South County 28 - Westfield 21

[falcettik]

In a game that was what most expected, South County and Westfield played a game that was certainly deserving of a state semifinal. Spectacular touchdown catches. Tough defense when it mattered. Fast, crisp offensive execution. A daring, but successful, 4th down and 9 play executed from WF's own 3 yard line. The two teams were fairly evenly matched, as expected, but as the game wore on SC's execution was just a bit crisper and it was enough to gain a berth in the state final next weekend.

SC took the opening KO and started at their own 17 yard line, but had to punt after three plays gained only 7 yards. WF got the punt near midfield but were unable to move the ball and punted it back to SC at the SC 20 yard line. After running just two plays, SC's Dayne fumbled at the SC 25 and WF's Green recovered on the 26 of SC. After WF's Shanks ran the ball to the 10 yard line, Kim found Howard for a 10 yard pass and WF went in front 7-0, (Paige XP) with 7:56 remaining in the first quarter. SC had good field position at their 44 yard line after the KO and drove to the WF 32 where they faced a 4th and 6. On the 4th down play the snap was bad and a hurried pass from SC's Dzierski was bobbled by SC's Dayne, allowing WF's Summey to pick the ball out of the air for an INT, giving WF the ball on their own 30 yard line. Unable to move the ball, WF punted and the short kick landed at the SC 44 yard line. This time SC answered when Dzierski found Spaulding on a spectacular, leaping one-handed catch in the corner of the end zone despite great coverage, and the Alfaro tipped XP just barely snuck over the bar to tie the score at 7-7 with 2:01 to play in the first quarter. WF took the KO and started at their own 26 yard line, quickly reaching the SC 43 when Kim hit St. Germain in the open, but on the next play WF's Shanks fumbled and SC's Dayne recovered at the SC 45. SC then ran three short plays and set up to punt, but WF jumped offsides and SC had a new set of downs. SC took advantage and moved into the WF red zone, where on a third and long play Dzierski scrambled around the right side. As he was about to be tackled, he tried to lateral the ball to a team mate; the ball went forward but was ruled legal and SC gained 8 yards on the play to reach the WF 4 and face a 4th and 2. The 4th down run was stopped inches short and WF took over on their own 2 yard line. After two incomplete passes and a one yard run, WF faced 4th and 9 at their own 2 yard line. WF's Kim lined up about 6 yards deep in the end zone, but on the snap rifled a pass to WF's Richards cutting across the middle for a 18 yard gain and a first down at the WF 21 yard line (this play was one of the gutsiest calls I have ever seen). On the next play WF's Shanks gained 28 yards to the WF 49 and WF appeared to be in great position to get a score before the half. However, despite running about 12-13 plays and eating up much of the remaining time in the first half, WF only reached the SC 29 yard line where the 4th and 9 pass was incomplete and SC took over, running out the clock in the half with the score tied at 7 all.

