Toppers shake off the first game and get some revenge! Great game from both teams!
Rematch with Salem in Salem!
Rematch with Salem in Salem!
How bout them Toppers mane
- Thread starter lyhsports
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Good game Toppers. Nobody including myself was giving them much respect. Lovelace left Fleming in good shape as they’re advancing to the 5C championship and got the Midtown Boyz back in the big game. Rooting for them to bring the 4D ship back to the 434.
Oh yeah. That first game VS JF was a total meltdown, but it was needed to find their true identity. Glad they didn’t do all of that 2 quarterback stuff, and went with Calloway the whole game. Kittrell has always been a good receiver and DB and he played well last night. Glass still needs to work on the penalties. The have a very tall task ahead of them, but any given day it can happen. They are the defending 4D champs.
Fleming got some players over there, and had them when Lovelace was there so good to see Leftwich make a run with them.
Seems like Woody left Glass in good shape too!
Congrats to Glass. Not many can say they advance to 3rd round.
I have to say though, can't see you making it to 4th.
I have to say though, can't see you making it to 4th.
Yes it will be difficult to go to Salem and get a win next week, but I wouldn't count the Hilltoppers out they are playing as well as anyone right now.
Honestly, I'd love to see y'all win but I'm being realistic. I have seen both teams. It's really not close. Salem is as good as they have ever been and what makes them that way is they don't assume they are.
I will be pulling for you though.
I will be pulling for you though.
For sure! One of the 🐐s!Seems like Woody left Glass in good shape too!
This is definitely a different Salem team that came into City Stadium last year. This is a wayyy different Glass team as well.
I’ve seen Salem live this year they are a State championship looking team.
I haven't seen Salem this year but I know they return quite a few pieces from last year's team. What do you say makes them different this year. Same question about Glass, what makes them different?
All that talent is now a year older and they throw the ball quite well.
For Salem, I would say quite a few things but just the change in a few players alone is a pretty big potential difference from last year.
Jaelyn Allen, who I think is Salem's best player, had the absolute bs deal last year where the awful officiating crew from the Louisa game mistakingly kicked him out of the game, which caused him to be suspended for the Glass game too. The officiating crew and even Louisa's coaching staff acknowledged it was a mistake but the VHSL didn't feel like looking at the appeal on Thanksgiving week and he was unable to play. Again, I think he is the most important player on the entire team.
Peyton Lewis had a shoulder injury and was limited to playing only offense against Glass... and he was even limited with what he could physically do there. Peyton is very healthy this year and they have not used him much on defense because they haven't needed to but he did play more last week which makes me think they are gearing up to use him more on that side of the ball down the stretch.
Chris Cole was 180 pounds last year that was a safety earlier in the year and now he is a 225-pound monster that is a Georgia commit and one of the highest ranked LBs in the country.
Finally Coen Logan, sophomore safety, might have a higher ceiling than all of them and this is his first year starting. (See his ridiculous one-handed INT that he returned 85 yards for a TD against PH)
These are just a few examples of how I think this team is different from last year's but I will try to talk A little bit more about it next week.
I completely forgot about the Allen snafu.
And can I throw someone in? Kamari Garner. Not sure when the light bulb went on for him but he's had a monster impact with surprisingly few touches. With his senior film, someone somewhere is going to offer that kid, he's a playmaker. Stepping in for Persinger last night (btw does anyone know anything in this area, kid didn't return after the half) and has a couple nice defended passes and then that beautifully defended pass he picked where he played perfect defense and just walked the ball into his hands. He's so dependable, you just know you can go to him a few times a game and he's going to make big plays.
Hope Jayveon keeps healing. He was OK for awhile running north-south but couldn't drive as much power in his legs as normal and his east-west was almost non-existent. If they make it to finals he might be 100% by then but he still seems shaky.
Glass brings back most players from last years team with the exception of your starting Qb , WR that had 100+ yards and 2 big TD’s in that game. Offensive and Defensive lines are somewhat different too.
Biggest difference is the OC and DC. Woody and Johnson. Glass last year was mostly a power running team that ran the ball against Salem. This year they are throwing the ball more. They are more of a big play team this year. Last years team was more of a drive the ball then punch it in type of team.
Glass kickoff team is a big problem this year on special teams and if they don’t fix that, there will be some huge problems next Friday.
Thanks for sharing but I don't think this really says how the team is different. This more so say how certain players are different. Is the team different in what they are doing schematically? Are they better or worse in certain areas? Is their identity different? I heard they are more diverse on offense this year? What makes them more diverse on offense this year compared to past years?
I think the biggest difference from this year's Glass to to last year is the OL and DL. Ingersoll was a 1st team All state OL and Farmer and Cashwell were 1st & 2nd team all state DL. Those 3 guys played a huge roll in Glass's ability to run the ball and stop the run last year. Most of the skill players returned this year so I don't think it was any drop off in play there. They are probably better at the skill positions this year than last year honestly. But there has been a drop in OL & DL play this year IMO.
I do agree there. Biggest drop off is the Defensive line for sure. The graduation of Farmer really shows.
