Ansonia Outlasts South in Shootout

Ansonia outlasted South in a contest where offense was king. Neither teams defense could stop the others and it came down to which team would make the final score before time ran out. Ansonia under coach Hoying has been known for years for a ball control/run first offense. This year South’s offense features a spread attack and they would air it out – scoring 5 of their TD’s with the pass. So it was a game that would contrast two different styles of offense, plenty of lead changes, and where the punters pretty much had a night off.

South fell behind early as Ansonia got the ball and marched it down the field, taking 6 minutes of clock to score. South moved the ball on their first possession getting two first downs, but a penalty stopped their first drive and caused them to punt. And for the game South would punt twice, once in the first half and once in the second half. Ansonia then did another machinelike clock eating drive and ended it with another touchdown in the second quarter. Ansonia went for 2 points on their PAT’s and were successful twice. So the scoreboard was 16-0, it was not looking promising for the Panthers.

But although time of possession in the first half would favor Ansonia, South showed that they didn’t need much time to score. They scored not 1, not 2, but 3 unanswered touchdowns in quick succession. Suddenly it was TVS in the lead with a 21-16 lead. But South just would not be able to stop Ansonia on Friday night and they scored just before the half ended to regain the lead 24-21.

Now the game became a seesaw with Ansonia and South exchanging leads several times. But Ansonia was able to extend their lead. And late in the game South was facing a 40-28 deficit. But with 5:11 left, they scored to make it 40-34 and then did a squib kick which South recovered. It was a big momentum shift. And South made use of that momentum to drive the ball in and score. But
Ansonia was not out for the count – they made a big special teams play and blocked the TVS kick for the point after and now the score was knotted 40 all. But Ansonia had one more drive left in them and scored with 11 seconds to go for the win 48-40. And every fan in that stadium got their money’s worth that night.

“I was proud of the team, twice we were down by 2 touchdowns and twice they responded and came back, said Lance Engleka after the game. I was most pleased that we didn’t get down and kept coming at them. But ball control was a problem, we gave up 474 of rushing offense – and you can’t win games giving up that kind of yardage. Also Ansonia converted on 3rd and 4th downs 12 of 17 times. We can’t allow teams to have that kind of success again us.”

He went on to point that that Cole Cottingim had a great game rushing 24 times for 149 yards and a touchdown and his passing was 12/19 for 210 yards and 5 td’s. Scoring 5 passing touchdowns is something that South has not done for quite some time. He also pointed out that Michael Burke had a good night at receiver 7 receptions for 131 yards and 2 TD’s. Finally safety Zane Cottingim had 8 tackles with 4 assists and defensive back Wes Cole had 2 solo tackles and 8 assists. But when asked about this he admitted, “Our leading tacklers should not be in the defensively secondary, we need more from the rest of the defense. “

Dixie Falls to Valley View

Although the final score was lopsided, the Greyhounds hung with the Spartans for 3 quarters. And Dixie had their chances against Valley View. There were two times in the game where 14 point swings made a big difference. Although the outcome would probably have been the same, the score would have been closer had Dixie not had mistakes in the red zone. Twice they failed to score points in side the twenty and both times Valley View capitalized on Dixe mistakes in the red zone to score themselves. So add 14 to the Dixie side and subtract 14 from the Valley View side and suddenly you have a game. Dixie showed that they could move the ball but putting it in the endzone was a problem on Friday.

Dixie’s first drive was their best of the night. Combining the pass and run they capped the drive with a Bowling to Ryan Jordan 32 yard touchdown pass. Later in the Valley View offensive series Dixie’s Nick Parker sacked the Valley View quarterback as did Wade Floyd a few plays later and Dixie would hold a 7-0 lead at the end of the first quarter. So far Dixie was looking good on both offense and defense.