WF took the second half KO and marched 55 yards to the SC 12 yard line, where a 4th and 5 pass attempt fell incomplete. SC took over and almost immediately Dzierski passed to a receiver on the right sideline around the 40 yard line of SC. On this play two WF receivers were in perfect position to intercept the ball, but ran into each other as the ball arrived and the ball popped up and into the hands of SC's Davis, who sprinted to the endzone for the apparent go ahead TD. But wait... a holding call negated the play and SC was pushed back to their own 4 yard line. After another penalty, SC was on their own 2 yard line and looked to be in serious trouble. However, Dzierski found Spaulding for a 28 yard gain to the SC 30 yard line and SC was moving. They drove to midfield and scored when Dzierski found Toran behind the defense and hit him with a 50 yard pass and catch for the go ahead TD. After the Alfaro XP it was 14-7, SC, with 4:52 to play in the third quarter. WF's next possession ended in a punt, and SC took over on their own 24 yard line with a chance to extend the lead, but WF's Bushra intercepted Dzierski at the WF 45 yard line and returned the ball to the SC 21 yard line for great field position for WF. Losing yards and facing a 4th and 14 at the SC 25 yard line, WF's Kim dropped back to pass then saw an opening and gained 15 yards to set up a first and goal at the SC 10 yard line. On the next play, WF's Howard beat his defender and laid out in the end zone to catch a 10 yard TD pass from Kim to tie the score at 14-14 (Paige XP) with 11:53 left in the game. SC then put together a well executed, crisp 72 yard drive, mixing passes and punishing runs by Dayne, as well as Dzierski and others, to retake the lead with a 3 yard TD run by Koroma (Alfaro XP) with 8:10 remaining in the game. WF took the ensuing KO at their own 27 yard line and ran three plays that gained only 6 yards, facing 4th and 4 at their own 33 yard line. Choosing to go for it instead of punt, down only 7, Kim's pass to Richards into good SC coverage was incomplete and SC took over with a chance to virtually seal the game-which they did when SC's Dunn made an over the shoulder catch of a pass from Dzierski in the corner of the end zone to give SC a 14 point lead, 28-14 (Alfaro XP) with less than 5 minutes to play. WF did not give up and, behind an aggressive passing game, went 78 yards in less than two minutes to draw within 28-21 (Paige XP) when Kim ran it in from 1 yard out with 3:19 to play. SC then went to their ground game to try to run out the clock, but the WF defense did enough to force a punt from the SC 45 yard line. WF had the ball on their own 34 yard line, needing a score to tie the game, and with just 64 seconds left. Initially helped by two SC penalties, followed by some mid range passes, WF reached around the SC 30 yard line and had a second down play with about 20 seconds remaining. On the second down play SC's defense got to WF's Kim for a sack, so Kim spiked it on third down and WF had 8 seconds left to score. Kim's final pass into the corner of the end zone was well covered by several SC defenders, with SC's Spaulding coming down with it as time expired to send SC into the state championship next week against Oscar Smith.

 

[CavsGrad]

Always a great post and classy.

 

[757FridayNiteZ]

How's next year's team looking for Westfield. With Kim graduating, is their a capable successor to lead the Bulldogs?

 

[falcettik]

How's next year's team looking for Westfield. With Kim graduating, is their a capable successor to lead the Bulldogs?

We will have the majority of the defense back, as well as WR Richards and the two RBs, Legall (who will be a JR and, IMO, has the potential to draw some P5 offers) as well as RB Shanks. The O-line has some guys returning too, I think, and should be bigger. Right now the biggest question mark is QB. Richards has played QB before but I hear he would prefer not to, and putting him at QB takes him out of the WR spot where he is very effective and a dangerous receiver. The current JV QB, Hall (who will be a JR next year) is really raw and not ready yet, but if he puts in a ton of work and gets protection from his O-line if he is the QB next year, might be OK. Hall has to get better, plain and simple. If you asked me today what I think WF will be like next year, based on what I know now, I think they will again contend but be a bit down. That said, I know I am a pessimist and, after all, strange things happen with 15-16 year old kids over the summer as they mature, hit the weight room, and decide they want to step up when it is their time to do so. We will see, but next year is the first year in a while where there could be a slight drop off, IMO. But I am not a coach, so my opinion doesn't matter, LOL!

 

[Bounty13]

However, despite running about 12-13 plays and eating up much of the remaining time in the first half, WF only reached the SC 29 yard line where the 4th and 9 pass was incomplete and SC took over, running out the clock in the half with the score tied at 7 all.

WF actually punted it at the SC 29 and it only netted 9 yards. This was a most baffling decision after going for it on 4th down at their own 3 earlier in the drive. So on this one drive, I've never seen anyone attempt a 'fake punt' while standing in their own end zone, then you rarely see anyone punt on the opponents 29 yard line. There were only 48 seconds left, I felt WF should have attempted a play, even though it was 4th and 14.

Putting that aside, this was a state championship caliber match up and one heck of a game.

 

[falcettik]

WF actually punted it at the SC 29 and it only netted 9 yards. This was a most baffling decision after going for it on 4th down at their own 3 earlier in the drive. So on this one drive, I've never seen anyone attempt a 'fake punt' while standing in their own end zone, then you rarely see anyone punt on the opponents 29 yard line. There were only 48 seconds left, I felt WF should have attempted a play, even though it was 4th and 14.

Putting that aside, this was a state championship caliber match up and one heck of a game.

Yes, you are correct. I use just a 3x5 card for notes and I misread my own notes. But a I agree with your point about going for it-so maybe that was what I was thinking when I wrote it. WF was caught inside "no man's land" a few times when they stalled and couldn't get close enough for a FG, or did not execute to either pin SC deep or continue to move the chains. Either way, I agree that it was an excellent game. SC will have to execute like that again next week if they want to win.

