Abingdon vs Northside

[BigO 316]

Nuts, what did you think?  Did you think AHS looked better than you expected?  I thought the game was pretty evenly matched but I don't know how many starters you  guys played.  The first offensive set for AHS was a little rough with some hurried play. But the D played very well the entire game.  The RB from NS was tough as nails...kid runs super hard.  AHS passing game got better as the game continued.  Timing takes a bit to get down when you are finally playing someone besides your own teammates. 

[Sleepin nuts 27]

Not surprised by Abingdon at all. We wouldn't have driven a 5 hour roundtrip to play a patsy.

I thought both teams did some things very well and both did some things very poorly.

The purpose of a scrimmage is to work on your base plays and focus on the things you don't do very well. I think both teams did this.

What Abingdon did well was throw the ball. The QB is very good. One of the best passers I have seen in the last few years.

What Northside did very well was run defense.

 

My concerns for Abingdon is that if the QB goes down what else can they do? I believe #7 was the only QB that played. The run game was non factor.

My concern for Northside is finding a Safety that can cover 3 wide. (Although we never see that formation in the regular season) We had several blown assignments but film study will fix those. 

 

First big frustrations on the night was concerning the no contact with the QB plan. Our guys would beat their blocks then avoid contact with the QB. This allowed for more time and more confidence for the QB to hang in pocket without getting hit.....real game would be a different story.

 

Second frustration...We allowed Abingdon to run their no huddle unabated. Our coaches didn't enter our huddle or slow the pace of the offense ..Abingdon waited for our offense to get in formation before the coach gave the his defense their assignments while still in their huddle. In a real game we would have snapped the ball whether they were ready or not.         That told me that the coach wasn't very confident in his players ability to identify their alignments.

 

Third frustration was that the officials were as clueless as I have ever seen.

 

All in all it was not a perfect scrimmage but I think both teams found alot to work on in the next few weeks.

I'll stick by my prediction that Abingdon will be a top 10 3A team by midseason. I'll also predict that they will get a home playoff game and maybe even 2 postseason games at home. (Provided that the QB stays healthy)    

[BigO 316]

I know what you are saying about the no QB contact, but the QB is actually a pretty decent runner and he never carried the ball either. That would have opened some things up. NS run defense is very good, no doubt, but it would have been more realistic (for lack of a better word) if AHS had run the read offense a bit more. But with a no QB contact rule in place it made it more difficult for both teams. It looked more like a 7v7 at times....when AHS had the ball. Best of luck to you guys this season!

[Mountain man 121]

Sleeping nuts, I agree totally with your assessment. Both coaches are buddies from E&H. Our QB was questionable to play until Thursday. Had some back spasm issues I think. After what happened to your kid last year, that lost a season, I think the coaches showed some class with the no QB contact rule. #11 would have been disruptive without it for sure!!! Thanks for a good clean scrimmage. Would love to get good enough to see you guys in November or December

[Bigrhsfan 884]

I think the no QB contact is pretty normal now in these type of scrimmages.  I know at the Richlands jam. last night they also had the no contact rule and the refs were pretty quick with the whistle on just about any contact,  although there were still a few big hits !

 But IMHO,  I think that is a good idea this early.  The main thing you want to do in these early scrimmages is to give guys some experience and work on timing and assignments find out what you need to work on before the season starts as you guys well know.

THE worst thing that can happen at these things is to get your QB hurt and possibly ruin what could be a good season.  Glad to hear neither of your teams had any major injuries and it sounds like both teams have a chance to have good seasons.  Abingdon may have a chance for their best season in many years. Would like to see you make some noise in AAA.

Good luck to both teams.

[Mountain man 121]

Thank you bighsfan