But to beat a bigger opponent, a team can’t afford to make mistakes. And turnovers kept Dixie from getting momentum, this started in the second quarter and didn’t stop. Early in the second quarter a bad snap lead to a bad handoff which lead to a Valley View Spartan pouncing on the dropped ball. A few plays later and the game was even at 7-7. Then a bad punt gave Valley View the ball on the 41 yard line where they drove it in to go ahead. A fumble recovery by John Isaacs gave Dixie new life but on that series, Dixie coughed up the ball on an interception at the Valley View 14. Dixie did stop them and got new life when a bad snap went over the punters head, he attempted a kick which was partially blocked and who else but Isaacs covered the ball at the Valley View 17. It looked like a momentum change, but Dixie threw an interception on 4th and 11, it was returned by Chris Lykins over 90 yards for a TD. So instead of tying the game 14 all, Dixie was down 21-7 at the half – not the momentum shift that Dixie needed.

In the third quarter, Dixie’s Wade Floyd had a tackle for loss and ended Valley View’s first drive. Dixie’s last gasp was on their next possession. John Isaacs caught a pass and went 80 yards for the touchdown. They did not make the extra point and it was 21-13. And from there on out it was all Valley View. Dixie was able to drive again to the Valley View 25, but a bad snap on 4th down killed that drive and lead to another Valley View touchdown. With Valley View able to platoon, they wore down Dixie. Many Dixie players had to go both ways in the heat – plus two starters were just coming back from the flu. So they just ran out of gas in the second half. The Spartans would win 49-13.

“Well you can’t win any ball game with 7 turnovers,” stated Coach Tarpley after the game,”and Valley View capitalized on 4 of those for touchdowns, including all three Valley View TD’s in the second quarter. Bad plays and bad snaps were a problem. And our defense could not find an answer for Schenck their running back. Valley View rose to the occasion and played really well.”

He did go to say that Ryan Jordan had a really good game on defense. “He was our leading rusher last week, but we couldn’t get our running game on track this week. He plays both ways and lead the team in tackles at linebacker. Next week we play against Division 2 Franklin, the mistakes we made this week we can correct.”

Congrats to both TVS and TCN on their first victories of the season. And Eaton is hitting on all 8 cylinders. They look tough to beat at this point in the season.

Finally on OSU - watching the game against Akron over my shoulder as I update. Glad that OSU gets the win. They looked good - but you have to consider the opponent, the Zips have been in the bottom half of the MAC. Still I liked what I saw, an Ohio State team that controlled the line of scrimmage, ran well, passed well. Freshman Miller got playing time at qb in a non threatening situation. So a good start to the Finkell era.

Vv 49 dix 13 final

Dixie 13 vv 28 end of third

Vv 21 dixie 7 at halftime

Dixie 7 vv 0 1st qtr

Dixie 7 vv 0 1st qtr

This Friday I will be covering the Dixie - Valley View game.

If you can't make the game, I will be posting quarterly scores from the sidelines.

Watch for the story to be posted here next weekend.

Greyhounds Race Past Panthers

With Dixie graduating a good crop of seniors last season there was some question if they could reload or would they need to rebuild? They have Junior quarterback Luke Bowling back at the helm but they lost two of his favorite receivers and on the defensive side of the ball they lost a premier linebacker, finally they lost linemen on both sides of the ball. Well the answer this last Friday night was that Dixie is in reload mode. They scored first and allowed South to tie it 7 -7. But that was the high water mark for the South offense as they were smothered from that point on by a stout Dixie defense. On the other side of the ball, the spread offense of Dixie was keeping South off balance with both the run and pass.

Bowling showed that he had some wheels as well as an arm as he carried the ball in twice for scores. He also connected with Doogie Hauser for a 30 yard TD pass, this play was set by a Jordan screen pass a play prior. And Jordan scored himself on runs of 43 and 80 yards. The 43 yard run was set up a Zack Grubb kick off return to the TVS 46 yard line. Trent Cummings scored on a one yard carry. But this score was set up by a Panther miscue – a bad snap on a punt resulted in the ball going to Dixie on the one yard line.

The lone Panther score was set up by freshman Anthony Augspurger’s interception. He was playing outside linebacker and jumped a route for the pickoff. Then he ran about 36 yards until he was tackled at the 23 yard line of Dixie. Three plays later the ball was given to Augspurger from 6 yards out where he finished the deal by running in for the score.

