[12penguins]

Would love to hear some attendees views of the multi team scrimmage at Beavercreek on Saturday.

Most point out, teams alternated offense/defense starting from the 40 yard line, with no first down markers... so whatever the scores happened to be, they were not "game-like" , as there was no down and distance. just run your plays and then switch and let the other team run theirs.

Some general observations from me to start things. Mind you, no way to know these kids names, so i apologize up front for that.

By my rough count, Alter had approximately 70-75 kids on hand, Beavercreek 65 or so, Xenia 55 and Tipp only about 45.

All observations are based only on first team vs first team parts of the scrimmage.

Most surprising thing of the day, was that in this format, none of these teams looked dramatically better than the others.

Alter looked strong, but did not dominate the way I expected. I believe they won each of their sessions. Zaire was impressive, and I got the feeling that the Knights will run the ball effectively. #8 on the practice jersey is an impressive looking athlete, and played both receiver and ran the ball a few times,

Tippecanoe appears to be down in numbers, but just fine on talent. I thought both of their QB's played decently, although I believe #12 is a better passer. I thought their line play was solid. They appeared to play Alter and Beavercreek fairly even...from what i observed, although i do think they "won" either...they were certainly competitive with both.

Hard to describe how i felt about the Beavers. At times the defense appeared to be quick to the ball and sure to tackle and the offense able to run or pass effectively. then they would go through 6-8 play spells where they did not appear to be able to play at all. Would really appreciate thoughts on the Beavers, as I simply walked away confused.

My best assessment of Xenia is to say they are really beginning to look like a coach Delong team, which in my mind is a compliment. The QB, who wore number two saturday, was effective running and throwing the ball and appears to be a stud athlete. Xenia's defense appears to be smallish, but athletic. The competed all day and held their own against Creek and Alter.

So, that's it... happy to read others observations of all four teams...

[QBall]

Agree, Alter isn't totally clicking. Weaknesses at times are OL and run D. However, it's early still so I hope for week to week improvement.

[TippyCanoe]

Thanks for the overview 12.

Tipp's numbers are WAY down. They are only showing 43 on the roster this year.

This Shouldn't be a problem, as Tipp seems to play a core Group of 6-8 guys on both sides of the ball.

I have a couple of solid ideas of why the numbers are so bad ( - 38% from last year ) But will not share them until I can verify the thuthiness of all of the crap that I have heard over the last 2 weeks.

Charlie rarely shows much during scrimmages, but we will see a little more of them when we play Eaton at the Jamborie.

[slowyourroll]

Originally Posted by QBall

Agree, Alter isn't totally clicking. Weaknesses at times are OL and run D. However, it's early still so I hope for week to week improvement.

Alter had quite a few more problems on the defensive side of the ball. DB's with pass interference, containment was an issue with the LB's and DE's, and the D-line got pushed off the ball too much. The bright spot was Vandergriff.

The Offense looked good with the exception of the left side of the Offensive line. The right side looked solid. The backs ran well out of the backfield. Zaire to Hart looked in sync from the start.

Like you said it is still early. I anticipate some changes and and corrections.
With Vandalia Butler on Friday we will surely see the adjustments that will head into Fairmont week.

[QBall]

Maybe I blinked but I don't recall any interference calls. Seniors are getting first looks but that will change.

[slowyourroll]

Originally Posted by QBall

Maybe I blinked but I don't recall any interference calls. Seniors are getting first looks but that will change.

They did get called for it. The ref's did not do a good job of making it clear what the calls were. The thing that bother me the most is the ones that did not get called that were fairly obvious calls up close with a full compliment of ref's.

[Freak On A Leash]

Numbers are down at quite a few schools this year. Milton had over 70 last year and only 50 this year if they are lucky. Tipp should be a very tough team this year and could very well finish 10-0.

[TippCity]

Great group of Juniors. Horrible group of Senior. Decent group of Sophomores.

Ban J.D. Blair from the stadium. . .he's devsive and a meddling parent whose son is 5'8" on a tall day. The key to this team rests with 2 players. . .Ben Hughes and Jacob Hall.