King William @ Riverheads

[Keith_Stone33]

What are the thoughts on this game?

I haven't seen King William play in years, but when I last saw them, they had lots of speed and won a state championship.

I will say this about the teams that face Riverheads this postseason, don't take your offensive possessions for granted, as you will likely have half as many possessions as you normally would, since they control the ball so much. The tend to have long drives and they typically come away with points on those drives. They get after it on special teams, they have 2 good kickers, their defense is tough, their offense will limit the amount of possessions you get and will get positive yards each play, their QB is a big kid and he is a leader with a nice arm. If there is a weakness with this year's team it is a lack of size across the board, as their backs are pretty small, and their linemen are pretty small with the exception of one of their tackles.

 

[riversportsfan]

I haven't seen Riverheads, but I have seen King William. How is Riverheads overall team speed? KW is fast, but I think they struggle with teams that matchup with their speed. They like to spread you out and create mismatches, and wear you down with their tempo. That works if you are getting first downs. But if it's a quick 3 and out that took less than a minute off the clock and punting to a team that will eat off the rest of the quarter and score, then you run into problems. I know this team is fired up and hitting on all cylinders. Their QB is a really good athlete, RB can be a game changer if he gets enough touches, and they have a couple good WRs. OL and DL will have pretty good size and will be fundamentally sound. They can be overpowered though...Routing for King William to pull off the upset, good luck to both teams!

 

[longtimerhsfan]

When you get to this stage, it is very hard to make predictions. I tend to compare scores whenever there are common opponents, but even that can only tell you so much.

In this case, it tells me even less because the only thing I have to go on is that KW just beat Strasburg by 25. Early in the season, East Rockingham beat Strasburg by 24. That would therefore make one thing that KW and ER might be pretty close to being even if they were to play one another.

Since Riverheads beat ER by three touchdowns in the regular season, I would like to think we are therefore 2-3 scores better than King William. But these are the playoffs and anything can happen.

This year's Riverheads team has been hard for me to figure out and I have been watching them for longer than most of you have been alive. They definitely don't have the explosiveness that they have had in the past (think Logan Moore, Jordan Jack, etc.); they don't have the passing game of the 2006 team (Hutchinson to Brake and Heizer); and they don't have the stud on defense (Big Mike.)

But yet they keep clicking. They control the ball well and they don't make the kind of mistakes that lead to them beating themselves. And they must be doing something right on defense because they held their top two district rivals to a combined three touchdowns. The Luray scare was just that, a scare, but sometimes that can be just what a team needs.

So I have high hopes that we will go at least a step or two further, maybe more.

 

[Hampton Roads 6]

I hate the style of football where a team tries to run out the clock the entire game. Now if you're leading in the 4th qtr, run out the clock, but otherwise play football, no stalling tactics. I saw it Friday night. The punter and QB would turn and watch play clock til it got down to 5 seconds. This was in first quarter. I wish they would tweak rules to prevent this. Fans pay to watch 48 minutes of football.

 

[Keith_Stone33]

After hearing how KW likes to play: If I were the KW coaches, I would most likely never punt and I would kick onside every time and try to limit Riverheads to field goals, simply because they play 10 yards at a time and it doesn't matter to them if they have to go 40 yards or 99 yards. With them driving the length of the field it could take up an entire quarter, but giving them a short field takes up less time. Waynesboro played the field position game with them a little bit and they weren't able to stop the Riverheads offense at all. They will have to play assignment football to stop/slow down the Riverheads wing t offense.

The overall team speed at Riverheads is deceptive this year, they don't look that fast, but they are faster than they look. I wouldn't say they have the same speed as some of the AltaVistas or Gretnas from years past, but they can certainly hold their own against most fast teams. They don't have the team speed of those old King William teams that I saw in the early 2000s. If you go to the game you will see what I am talking about with the deceptive team speed.

The backs in the Riverheads offense aren't overly gifted athletes, but they have really good vision as they can find holes in the defense, then burst through them. The O-line pulls probably every play and they end up getting a bunch of people at the POA. Their guards will lead you to the play most of the time, but I have seen them false-pull before.
This post was edited on 11/17 2:08 PM by Keith_Stone33

 

[DiamondDude]

The Cavaliers last venture for football in Augusta County was 14 years ago when they administered a 44-0 beatdown against BG, but Riverheads will still be a formidable challenge for KW. The Red Pride will have some trouble with KW's speedy athletes, but the Gladiators have seen these teams before. They find ways to defend. However, they can't allow that good RB Peatross to gain 300 yds like he did vs. Strasburg. Should be another cold, breezy evening for football Friday on the plateau.

 

[Keith_Stone33]

Originally posted by DiamondDude:
Should be another cold, breezy evening for football Friday on the plateau.

I've found that it is always colder at Riverheads!

Originally posted by DiamondDude:
They find ways to defend. However, they can't allow that good RB Peatross to gain 300 yds like he did vs. Strasburg. .

