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Freedom/Colgan 112-16 Final

Through 7 games, Freedom is averaging 66 points a game and giving up under 5. Stone Bridge has been the only team to find the end zone on their 1st team defense and not face a running clock. We can debate about the optics of the Colgan game last night (and what could have or should have been done differently), but it’s obvious this Freedom squad is making a long playoff run and possibly heading to a title game. A final against OS could be in the cards.
 
I kind of forgot the politics where this occurred. No offense, but with the radical lefties up that way, someone is getting in major trouble for this. I can assure you someone has already been hospitalized for an anxiety attack up there because their "safe space" was violated with the lob sided score and I'm sure some fans were "triggered" for an anxiety/panic attack. No question though, running up the score is wrong, but I've seen many of these situations where it's the losing coach that refuses to shorten the game or cancel the game, and has the "die on the sword" mentality that is equally as damaging to the winning coach who has his own ego problems to begin with. Sad situation all around.
I do not think, and I know for me, it is about anything more than an opinion on sportsmanship and playing the game the right way. Others may have different opinions than mine on what constitutes good sportsmanship and playing the game the right way and that is fine as everybody is entitled to their own opinion informed by their own circumstances and beliefs.

Thanks to otnorot for linking a game story with quotes by the coaches. I think everybody can read that story and further form their own opinions. I offered mine last night and with the story information my opinion remains the same. Everyone have a nice day.
 
Starters for freedom were out of game early on. Freedom had JV team in. Would hand ball to JV running back off guard/tackle, and he would run untouched that very play directly up the middle. When you get to the point where you are advertising your running back getting the ball directly up the middle who is a JV running back with JV QB and JV offensive line, and he still scores straight up the gut from anywhere on the field against the other teams varsity, not much you can do.

The two coaches should have agree on stopping the game, and this is where both of them should be called in the office and talked to. The losing coach is just as stubborn for not stopping it as the winning coach.
According to the article the starters weren’t out until after the first series in the second half. I was more impressed with the losing coach’s comments than the winning coach’s. If you leave your starters in to score 90 points before the half, then yeah, that’s kind of running up the score even if the other team has several miscues. Just my opinion…
 
Through 7 games, Freedom is averaging 66 points a game and giving up under 5. Stone Bridge has been the only team to find the end zone on their 1st team defense and not face a running clock. We can debate about the optics of the Colgan game last night (and what could have or should have been done differently), but it’s obvious this Freedom squad is making a long playoff run and possibly heading to a title game. A final against OS could be in the cards.
They would meet Oscar Smith in the semifinals
 
They would meet Oscar Smith in the semifinals
That’s not true. Smith doesn’t face NOVA team til the finals. Nova has 2 regions. They faced South county in the finals.
 
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That’s not true. Smith doesn’t face NOVA team til the finals. Nova has 2 regions. They faced South county in the finals.
Depends on the definition of "NOVA". Prince William and Stafford county schools (and south) are not in Regions C & D so, yes, the most likely A & B semi is going to be Smith and Freedom (or Battlefield).
 
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I think Oscar Smith still beats them. Probably a little closer than the margin they beat James Madison by last season (25). Probably something like a 34-21 if I had to predict now.
I don't know, Oscar Smith is a little down this year from last year. Oscar Smith should have lost to Indian River and freedom beat a good stonebridge team. I believe the game can go either way.
 
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I don't know, Oscar Smith is a little down this year from last year. Oscar Smith should have lost to Indian River and freedom beat a good stonebridge team. I believe the game can go either way.
I don’t like OS to beat TDale this year.
 
I can promise you, there is going to be more than one letter sent to the Prince William County school board regarding this. I will actually be highly surprised if the coach is not given a one game suspension. If you actually think that the northern Virginia liberals are going to deal with kids getting embarrassed like this, you are sadly mistaken. Say what you want but nothing good that came out of this game. 13 touchdowns in the first half and you’re telling me that the coach can’t adjust his playcalling to keep this from happening? Looks to me like that Coach needs to learn some class!
7 of our first half TDs were on defense or special teams. 151 total yards passing… starting RB 8 total carries..

I’ll get into the dynamic of our team and numbers as to why the reality of pulling players prior to the second half isn’t realistic in our situation.
 
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According to the article the starters weren’t out until after the first series in the second half. I was more impressed with the losing coach’s comments than the winning coach’s. If you leave your starters in to score 90 points before the half, then yeah, that’s kind of running up the score even if the other team has several miscues. Just my opinion…
We have 48 total players in our program. 26 of them play jv. Most of our starters go both ways. With the maximum quarter play restriction (48) it isn’t realistic for our jv kids to play 3 quarters of a game regardless of the score. That’s 7 quarters a week for them. We don’t have 2nd and 3rd string players. Our 2nd string players are starters at other positions.

somebody said to me, nobody keeps up with that…. In PWC, if we (Freedom) are even accused of anything it’s met with a full investigation. We played Westfield a few years ago, the QB got sacked and injured badly. A random lady made a comment that we set out to injure him on purpose. Next week there investigators and police interviewing our kids asking if they were told to hurt the qb.