Both teams had their of share penalties – even for a first game. In a close game this can come back to bite these two teams. So I am sure both teams will be working on minimizing the illegal procedures and holding calls for next week. Although there was a good night for football, the turnout in West Alexandria seemed a little light as compared to years past. Hopefully this will improve too as the season goes on.

But Coach Tarpley from Dixie was more than pleased with his defense, “They are doing really well, this is the fastest defense that we have had and it showed on the field. It was lead by linebacker Matt Isaacs, who had 13 tackles and a fumble recovery. We played well in all aspects of the game, the defense, the offense, special teams – our kicking game was outstanding. Ryan Jordan had 165 yards rushing in the first half alone. “

He was gracious to the host team, “They are a well coached team, I see them getting much better once they learn the spread offense. It is a hard offense to pick up the first year. Also I appreciate the good sportsmanship that I saw on the field. Lance [Engleka] will do well at South, I see him doing good things in the CCC. ”

On next weeks game, “Well they are Valley View for one – they dropped us from the schedule years ago because they didn’t think we offered the completion, but I want to see the rivalry we once had come back. They have a good running back that their offense is centered around and they run a 5-2 defense. It will be a tough game, but I hope to surprise them. We had a good fan turnout Friday against South, but I really want to see the Dixie fans come out in full force and support us at Valley View.”

Coach Engleka acknowledged that Dixie was potent after the game, “We knew their offense was explosive, they put 35 points against Division 2 Greenville and scored 49 points in 3 quarters against Tri-County North. So we knew that they could put points on the board in a hurry. So we told the players before the game that we could not allow any big plays. We did that in the first quarter – although they scored, they had to drive the ball down the field. And we stopped them a few possessions. Then we had the break down on special teams early in the second quarter and turned the ball over to Dixie on the one yard line. Then we gave up another big play and so that 14 point swing at the start of the 2nd quarter really broke our backs.”

I asked him about the South score, “We had told our outside line backers where the Dixie receivers hit their marks, and Anthony hit the mark at right time and was able to make the play. We’ve been teaching the kids to listen and get to where they need to be on each play. He then had a nice return to the redzone and we were able to score three plays later.”

Finally, what positives they could find from the game? “We watched the game film and found that defensive linemen Cody Clayton and Kole Maggard did a great job clogging up the ‘A’ (inside) gaps. Kole was generally double teamed and still had 7 tackles including 2 for loss. They were both in their backfield more often than not. We also liked what we saw in Brad Wagers at Defensive End. He is a bit undersized, but compensates with quickness. And that quickness caused problems for the Dixie offense.

Next week South will play National Trail at home – both teams run the same offense and the same defense – according to coach Engleka this game will come down to which team executes the spread offense and 4-4 defense the best, and Dixie stays on the road and will travel to always tough Valley View.

Dix 42 tvs 7 final

dix 42 tvs 7 3rd qtr

Dix 35 tvs 7 at half

tvs 7 dix 21

Eaton is ready for Talawanda. After their 3rd and final scrimmage, Eaton is ready to begin the regular season next Friday against Talawanda. Expectations are high after last seasons playoff run. Returning quarterback Cole French did not disappoint as he looked steady at the helm. I don't know what his completion rate was, but it had to have been high. Very few dropped balls and most of his passes were on the money. He and the spread offense work well together. When the scrimmage was over, Eaton had scored 4 TD's to Tipp City's one.

On the other side of the ball the defense had a good night overall. Lots of pressure on the Tipp quarterback. He had little time to throw. The running game was all they had. It was the big play that was the Achilles heel of the Eaton defense. They held Tipp to just a few yards a carry then all of sudden Tipp ripped a big carry for 50-60 yards. This happened at least twice and lead to their one score. Then the second time the defense held on a 4th and short causing Tipp to give up the ball on downs at about the 10 yard line. But overall the defense gave a good accounting of themselves.

The one thing I would like to see improved is the running game. Sure with the spread, you think pass first. And with a seasoned quarterback that is your strong hand. But you need to be able to run from time to time to keep the defense honest. Plus on those cold and windy Fridays, you need to be able to run when the pass isn't working for you. There was one decent gain for 15 yards, but overall they didn't do so well on the ground.