Now that I know they had a RB go for 300 I will really be curious to see how this game goes. Riverheads has a really good defensive coordinator and he typically does a good job of making things harder for a key player on the opposing team. There are examples from games this year, but I don't want to mention the athletes names as it would seem to be bringing negative attention to their names, which I don't intend to do.

 

[RedPride07]

For those traveling to this game that haven't been there before, the Coliseum sits up on a hill and is VERY unprotected from the wind. Bundle up and travel safe.

 

[rhsgrad]

Riverheads does not try to run out the clock. They try to win the football game which requires 3 yards on every offensive play. After 3 yards anything else is just an added bonus. It is not a delay tactic and has been rather successful over the last 15 years.

 

[kwhs95fan]

Definitely will be a contrast of styles. Peatross is the leading rusher but Jones the qb also had around 800 yards this year plus they have about three other rbs who would be starters on a lot of teams and they will get carries as well. I've seen Riverheads on film when they played Wilson this year and they are a very rugged team. Defense gets to the ball pretty good. I think the key for KW is how they handle the wing t of the Gladiators. In that offense you don't have to have the fastest guys if you're getting good blocking. Backs can just follow the line for a good four to five yards. KW has to get some stops on first and second down and force them to throw. Yes I know they have a good qb but they're still a run oriented team. KW has some game breakers on defense and if they're able to fill the holes then they can indeed force them into third and long. Riverheads is definitely the favorite and playing in front of a rabid home crowd will also help but anything can happen in the playoffs and if KW were to win I wouldn't consider it a major upset

 

[Trevor_Cash]

If Riverheads has any weakness at all it would be a qb who can scramble. Other than that they are as sound as it gets

 

[rhsgrad]

Should be an interesting Friday night in Greenville. I believe someone else said it earlier but at this point in the game there are not to many upsets so to speak because everybody is good. I am guessing KW runs no huddle spread hurry up offense so we might as well turn the 35 second clock off?

 

[observingthegame]

I don't even like to compare scores, it really doesn't work at this stage simply because things change over the season.

Most of the time football has a lot to do with match ups as well as how the teams prepare during the week. I am picking Riverheads, but I was very tempted to pick KW just because I think their athletes might be a little hard for Riverheads to handle. After hearing that Luray was very slow and could not do anything with Brunswick and Riverheads did struggle with Luray the last game of the season, I was concerned about picking Riverheads over KW this week.

I am picking Riverheads simply because they are a very discipline team and if they can play fundmental football and control the game, then they should win.

 

[kw85]

Yes they do

 

[Trevor_Cash]

People assume that

RHS stands at the Los but they actually hurry out of the huddle and quick snap a good bit

 

[Keith_Stone33]

Re: People assume that

Against Wilson they did get to the line very quickly, but still maintained long drives, Wilson is another team that can be a ball control offense as well, so I'm sure that was considered in the game plan. It's not so much that they wait until the play clock gets to 0 (this year) as it is that they pick up short chunks of yards and march down the field. They have had their years where they played stall-ball a little bit, and it's actually a pretty effective strategy against good offensive teams (look at how teams beat Oregon in years past, they slow the game down and keep that offense off the field)

I would say that they will try to control the ball as much as possible against KW this Friday, being that they want to play uptempo, so those long riverheads drives could screw up KW's rhythm.

 

[Trevor_Cash]

Re: People assume that

I personally think TOP is an overrated statistic. I'm more worried on yards per play and points. I don't care if it takes 30 seconds or 9 minutes. People can say oh but the defense will get tired...the same can be said about the offense

 

[Keith_Stone33]

Re: People assume that

Oregon doesn't care about TOP either and they are pretty successful. Depends on the strategy of the coach really.

I think TOP is grossly overrated in the NFL, but for high school I have seen it be a factor in some games, as high school games are shorter and the amount of possessions for the offense goes down, especially when you have 2 teams that like to milk the clock and can move the ball.

I've never bought into that "that defense gets tired" crap either.

If an offense is used to getting 10 possessions (just using this as an example) and they face a team that cuts this number down to 6, that is going to impact the players rhythm and prevent them from getting into their normal flow.

Bottom line is, make each possession count.

 

[Xcross]

Looks to me if a lot of Wilson people are focused on the other side of the bracket ! Should be fun ! A lot of RED teams out there !

 

[Trevor_Cash]

By Wilson people you mean

Me. Since I'm the only Wilson person on this thread correct? Just talking football since no one wants to talk about our game

 

[RedPrideNation_RollPride]

Points per possession. Ball control only works when u score at the end of those long time consuming drives. That's the stat I look at, gotta put points up on every possession. TOP means nothing if u don't score, period. And I would argue that getting run on for 4 and 5 yds at a time and seeing 8 minutes run off the clock is demoralizing. Especially if u go 3 and out 2-3 times while that team is scoring on long drives. I know this is like watching paint dry for HR6 but it is nessasarry when u have a limited number of athletes. Just my two cents on the whole "stall ball" talk.