 

[757FridayNiteZ]

We will have the majority of the defense back, as well as WR Richards and the two RBs, Legall (who will be a JR and, IMO, has the potential to draw some P5 offers) as well as RB Shanks. The O-line has some guys returning too, I think, and should be bigger. Right now the biggest question mark is QB. Richards has played QB before but I hear he would prefer not to, and putting him at QB takes him out of the WR spot where he is very effective and a dangerous receiver. The current JV QB, Hall (who will be a JR next year) is really raw and not ready yet, but if he puts in a ton of work and gets protection from his O-line if he is the QB next year, might be OK. Hall has to get better, plain and simple. If you asked me today what I think WF will be like next year, based on what I know now, I think they will again contend but be a bit down. That said, I know I am a pessimist and, after all, strange things happen with 15-16 year old kids over the summer as they mature, hit the weight room, and decide they want to step up when it is their time to do so. We will see, but next year is the first year in a while where there could be a slight drop off, IMO. But I am not a coach, so my opinion doesn't matter, LOL!

Your right about how 15-16 year old kids changing over a year or just a summer even. CF had a beast on their OL / DL. #55 is as big as i've seen at kid can be at that age. It seemed like he got 50% bigger compared to when we last played them! He's not one of those 6'5" 400 lbs monsters but at about 5'10", almost 300 pounds, he has arms the size of some kids' thighs. He is likely the perfect HS defensive NG model and definitely stuffed our running game for 3/4 of the game. However, CF has to play a lot of those kids both ways. It showed in the 4th quarter which allowed us to have a chance vs a pretty dominant OL/DL.

 

[757FridayNiteZ]

Just a side note but still a very interesting sequence of events from yesterday's game. As CF was driving in the red zone and with 4th and 2 yds to go, we could all hear the coaches from CF screaming into their headsets trying to convince Coach Brown to kick a field goal and tie the game at 6 each to end the 1st half..

Forge decided to throw into the endzone which resulted in the half ending with a Smith interception. We see these kinds of things often and I think in any other situation, the logical step was to even up the score. I assume the sideline coaching staff went into the game thinking they needed to do extra-ordinary things to pull out the win. However, that likely was the difference maker with a 2 point winning margin by Smith.

 

[cockadoodledude]

Thanks for that great write up.

Question, now that you've gotten a good feel for how SC is built, and what they do, what is your prediction of how they will matchup with Oscar Smith come Saturday; and who wins? Thank you.

In a game that was what most expected, South County and Westfield played a game that was certainly deserving of a state semifinal. Spectacular touchdown catches. Tough defense when it mattered. Fast, crisp offensive execution. A daring, but successful, 4th down and 9 play executed from WF's own 3 yard line. The two teams were fairly evenly matched, as expected, but as the game wore on SC's execution was just a bit crisper and it was enough to gain a berth in the state final next weekend.

SC took the opening KO and started at their own 17 yard line, but had to punt after three plays gained only 7 yards. WF got the punt near midfield but were unable to move the ball and punted it back to SC at the SC 20 yard line. After running just two plays, SC's Dayne fumbled at the SC 25 and WF's Green recovered on the 26 of SC. After WF's Shanks ran the ball to the 10 yard line, Kim found Howard for a 10 yard pass and WF went in front 7-0, (Paige XP) with 7:56 remaining in the first quarter. SC had good field position at their 44 yard line after the KO and drove to the WF 32 where they faced a 4th and 6. On the 4th down play the snap was bad and a hurried pass from SC's Dzierski was bobbled by SC's Dayne, allowing WF's Summey to pick the ball out of the air for an INT, giving WF the ball on their own 30 yard line. Unable to move the ball, WF punted and the short kick landed at the SC 44 yard line. This time SC answered when Dzierski found Spaulding on a spectacular, leaping one-handed catch in the corner of the end zone despite great coverage, and the Alfaro tipped XP just barely snuck over the bar to tie the score at 7-7 with 2:01 to play in the first quarter. WF took the KO and started at their own 26 yard line, quickly reaching the SC 43 when Kim hit St. Germain in the open, but on the next play WF's Shanks fumbled and SC's Dayne recovered at the SC 45. SC then ran three short plays and set up to punt, but WF jumped offsides and SC had a new set of downs. SC took advantage and moved into the WF red zone, where on a third and long play Dzierski scrambled around the right side. As he was about to be tackled, he tried to lateral the ball to a team mate; the ball went forward but was ruled legal and SC gained 8 yards on the play to reach the WF 4 and face a 4th and 2. The 4th down run was stopped inches short and WF took over on their own 2 yard line. After two incomplete passes and a one yard run, WF faced 4th and 9 at their own 2 yard line. WF's Kim lined up about 6 yards deep in the end zone, but on the snap rifled a pass to WF's Richards cutting across the middle for a 18 yard gain and a first down at the WF 21 yard line (this play was one of the gutsiest calls I have ever seen). On the next play WF's Shanks gained 28 yards to the WF 49 and WF appeared to be in great position to get a score before the half. However, despite running about 12-13 plays and eating up much of the remaining time in the first half, WF only reached the SC 29 yard line where the 4th and 9 pass was incomplete and SC took over, running out the clock in the half with the score tied at 7 all.