From what I've seen and other than what has already been shared about individual growth amongst specific players, I'm not sure there are huge "differences" in this team as far as scheme goes. I mean, anyone from this side of the state knows that Salem does what Salem does. Even the Handley coach summarized Salem perfectly in the pre-game write up in the Winchester newspaper. They run the ball between the tackles, rely on the trap, toss sweep a number of times, and try and catch you sleeping with the play action. Add in a great defense, few penalties, and good special teams play, and you get the team that consistently battles for a deep playoff run every year.
That being said, there are a couple of noticeable "wrinkles" that Salem has this season. #1- The Wildcat with Lewis behind center and having the option to hand off to Persinger, has been deadly. They've scored almost every time they run it (mostly Lewis, but Persinger has a td as well). #2- Using more of a true spread formation (they've done this some before, but much more this season going sometimes 4 or 5 split, including Lewis and Persinger). #3- They utilize a much higher number of targets when Taylor drops back. In the past, there has typically been one or maybe two guys they relied on. This year Garner, Moyer, Martin, and Cole have all had big plays and that's not even considering how fantastic Allen has been as a TE with several big catches (and often scores) a game. Jones will also occasionally have big gains with FB screens. Defensively, not sure they are doing anything different, other than jumping Lewis from LB to DE depending on the offensive look. Small tweak yes, but there have been a number of times that made a HUGE difference.
Just a few other overall observations - Salem's O line seems noticeably quicker and stronger compared to last season, even though they are often outmatched in size. Also, everyone knows how good Salem's LB corps is, however their corners and safeties are superbly good. They play the run and pass as well as any Salem secondary that I have seen, at least since I started attending games on a regular basis about 12 years ago. Again, I know most of these things are not schematic differences, but they most certainly have produced a much more difficult Salem team to plan for, especially in what they can do offensively.
Good points, I would add their improvements in one phase have contributed to the improvements in other phases. The defense is not being pushed back off the line like last year. They are getting more penetration and pressure on the backs. The LB are attacking and filling gaps, blowing through blocks, or running around them. Offense is scoring on most possessions, due to improved OL play and more creative formations. They have the ability to score quickly, and they can also grind it out and chew clock. Special teams play has been solid, lots of Touchbacks, good coverage, few punts,and other teams sacrificing field position to avoid kicking to Lewis and Moyer. Each phase is performing better than last year.
This makes perfect sense. The wildcat package and 5 wide are definitely new looks for Salem.
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Good stuff Mike! I know last year Glass controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball and that was the difference in the game IMO. It will be interesting to see if Salem is really that much improved on the OL/DL from this time last year. I know Glass isn't quite as big or a dominant in the trenches this year but they still have great speed on defense.
No doubt! "Unk" was definitely the anchor on the DL last year! He wasn't the biggest or even recruited but his strength and center of gravity made it almost impossible to move him. Coach Holter spoke highly of him in the All-Region and All-state meetings last year. He said he was the best DL they faced all year.
I literally quoted you saying it. No big deal. Does ECG still have the morbidly obese coach on staff that did all the yelling at the end of last years game?
I am not sure who or what you are referring to exactly but I will say yes because myself and Woody are the only two coaches that didn't return this season.
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Just for the record, you quoted me quoting someone else's original comment. 😂
I think I remember what you are talking about. If you are talking about the the redheaded guy, that's coach Webber. He's one of my best friends. He was the OL coach at the time and he was just excited because we had heard all week how Salem's "Mules" were going run the ball down our throats and how we were going to get "punched in the mouth" by Salem's defense. So he was just happy that we were able to prove the doubters wrong. But more importantly, he's lost 100 pounds since then and is still dropping weight and is enjoying life! I'll be sure to let him know you asked about him. LOL
Who was saying all week that Salem was going to run the ball down Glass' throats?
I don't remember specific people and I was paraphrasing but there were people on here implying that the "mules" were going to control the LOS and that we were going to have trouble moving the ball. Coach Holter himself after the Louisa game said something to the effect of us getting "punched in the mouth" and "that's just the way it's going to be." It was great motivation!
I just read through last years thread about the game and literally didn't see one person say or imply that. Maybe I missed it somewhere else?
Salem was not capable of beating any good teams up front last year, which is why the majority of their rushing yards came on toss/sweeps. I'm not sure why anyone would have even said that last year at all if they had watched them play.
Coach Holter said something in the interview at the end of the game last yr.
Coaches use all kinds of bulletin board material to motivate their players.
I personally don't believe in getting motivated over what people say. You should be playing your best regardless. You either get the job done or you don't. Last yr the Hilltoppers got it done
Coaches use all kinds of bulletin board material to motivate their players.
I personally don't believe in getting motivated over what people say. You should be playing your best regardless. You either get the job done or you don't. Last yr the Hilltoppers got it done
I believe it is a coaches job to do anything and use anything (within the rules) to motivate his players. That's what I did. To each his own.
I agree with you. I just don't believe in it. Play your best regardless. You game plan and get the players were they need to be. Glass didn't win because of bulletin board material. They won because you got them prepared for the game.
That's fair to say. The guys did a great job executing the game plan that the coaches came up with.