 

[Hampton Roads 6]

What is a 35 second clock ?

If a team takes over 11 seconds to run a plAy, they are taking too long.

 

[CMONVT]

Thought you would find it funny that Riverheads has 35 second clocks in the end zones this season. 3 yards and a cloud of dust! Roll Red Pride!

 

[longtimerhsfan]

The correct time in high school ball is 25 seconds, and that is what Riverheads has. Didn't want you folks thinking that we had some funky new rule down there!

 

[Hampton Roads 6]

25 Second rule/clock


When it comes to the 25 second clock/rule, nothing surprises me. That rule is enforced wrong most of the time unless you have 2 no huddle spread teams playing each other.
Friday night I observed a white hat backing off 15 yards behind the huddle watching the game clock waiting for QB to limp to sideline to get play from coach, then as QB limped back to huddle as he approached the huddle, ball would then be blown RFP. Most white hats delay blowing ball ready for play when a QB has to go to coach to get play. Ball should be blown ready for play IAW rule book. It should be the same regardless of what offense is being run.
I had a coach tell me once that it should take no longer than 11 seconds to get off a play. That coach has 4 rings.

 

[Twobyfour]

KW vs RH


KW lost to the only teams they played this year that had winning records. They are not what I would consider a top tier team. I expect Riverheads to win comfortably.

 

[Hampton Roads 6]

Re: People assume that


I wish rules would be tweaked to outlaw milking the clock, and I wish huddles would be banned.

Line up, coach signal in play, then run play. Too much time is wasted while game clock is running.

 

[longtimerhsfan]

Re: People assume that

I love your posts! I don't think you will ever be happy until someone plays a game that finishes up 200-199.

 

[kwhs95fan]

Re: People assume that

You play to your strengths. Riverheads obviously doesn't have any trouble putting points on the board no matter what style they play. Look at most of the top contenders in 2A and they are all run oriented smash mouth teams. The spread is great if you have the athletes to run it like a lot of those great Gretna teams did but I guess I'm old school because I love nothing more than seeing a team lineup and punch another team right in the mouth. Have followed programs like Giles, Goochland and Riverheads for years because I love their smash mouth approach.

 

[longtimerhsfan]

Re: People assume that

Riverheads did have that one year (2006) in which they had a more-balanced, wide-open attack. They had a quarterback who could throw the ball (and later spent some time at Bridgewater College on their team), they had two tall receivers that could go up and get it out of a crowd, and in one especially-memorable playoff game, they scored two TDs in the final 3 minutes to beat old nemesis William Campbell. We still had a strong running game, too, but at least that one year, we were a little more dazzling in our approach. Wonder if HR noticed?

 

[Hampton Roads 6]

Re: People assume that


I seem to recall that game vaguely.

Smash mouth football is boring. It's much better to spread the defense and throw the ball to set up the run. Score with big plays, get a 3 and out on defense then score again. repeat process, win and move on.

AltaVista's game last Friday was perfect football. 8 plays in first half with 5 TD's. Throw in a defensive TD and a Special teams TD....................game over.................at halftime 49-0.

that's the way to play football.

 

[kwhs95fan]

Re: People assume that

Altavista has the athletes to play that style and it works for them. But I've seen teams try to run the spread with players that didn't match the system and it wasn't pretty. Teams like Giles and Riverheads and Goochland and others might be boring to some but none of them are lacking in the state championship department and that's what it ultimately comes down too. I don't care what level you're at a strong running game and a solid defense are still the keys to success.

 

[Hampton Roads 6]

Re: People assume that


that is mostly true, but a good passing game to go with that strong running game, makes a team much better. Also throw in good special teams play. ST is an area of football that's often overlooked in high school football. I think many teams do not consider STs important enough to become really good at them.

Kickoff returns
Punt returns
punt blocks
on-side kick recoveries

They all can add up to points on scoreboard.

 

[kwhs95fan]

Re: People assume that

Very true. Its amazing in this day and age that so many teams don't have kickers. Eventually going for two every time is going to catch up with you.

 

[Twobyfour]

Speaking of special teams

Was very suprised to see Thornhill on the kickoff team. That to me is testament to the coaching staff and their dedication to all phases of the game.

 

[Hampton Roads 6]

.No excuse not to have a good kicker


There is no excuse for a team not to have a good kicker.

Have the snapper, holder and kicker practiced in off season. Send them to kicking camps. An extra point should almost be automatic in high school just like NCAA and NFL. Now granted some will get blocked and some will be missed, but vast majority should split uprights.

Many teams probably do not practice PATs until their Thursday afternoon walk thru

 

[Hampton Roads 6]

Re: Speaking of special teams


On kickoff teams, one player can mean the difference between the unit being good rather just being on field.

 

[THEGOATFROMJMU]

Someone has apparently seen some film in the past decade