WF took the second half KO and marched 55 yards to the SC 12 yard line, where a 4th and 5 pass attempt fell incomplete. SC took over and almost immediately Dzierski passed to a receiver on the right sideline around the 40 yard line of SC. On this play two WF receivers were in perfect position to intercept the ball, but ran into each other as the ball arrived and the ball popped up and into the hands of SC's Davis, who sprinted to the endzone for the apparent go ahead TD. But wait... a holding call negated the play and SC was pushed back to their own 4 yard line. After another penalty, SC was on their own 2 yard line and looked to be in serious trouble. However, Dzierski found Spaulding for a 28 yard gain to the SC 30 yard line and SC was moving. They drove to midfield and scored when Dzierski found Toran behind the defense and hit him with a 50 yard pass and catch for the go ahead TD. After the Alfaro XP it was 14-7, SC, with 4:52 to play in the third quarter. WF's next possession ended in a punt, and SC took over on their own 24 yard line with a chance to extend the lead, but WF's Bushra intercepted Dzierski at the WF 45 yard line and returned the ball to the SC 21 yard line for great field position for WF. Losing yards and facing a 4th and 14 at the SC 25 yard line, WF's Kim dropped back to pass then saw an opening and gained 15 yards to set up a first and goal at the SC 10 yard line. On the next play, WF's Howard beat his defender and laid out in the end zone to catch a 10 yard TD pass from Kim to tie the score at 14-14 (Paige XP) with 11:53 left in the game. SC then put together a well executed, crisp 72 yard drive, mixing passes and punishing runs by Dayne, as well as Dzierski and others, to retake the lead with a 3 yard TD run by Koroma (Alfaro XP) with 8:10 remaining in the game. WF took the ensuing KO at their own 27 yard line and ran three plays that gained only 6 yards, facing 4th and 4 at their own 33 yard line. Choosing to go for it instead of punt, down only 7, Kim's pass to Richards into good SC coverage was incomplete and SC took over with a chance to virtually seal the game-which they did when SC's Dunn made an over the shoulder catch of a pass from Dzierski in the corner of the end zone to give SC a 14 point lead, 28-14 (Alfaro XP) with less than 5 minutes to play. WF did not give up and, behind an aggressive passing game, went 78 yards in less than two minutes to draw within 28-21 (Paige XP) when Kim ran it in from 1 yard out with 3:19 to play. SC then went to their ground game to try to run out the clock, but the WF defense did enough to force a punt from the SC 45 yard line. WF had the ball on their own 34 yard line, needing a score to tie the game, and with just 64 seconds left. Initially helped by two SC penalties, followed by some mid range passes, WF reached around the SC 30 yard line and had a second down play with about 20 seconds remaining. On the second down play SC's defense got to WF's Kim for a sack, so Kim spiked it on third down and WF had 8 seconds left to score. Kim's final pass into the corner of the end zone was well covered by several SC defenders, with SC's Spaulding coming down with it as time expired to send SC into the state championship next week against Oscar Smith.

 

[757FridayNiteZ]

This Smith team is not playing the same schemes on either side of the ball. The new Coaching staff with Coach Scott has completely revamped this team. If Westfield was playing this weekend, they'd see players in the same uniform but with kids that are playing more like Bishop Sullivan did. No VHSL ever play against them.

