted to you.
Oregon Duck Football
Oregon State Beaver Football
Washington State Football
Go Ducks! Go Cougs! Go Spartans!!!!!!
- Both teams strong recent history
- Marist won state '03, '05, '07, '09
- Sherwood 2 finals, 1 semi, 2 quarters since '04
- Both teams loaded with seniors
- Sherwood has 23
- Marist has 19
- Many seniors on both teams had significant playing time in playoffs last year
- "Bigger, Faster, Stronger" isn't just a cliche to these teams. If you've team has played them, you know.
- Fast paced, wear you down offenses.
- Sherwood's hard to read, hard to stay on your assignment 'Wing'
- All world Sherwood backs. Cannonball 6'0", 220 lb Michael Balfour is good for 10.8 yards per carry. Perhaps even more dangerous is 5'7"
- Steven Long, who is good for 11.4 YPC.
- There are several other backs with huge yardage, but keep your eye on rising star sophomore Cristian Morris. He had around 100 yards against Ashland and Jefferson in the playoffs.
- Marist's 'Where is Logan now? Oh, no! He passed it." offense
- The ball handlers get the glory, but they would be nowhere without their killer O lines.
- Watch Sherwoods pulling linemen and notice when their linemen go in the opposite direction as the carrier. That's USC stuff. (Hopefully, this year's USC) Hard to read that kind of blocking.
- Marist's entire line was all league: Seniors Matthew Devereux (league MVP), Logan Mayes (league D MVP) and center Chris Bender. Juniors Mitch Olive and Paxton Miller. All league receivers Taylor Walcott, Austin Baird and Josh Paiement can thank these linemen for giving Logan Silver time to pass. They can thank Logan, too, for his scrambling.
- Both teams have stellar Defenses.
- Sherwood has held Ashland to 14, Jefferson to 13 and Mt. View to 22 in the playoffs.
- Marist traveled an easier road in the playoffs. Still they only gave up 6, 7 and 22 points.
- Devereux, Miller and another all leaguer, senior Kevin Haskin anchor the Spartan D line. Mayes, officially a linebacker, moves position often, playing the edges a lot and messing up the qb. A ton will ride on LB Will Swindling. Teams have tested his side to side skills a lot - to no avail. Swindling was an all leaguer along with the third linebacker, senior Carson Keiswetter. You should hear the DB's names called a lot when Sherwood goes to the air. Seniors Ryan Inouye, Matt Beattie, Brady Chionbian and Riley Kulm were all all-league. All season long I thought those DB names were pretty cool to pronounce.
- Both teams have incredible coaching. I don't think either team will win because the coaches were outcoached or because the coaches didn't motivate their team. Geske and Sherwood coach Greg Lawrence have been in the playoffs far too often to not have their teams ready.
- Motivation
- Sherwood's 23 seniors have been marching steadily to a state title. As sophomores they lost in the quarterfinals. As juniors, they lost in the semifinals to Jefferson, 23-26. Now they are in the finals.
- Marist's 19 seniors have something to prove. After last year's undefeated state title, the thinking was that Marist had an incredible senior class and a very strong junior class. The combination was unstoppable. The 2010 Marist version was going to have a few superstars, but the team probably wasn't deep enough to take it all. We'll find out this Saturday and maybe next year we''ll be saying, "That 2010 team had a bunch of senior studs and the junior class was really strong, but they can't repeat it again."
Sherwood has been ranked number one all year. The thinking goes like this:
1) Sherwood runs the wing offense with such power, precision and misdirection that it is impossible to stop. Lining up in the wing formation basically gives a team 9 blockers, with one of the running/blocking backs in motion building up steam. Sherwood's backs are fantastic blockers.
2) Running backs Balfour and Long are super-duper-fantastic. And they are. Balfour pounds and Long jukes and puts on the jets. Sherwoods' other backs would be star running backs on most teams.
3) Defensive ends will eventually crash down on the qb too much, and Sherwood will rip off a 40 yard cutback run; or the linebackers and db's will creep up over time and Sherwood's qb Jordan Ramp will pass the ball to Long or another all alone receiver for a long gainer.
4) Sherwood's defense is excellent.
Sherwood fans have to be thinking this is the year. Looking at Marist's stats, it is easy to conclude that all a team has to do to beat Marist is to stop Silver.
Here's what I'm thinking.
Sherwood's offense is truly fantastic. Mt. View had a good handle on Sherwood and still gave up 42 points. Marist's front three (or four) will be able to stuff the run often. But I don't think that high school players can go an entire game being disciplined enough to play their assignment or avoid chasing the quarterback from the backside and opening up their gap for the 10 yard gains. I can still envision good college players chasing Dennis Dixon too far, only to have Dixon cut some other way or hand the ball off to a back heading right to where the lineman/LB had just left and opened up a hole.
But so is Marist's offense truly fantastic. If you watched the Mountain View - Sherwood game, you might have noticed that Mountain View had a lot of opportunities to convert mid to long passes, but just didn't connect. You expect a qb-receiver combo to go an entire game with a few drops, but Mountain View had far too many missed chances. Mountain View's unconverted opportunities through the air give me hope that Marist can pass the ball. Passing the ball successfully opens the running game for Marist.
My biggest concern for Marist is if the three defensive down linemen can last the entire game against Sherwood's line. All three players go both ways most of the time. I'm hoping they realize it's their last game this year and they don't have to save anything.
My thinking brain says Sherwood should win this in a close one with both teams breaking down the other team's defense. I don't think either team should climb into the 40 point range because both teams should have several scoring drives, thus keeping the score balanced. 39-35 wouldn't surprise me.
But I'm going with Marist. I've seen coach Geske make a lot of adjustments this year. From losing Paiement at qb, to getting Paiement back as a receiver, to losing Greg Park for the playoffs. I don't recall seeing much trickery on offense or fancy stuff on special teams. Maybe we'll see something if it's tight. Who knows? I just know for sure that these are the two best 5A teams in Oregon who are going to go at each other in different fashions. It's going to be fun!!!
Any Duck or Beaver fans out there? Or soon to be Coug fans?
If you are a sports news junkie, here's a new site for you to get updates about your team all day long. The site posts tons of articles from various newspapers and websites. It's pretty wild this week with the Civil War and Apple Cup. You can even have the links Tweeted to you.
Oregon Duck Football
Oregon State Beaver Football
Washington State Football
Go Ducks! Go Cougs! Go Spartans!!!!!!
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