Coach Neanon had this to say after the scrimmage: "It was a good place to start, I really liked our defensive intensity - we got some nice pressure on their quarterback. That is something that we have been working on, so it was pleasing for us. Overall intensity wise I thought we played well. I thought our passing game looked good tonight. Our receivers caught the ball and Cole ready the defense well and picked out the guys who would be open. The offensive line gave him plenty of time, and if Cole has the time he can pick a defense apart."

Neanon expects Talawanda to use a ground attack. "They have big line splits and they will try to spread you out and they have a big quarterback who makes good reads on the option. They are not a huge team, but they have good quickness. On defense they use that speed to close on the ball."

On OSHAA allowing teams to have three scrimmages this year. "Overall I think it was a positive. We got to look at a lot of kids early on and fill out the depth chart. A lot of our young guys got playing time in game situations. On the negative side, there is always the chance for injury and so you just want to get out healthy."

Also I am doing some audio clips. So check it out on my Sports webpage, there is a link to right. The TVS audio is there now and Eaton's will be there shortly. Oh and if there are any young aspiring broadcasters out there - contact me. My voice is a monotone.

Eaton 28 tipp 7 With jv teams now playing in 43h

Eaton 21 tipp 7 at half of scimmage

 

A new look at TVS. By my count TVS won the scrimmage 4-2 over New Miami. South scored both on the ground and in the air. The offense has an entirely new look under first year head coach Lance Engleka. He is the former offensive coordinator at Middletown where they ran the spread offense. That was the South offense of choice for the entire scrimmage. Many times spread teams will go to a different formation when it is short yardage - but South stayed with the spread thru out. Although South did use the pass effectively, they were able to keep New Miami of balance by running for yardage as well.

The South quarterbacks had a good eye for the most part - I think there was just the one interception, and the South receivers had good hands - very few dropped balls. They had a few holds on the line, and a few miscues, but for a first scrimmage they did well. And New Miami did have a couple of horses at tackle. Two big kids that looked to be over 6 foot and over 250 pounds. Defensively they had some let downs, but in the last part of the scrimmage, when it was down and distance, they did a good job against New Miami. South was up 4-1 and they had some subs in the game late when a New Miami quarterback ran a keeper for about 50 yards just before the scrimmage was over. Lots of red jerseys around the ball which you like to see on defense, plus they had a few sacks and tackles for loss.

New Miami has a new head coach as well - Coach Jewitt - if my memory is right he coached at Carlisle for awhile. One thing he did that was actually beneficial for the TVS defense was the variety of formations he used. The old T formation, Double wing, and the spread offenses. So the team had to adjust to a variety of looks. New Miami does not have much depth with about 22 - 24 players in all. On the other hand, South had 41 dressed for the scrimmage. Towards the end that difference in depth meant that they stayed stronger, longer.

Coach Engleka stated the entire experience was positive. "From an offensive standpoint we want to be uptempo in everything we do. Right from the get go we did what we needed to do, we were able to run the ball and we were able to throw the ball. We want to do what we want to do - when we want to do it. We both ran and threw the ball well when we wanted to.

Dylan Ashley and Cole Cottingim did really well at quarterback today. Our offensive line did a good job of getting into guys and moving them off the ball. We want our line to move the line of scrimmage back three yards and they did a great job of doing that. Our recievers made some real athletic plays. On the defensive side we told the guys to line up right, play fast and physical. Those are the three things we want to do, and today we did those three things. The type of offense they were running we had not seen before. And they did a good job against them; and if we can do those three things all year - line up right, play fast and physical we will be successful this year.

The defensive line did a good job of putting pressure on the quarterback. Our linebackers were coming up strong. Our free safety Zane Cottingim did an outstanding job today did an outstanding job of filling in the alley. Overall we were pleased with everything."

Football Scrimmage: TVS 4 New Miami 2 Final

Well looks like the mobile posting from the field is working well. South was up 4-1, but Miami East got a score at the end of the scrimmage. Will post a full update and a pic or later. Have to run to a birthday party now.

Tvs 2 new miami 1 almost done with scrimmage

Tvs 1 new miami 1 midway thruscrimmage