 

[757FridayNiteZ]

From what i've seen of South County, there are a lot of similarities. I expect a great battle Saturday.

 

[falcettik]

Thanks for that great write up.

Question, now that you've gotten a good feel for how SC is built, and what they do, what is your prediction of how they will matchup with Oscar Smith come Saturday; and who wins? Thank you.

I know virtually nothing about Smith, but since you asked I will give it a shot. IMO, I see five reasons why SC beat Westfield:
1) SC was able to make Kim uncomfortable in the pocket and limited his time to target receivers/let receivers get open.
2) WF was missing Legall at RB, and although Shanks did OK, Legall was missed-now, that said, the SC defense had a whole lot to do with limiting the WF running game.
3) WF's passing defense is a prevent type of defense and SC's Dzierski was very successful in quickly getting the ball out to his receivers in the short game.
4) The SC O-line usually gave Dzierski time to target his receivers, but when the pocket collapsed, or on designed runs, he was able to get significant yards (as an aside, the absence of WF's Ahiakpo as a DE would have changed some of that-he was having an all-state kind of season before he left the team).
5) SC's Dayne was successful in pounding the ball when SC went that route, something that did not work against LB the week prior (LB had a physically bigger defensive unit than WF). If Smith has a big defensive front 7 they might be able to stop him, but if not then he is going to get his yards when they use him in certain situations.

Note: before anyone says I am making excuses mentioning the absence of two WF players, I am not. SC was the better team, but not by very much, and if those two were present this game would have been, IMO, so close to even that they could play a hundred times and it would probably be extremely close to 50 wins for each. But those players did not play, and SC won because they were the better team on Saturday.

For SC to win this coming Saturday they will absolutely have to execute like they did against WF, and reduce the turnovers (they had two against WF, and easily could have given up a third INT if the DBs did not collide with each other). If they execute like that again, I like their chances. Either way, I would expect this Saturday's Smith-SC game to be similar to the three previous Smith-WF games where it comes down to the end.

 

[Coach Joe73]

Couple of points - Oscar Smith is good but look at Saturdays game v Forge -
1. Scored on a trick halfback toss play.
2. Scored on a busted out of the pocket play that goes 50 yds on 4th down and 8 (Obvious act of desperation).
3. They scored 18 points - Do they have a kicker? Can they kick FGs and extra points? If not that is a HUGE thing in a state championship game.
4. Forge out rushed them running the football and out gained them statistically.

Lets not act like OS is a nationally rank program like DeMatha or St. Joes prep...

South County is a very good team that plays really good defense and can run and pass very well. They are athletic and disciplined. Should be a great game but there is a very strong argument that Oscar Smith sneaked one out last Saturday when they lost the total yardage game. Take away a trick halfback toss play and a desperate 4th down and 8 bomb and this could easily be Forge not OS.

I think it should be a great game.

 

[falcettik]

Couple of points - Oscar Smith is good but look at Saturdays game v Forge -
1. Scored on a trick halfback toss play.
2. Scored on a busted out of the pocket play that goes 50 yds on 4th down and 8 (Obvious act of desperation).
3. They scored 18 points - Do they have a kicker? Can they kick FGs and extra points? If not that is a HUGE thing in a state championship game.
4. Forge out rushed them running the football and out gained them statistically.

Lets not act like OS is a nationally rank program like DeMatha or St. Joes prep...

South County is a very good team that plays really good defense and can run and pass very well. They are athletic and disciplined. Should be a great game but there is a very strong argument that Oscar Smith sneaked one out last Saturday when they lost the total yardage game. Take away a trick halfback toss play and a desperate 4th down and 8 bomb and this could easily be Forge not OS.

I think it should be a great game.

I desperately wanted to go to that Smith-Forge game, but a family obligation precluded going. Personally, I liked Forge to finally defeat Smith this year, but Smith seems to have their number. Your observations only support my opinion that Forge might have been better this season, but without seeing either team it is hard to say for certain (from my point of view).

I did get to see Forge play Manchester last year, and after that I sort of knew who was going to win the championship, no matter who came out of the WF-Freedom game. If I had been able to see this year's Smith-Forge game, I would certainly have a much stronger opinion on who I thought would win. I have felt all year that the best teams in D6 were the four who made the semis, plus Freedom. Any of those five were capable of winning the championship, depending on a bounce here or there. This year there was certainly no clear cut favorite or even two teams that stood out from the rest-this year there were five.

