HSHS Springers 27; Manchester Lancers 20
- Thread starter EPJr
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The Springers OL/DL dominance was the difference vs Manchester. Their ability to stop Brown & the running game was impressive. Although, unlike the passing of the Lancers, the play calls for Brown were too vanilla. Except for a Halfback pass on the 1st play, Manchester had no ability to put the Springers LB/DB's in conflict type plays.
I did see that Manchester was missing a huge OL that was injured in the T. Dale scrimmage with what looked like an ankle injury. Is it possible he could have made some lanes for Brown, not sure?
It was interesting to see how HSHS was so effective using man coverage pretty much the whole night. It provided an extra man in the box & allowed for the occasional blitz which Manchester never figured out how to detect.
The Lancers should do well & I expect them to come down the Chesapeake in November.
As a side note, both crowds were like going to a UVA Football game @ noon. Not much more than some polite clapping here & there for most of the game! Of course the TD's created some semblance of some cheering but boy was I missing the experience of a Smith crowd!!
What seemed strange last night was the constant administrative type announcements that kept coming onto the field. It was a separate person from the game commentary. Boy what a buzz-kill she was last night. Her "now kids" tone of don't park on the grass or we'll tow your car, don't stand along the fence, it's a safety issue almost interrupted the flow of the game. As the game was winding down & Manchester & HSHS were still playing hard to effect the outcome, she shifted into a whole new gear telling the kids that they should have already called for their rides & how they'd be "promptly ushered out of the stadium" after the game! Boy, I feel for those kids that likely have to deal with her on a daily basis!!! Her tone & near constant interruptions just killed the whole atmosphere of HS Football on a Friday night!!!
I did see that Manchester was missing a huge OL that was injured in the T. Dale scrimmage with what looked like an ankle injury. Is it possible he could have made some lanes for Brown, not sure?
It was interesting to see how HSHS was so effective using man coverage pretty much the whole night. It provided an extra man in the box & allowed for the occasional blitz which Manchester never figured out how to detect.
The Lancers should do well & I expect them to come down the Chesapeake in November.
As a side note, both crowds were like going to a UVA Football game @ noon. Not much more than some polite clapping here & there for most of the game! Of course the TD's created some semblance of some cheering but boy was I missing the experience of a Smith crowd!!
What seemed strange last night was the constant administrative type announcements that kept coming onto the field. It was a separate person from the game commentary. Boy what a buzz-kill she was last night. Her "now kids" tone of don't park on the grass or we'll tow your car, don't stand along the fence, it's a safety issue almost interrupted the flow of the game. As the game was winding down & Manchester & HSHS were still playing hard to effect the outcome, she shifted into a whole new gear telling the kids that they should have already called for their rides & how they'd be "promptly ushered out of the stadium" after the game! Boy, I feel for those kids that likely have to deal with her on a daily basis!!! Her tone & near constant interruptions just killed the whole atmosphere of HS Football on a Friday night!!!
You are right! There has always been that "Mother figure" in the press box trying to keep the kids straight... It's kid of ridiculous because especially the KIDS, they're not listening to anything she says!! I' m pretty sure the parents of said kids have already made arrangements to pick their kids up around 9:30. ...and what's wrong with standing along the fence?
It was a good game... HS did dominate the LOS throughout the whole game. HS's run game was very strong last night. #3 Aziz Foster-Powell (Junior) is a beast. There are some other good, strong RB's that didn't play last night that is going to make HS a very tough draw come playoff time. The pass game looked a bit better last night too. BUT.... HS needs to clean up the false start penalties and holding! God! There must have been 20 or 25 flags for both infractions!! Manchester will be fine through the season but, the will have to deal with Thomas Dale come playoff time... Dale has a very good team too.
Why is she talking on the loud speaker mid plays without any regard that they are trying to run the plays on the field? Also, the normal play by play sounded like the speakers were blown on the PA system. Manchester is missing a really big lineman who is about 6'7 300+ who is good. HSHS dominated the line of scrimmage but Cody Shelton (Man QB) might throw the most accurate ball I have seen recently in HS. Honestly, he kept them in the game. They will have a lot of firepower luckily HSHS got very good pressure on him. This wasn't like against Chamber where the DB's collided or fell down. He threw them open... straight dimes! Manchester did win the second half but ultimately it was not enough. I was impressed with HSHS's physicalness. TB is a load and runs hard. I was impressed with HSHS QB's performance, he seemed good at throwing the timing routes. Seemed more in unison with the WR's than some of the last two HSHS seasons. They had some penalties but I feel like Manchester had a lot too, particularly face masks calls.
To be clear, that was my first time seeing Manchester or Springs this year so my observations might not be a big enough sample size. Two pretty good football teams in my view that are threats in their respective classes and are at least deserving of being in the discussion for a state title run.
Manchester appears to be the new version of what Colonial Forge used to be. Persistent, tough & can make big plays at any time. But, I had a feeling that HS could blitz on them at will which was the correct game plan against them.
I also think they, Manchester, just didn't have a way to use Brown very well either. I had the same impression from the T. Dale scrimmage. He broke for 1 long run. But their play calling just doesn't account for his potential impact. I know the Springers can do that to teams, though.
I also think they, Manchester, just didn't have a way to use Brown very well either. I had the same impression from the T. Dale scrimmage. He broke for 1 long run. But their play calling just doesn't account for his potential impact. I know the Springers can do that to teams, though.
Manchester's play calling has left a lot to be desired for years now. The talent makes up for it.
What happened to Monacan against Hanover? Is Hanover a threat in Class 4? Highland Springs has a really tough schedule coming forward. PG next week the Martinsburg. Henrico seems to be the weakest we'll face. To come... after Martinsburg, Henrico, Colonial Forge, Hanover, Atlee, Patrick Henry and Varina.
Atlee, Hanover and PH are looking good. Varina always plays us tough!
They beat us with their QB playing Sandlot football. Cole Elrod I believe his name. He is about 6'3 and a big kid and surprisingly athletic. He basically beat us on his own. Hanover knows what they do well and they had the ball a lot. We could not get off the field and they kept converting on 4th downs etc. We had a couple of drives going but they ended in disaster with interceptions / fumbles. Monacan has some athletes but unfortunately we are returning 4 lineman from last year who also double as D-lineman who are pretty good. However, they all ended up getting injured before we even had a scrimmage and we have some kids who haven't really played much ball before and who are pretty light in @** to be linemen even on the HS level. I noticed HSHS had about 30-40 kids on the sideline last night. Our program is the opposite with no feeder program for 4 years is taking its toll on the program. My point is when we lose first teamers it is a much bigger problem bc we are so slim in numbers and the talent drop off is huge between the one's and two's. When we get healthy mid-season we should be better but right now we just don't have it. I am proud of the effort of the kids, they played hard out there and gave it their all so I can respect that.
Is Hanover a threat in class 4? I think they can make the playoffs but they do not have the celling to be able to beat a Dinwiddie, Varina etc IMO. I think this is Dinwiddie's best team since 2017 so I think I have them being my favorite right now for class 4.
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I didn't know Monacan was dealing with such low numbers. That's tough to have happen. It's odd to see/hear that they are struggling.