From a football side of things,Colgan is not the worst team in our Conference. As you can see from scores, if we followed the logic of pulling starters in the first quarter or first half, we’ll never get work on things or execute what we work on. Kids working there butts off to try to get scholarships would have no film.

~ Freedom Coach
 
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We have 48 total players in our program. 26 of them play jv. Most of our starters go both ways. With the maximum quarter play restriction (48) it isn’t realistic for our jv kids to play 3 quarters of a game regardless of the score. That’s 7 quarters a week for them. We don’t have 2nd and 3rd string players. Our 2nd string players are starters at other positions.

somebody said to me, nobody keeps up with that…. In PWC, if we (Freedom) are even accused of anything it’s met with a full investigation. We played Westfield a few years ago, the QB got sacked and injured badly. A random lady made a comment that we set out to injure him on purpose. Next week there investigators and police interviewing our kids asking if they were told to hurt the qb.

From a football side of things,Colgan is the worst team in our Conference. As you can see from scores, if we followed the logic of pulling starters in the first quarter or first half, we’ll never get work on things or execute what we work on. Kids working there butts off to try to get scholarships would have no film.

~ Freedom Coach
Wow, a 6A school with only 48 players with 26 on JV. That seems a bit sparse.

No offense intended but college recruiters aren’t impressed with film where you’re beating a team by 90 at half and your player runs a TD against the worst team in the conference. I highly doubt any recruiters are even going to watch film of this game. Truly no disrespect, coaching is a hard job but to mere outsiders if seems like Freedom ran up the score. In the grand scheme, you probably shouldn’t let other’s opinions on a board like this bother you.

Good luck the rest of the season, hopefully your players get some quality film for recruiters to see but this game ain’t it.
 
Wow, a 6A school with only 48 players with 26 on JV. That seems a bit sparse.

No offense intended but college recruiters aren’t impressed with film where you’re beating a team by 90 at half and your player runs a TD against the worst team in the conference. I highly doubt any recruiters are even going to watch film of this game. Truly no disrespect, coaching is a hard job but to mere outsiders if seems like Freedom ran up the score. In the grand scheme, you probably shouldn’t let other’s opinions on a board like this bother you.

Good luck the rest of the season, hopefully your players get some quality film for recruiters to see but this game ain’t it.
If you knew the demographics of our school you’d understand 1) why we’re 6A 2) why we only have 48 players.

we also don’t field a baseball teams, softball team and most of the other sports that 6A schools have. We don’t have participation like that.
i agree college recruiters really don’t care about blowouts, but honestly that pretty much what all of our games will look like the rest of this regular season and most of this season already. Folks are basically saying, your starters won’t really play that much this season. It’s a hard reality to put a kid that loves the sport and works hard for the results to play out in game situations and tell him, your hard work may or may not play out this season because we have a good team and our Confernce is down in competition so we have to take you out after the first quarter each week.

I actually don’t care about the comments, I’ve been reading this board for about 10 years this doesn’t touch the surface of offensive comments.
 
Hey Coach, I admire you taking a few minutes to explain the game. That takes class.

No one that wasn’t at the game has much right to criticize. Others have a right and a curiosity to wonder how it played out, but not to judge.

We once won a game 77-0 and got blasted by their Principal, that wasn’t in attendance. After he was furnished with the game film, he was apologetic.

I hope we can all agree on one thing. When you put a kid in the game, whether it be your superstar, or the waterboy, you not only expect, but you demand that they give 100%, 100% of the time. Any approach other than that is disgraceful, and disrespectful to the opponent.

Best wishes for the rest of your season.
 
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Best of luck the rest of the season/playoffs Coach. Hope your team can stay healthy. Freedom certainly has a chance to have a very special season.
 
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If you knew the demographics of our school you’d understand 1) why we’re 6A 2) why we only have 48 players.

we also don’t field a baseball teams, softball team and most of the other sports that 6A schools have. We don’t have participation like that.
i agree college recruiters really don’t care about blowouts, but honestly that pretty much what all of our games will look like the rest of this regular season and most of this season already. Folks are basically saying, your starters won’t really play that much this season. It’s a hard reality to put a kid that loves the sport and works hard for the results to play out in game situations and tell him, your hard work may or may not play out this season because we have a good team and our Confernce is down in competition so we have to take you out after the first quarter each week.

I actually don’t care about the comments, I’ve been reading this board for about 10 years this doesn’t touch the surface of offensive comments.
Best of luck to the team and any players looking to play at the next level. I admittedly know zip about demographics of the school or even the game for that matter other than reading the article. I hope Colgan develops into a competitive program because honestly that only helps your team if they do. Any of my comments are purely my personal opinion and I respect you for explaining the situation from your viewpoint whether or not me or others agree with it.
 