 

[757FridayNiteZ]

The single biggest difference in all the Smith vs Forge games has been that as the game wears on into the 4th quarter, Smith is able to gain an edge in the trenches. Little by little CF gets a bit worn down.

We get a little more push in our run game, a few more seconds to throw the ball AND our D gets just enough stops to change the momentum of those games!!

On Saturday, Coach Brown may have also made a bad call. At the end of the Half his staff up in the box were screaming in their headset to kick a field goal to tie the game at 6 each. Everyone in the stands could hear them. Instead, they went for the TD & threw the interception.

I think in any other game most coaches WOULD have tied things up. Those 3 points were the difference in the game!!!

 

[Coach Joe73]

Yes I agree the two way guys do eventually wear down. That can be a problem.

Does OS have a kicker?

That is a legit and real questions. You can not go for 2 in a championship or not have the ability to get easy 3 points inside 20/15 red zone if offered.

Should be a great game. Sounds like it could come down to the wire.

 

[757FridayNiteZ]

Smith's kicker is pretty reliable. There have been issues with other phases of place kicks which popped up out of no where on Saturday. CF blocked 2 extra points.

It was something which hadn't occured all year & im pretty sure it'll get addressed during the week.

Punting is average to good, not great. But, Smith rarely punts anyway.

 

[aub3]

Couple of points - Oscar Smith is good but look at Saturdays game v Forge -
1. Scored on a trick halfback toss play.
2. Scored on a busted out of the pocket play that goes 50 yds on 4th down and 8 (Obvious act of desperation).
3. They scored 18 points - Do they have a kicker? Can they kick FGs and extra points? If not that is a HUGE thing in a state championship game.
4. Forge out rushed them running the football and out gained them statistically.

Lets not act like OS is a nationally rank program like DeMatha or St. Joes prep...

South County is a very good team that plays really good defense and can run and pass very well. They are athletic and disciplined. Should be a great game but there is a very strong argument that Oscar Smith sneaked one out last Saturday when they lost the total yardage game. Take away a trick halfback toss play and a desperate 4th down and 8 bomb and this could easily be Forge not OS.

I think it should be a great game.

I agree with half of what your saying but, you left out the fact that the Smith Defense forced 4 turnovers against Forge. Smith offense couldn't capitalize on any of the turnovers which some had to do with the Forge defense and some had to do with the Smith play calling and execution. The fact is this was a Defensive game in which this years Smith team is a Defensive minded team that will make offenses play 4 quarters of physical football, who has speed on all 3 levels. If the Smith offense can score 21 or they get 21 points period, the defense will take care of the rest. Going to be a great game.

 

[757FridayNiteZ]

Couple of points - Oscar Smith is good but look at Saturdays game v Forge -
1. Scored on a trick halfback toss play.
2. Scored on a busted out of the pocket play that goes 50 yds on 4th down and 8 (Obvious act of desperation).
3. They scored 18 points - Do they have a kicker? Can they kick FGs and extra points? If not that is a HUGE thing in a state championship game.
4. Forge out rushed them running the football and out gained them statistically.

Lets not act like OS is a nationally rank program like DeMatha or St. Joes prep...

South County is a very good team that plays really good defense and can run and pass very well. They are athletic and disciplined. Should be a great game but there is a very strong argument that Oscar Smith sneaked one out last Saturday when they lost the total yardage game. Take away a trick halfback toss play and a desperate 4th down and 8 bomb and this could easily be Forge not OS.

I think it should be a great game.

A Halfback pass could be called a trick play but that play doesn't work if the Forge players hadn't decided to key mostly off Copeland for most of the game. The Smith Coaches recognized this and made them pay on both TD's. On the scramble pass TD, again Forge paid too much attention to Copeland. The CB AND LB both rolled up to cover Copeland as he moved into the flat area, leaving the crossing receiver free pass to the open area and with the safety trailing. Vasko has made this kind of play all year long. Besides, an act of desperation suggests the lack of skill and effort. I think a QB with over 40 TD's doesn't rely on desperation, too much!

No one is over estimating Smith. This is a team made up of mostly underclassmen who can still make some mistakes, but the Seniors are definitely leading the way.