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Thank you coach for providing some insight in to the demographics and other challenges your team and school face.
 
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Best of luck to the team and any players looking to play at the next level. I admittedly know zip about demographics of the school or even the game for that matter other than reading the article. I hope Colgan develops into a competitive program because honestly that only helps your team if they do. Any of my comments are purely my personal opinion and I respect you for explaining the situation from your viewpoint whether or not me or others agree with it.
Last little known fact. Colgon HC is a product of our system. He coached with us prior to getting a Hc job 2 years ago. Which he was supported and fully backed by all of us to go after. Additionally, 3 or 4 of the assistant coaches either coach or have coached little league with us including the HC. Colgon HC has and continues to train my son when he has time. He’s building a program that has not been successful but will get there in time. Lastly, sometimes big brother gotta take lil brother out back and issue a few reminders. I said that to say, it’s all love between both staffs….
 
Last little known fact. Colgon HC is a product of our system. He coached with us prior to getting a Hc job 2 years ago. Which he was supported and fully backed by all of us to go after. Additionally, 3 or 4 of the assistant coaches either coach or have coached little league with us including the HC. Colgon HC has and continues to train my son when he has time. He’s building a program that has not been successful but will get there in time. Lastly, sometimes big brother gotta take lil brother out back and issue a few reminders. I said that to say, it’s all love between both staffs….
Little brother said,

“damn, did you really have to show me THAT much love?”
 
With the way Freedom won now every playoff team will be scouting them a lot more than usual.
 
I don’t like OS to beat TDale this year.
I don't know now, the way OS destroyed Kings Fork, them repeating is not out of question. Thomas Dale has a good team but they really have not played a top tier team this year, so it is hard to gage if they are a true title Contender.
 
TD has two challenging games left. L C Bird may not be what they were during the Coach Bidwell era, but they are no slouch. And finishing up next Friday at Dinwiddie should tell us a lot about both teams.
 
I don't know now, the way OS destroyed Kings Fork, them repeating is not out of question. Thomas Dale has a good team but they really have not played a top tier team this year, so it is hard to gage if they are a true title Contender.
Oscar smith really did not destroy Kings Fork. As a matter of fact, Kings Fork had almost 200 more yards of offense(306 to 124 total offense)than Oscar smith had. Oscar smith had three picks sixes in the game and a blocked punt for touchdown.
 
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Freedom has poor 0-8 Hilton tomorrow night. Will they run wild and score in the 70+ range? Or will they purposely hold their scoring down to cut down on the criticism?
 
Freedom has poor 0-8 Hilton tomorrow night. Will they run wild and score in the 70+ range? Or will they purposely hold their scoring down to cut down on the criticism?
The team freedom dropped 100 on shut out Hilton! They are trying to break the state record so this could get ugly
 
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I saw on maxpreps that Freedom beat Potomac 41 to 0 but I don't know if that is reliable or not.
 
One takeaway from the Stone Bridge game for me was the big play ability Freedom showed against another top team in SB. If you were looking around and trying to figure out who the top team is this year, that was the performance that you could take in and get a sense of the big plays they can probably make against any of the top competition in 6A.

I've been looking for the Freedom V. Oscar Smith match-up for a while. IMO, Freedom is the team in NOVA that reminds me the most of Smith in recent years, just in terms of having that overall blend of balance, size, athleticism, big-play ability, etc. It would be fun to finally see them play in the semi-final this year, even if Smith has dropped back a little. I'm not counting out Battlefield or even Patriot to challenge Freedom though, and I'm sure Smith will have to outlast a close game to whoever they end up playing in their region.

I'll also say, I do think we missed out on the 2017 Freedom team at the state level. They were pretty strong and had a talented athlete at QB that year but took the early exit in the playoffs. I would have liked to have seen them play Westfield that season.
 
it might have been Colonial Forge (or Panox) that beat Freedom that year. With C. Forge's D Coordinator, coach Cook now at Western Branch, CF hasn't been the same team. In fact, I'd go as far as to say WB is now like what Colonial Forge was.

Anyone that thinks Freedom is the sure bet state champs this year has a short memory. I agree that Patriot & Battlefield will be strong challengers vs Freedom. We can discuss the playoffs in a new thread. After Saturday, we'll know who's traveling between the different areas.
 
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it might have been Colonial Forge (or Panox) that beat Freedom that year. With C. Forge's D Coordinator, coach Cook now at Western Branch, CF hasn't been the same team. In fact, I'd go as far as to say WB is now like what Colonial Forge was.

Anyone that thinks Freedom is the sure bet state champs this year has a short memory. I agree that Patriot & Battlefield will be strong challengers vs Freedom. We can discuss the playoffs in a new thread. After Saturday, we'll know who's traveling between the different areas.
Freedom lost to Hylton in 2017 in the regional semi-final.
 
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