Congrats to coaches, players and fans for Lake Taylor. That was a special team. Well coached, great talent and it looks like they will be very good next year also.
As many have said, the gap on the scoreboard was much bigger than the difference on the field. Lake Taylor's big-time players had bigger games than Salem's. Quinerly saved A LOT of TDs making one-on-one tackles in the open field. The Salem OL was able to open holes despite the 9 in the box front all game. Quinerly just didn't miss tackles and also had the biggest play of the game with the punt return. Johnson was as good as advertised and made good decisions, broke a ton of tackles and controlled the game. Quinerly and Johnson were the best two players on the field on both sides of the ball. Wayne Davis is a special player and had a big TD catch on a very good throw from Johnson. Surprisingly, Parker for Salem was able to get some separation on him one-on-one throughout the game including a TD.
Salem had a lot of well-designed plays early in the game that they were not able to convert on. Coulling just missed Fox on early in the game on a play that would have been a huge gainer and they ended up turning the ball over on downs. A couple other plays were knocked down at the LOS. I think it was #5 that knocked down a few passes for LT and those were huge. A lot of the plays that Salem had blocked very well were stopped by those extra defenders, usually Quinerly. Against a more traditional defense they would have ripped quite a few more long plays. That is a perfect way for LT to use the talent they have on defense and it is why the matchup really didn't look favorable to Salem. Salem's long-developing passing plays were a concern but they actually held up pretty well in protection but just had two many fumbled snaps and botches on the big plays.
On offense for LT the dive backs were controlled pretty well throughout the game but Johnson did a great job reading and only had one bad play that went for a turnover. His ability to turn what should have been a stop at the LOS to a 4-6 yard gain was a game-changer. They were able to hit on a few scramble plays and the long TD pass to Davis as well as run the ball well when Johnson kept it/decided to pitch it.
Both teams had similar talent at many positions but Salem had some big weaknesses (They have had them all year) that LT was able to exploit. Salem simply needs more talent on the DL. If they are going to go that small up front, they need to be more disruptive but they didn't do a good enough job of that. Too many guys getting locked and watching on pass plays and they struggled all post season to actually finish a play and sack the QB when they have an opportunity. One of their corner spots continued to be exploited any time LT (Or any other team this postseason) needed a first down they knew exactly where they could go with the ball.
LT had less weaknesses and like I said earlier, the big-time players outplayed the same big-time Salem players. I do think a healthy Fox would have made a big difference on both sides of the ball. He is as important as Quinerly and Johnson were for LT but didn't even look to be at 75% in the game and that was easily evident on the long QB run for Johnson were Fox was chasing. He gave a heck of an effort on that play and throughout the entire game but just wasn't healthy.
LT and Salem showed great sportsmanship throughout the game. Routinely helped each other up and there was almost no jawing and extra activity after the play. Ironically, the only ones that appeared to have bad sportsmanship were some of the LT coaches. One of them spent the entire (And I mean ENTIRE) fourth quarter taunting the Salem fans. I really hope that wasn't Devils... it was pathetic.
I think both teams respect each other and Salem can go home knowing they played hard and lost to a very, very good football team. Salem has a TON of young talent (JV/middle school) and are going to be a very good for awhile. LT should also be very good next year and it wouldn't surprise me at all to see both of these teams meet again next year.
Congrats to both teams on a great season!
As many have said, the gap on the scoreboard was much bigger than the difference on the field. Lake Taylor's big-time players had bigger games than Salem's. Quinerly saved A LOT of TDs making one-on-one tackles in the open field. The Salem OL was able to open holes despite the 9 in the box front all game. Quinerly just didn't miss tackles and also had the biggest play of the game with the punt return. Johnson was as good as advertised and made good decisions, broke a ton of tackles and controlled the game. Quinerly and Johnson were the best two players on the field on both sides of the ball. Wayne Davis is a special player and had a big TD catch on a very good throw from Johnson. Surprisingly, Parker for Salem was able to get some separation on him one-on-one throughout the game including a TD.
Salem had a lot of well-designed plays early in the game that they were not able to convert on. Coulling just missed Fox on early in the game on a play that would have been a huge gainer and they ended up turning the ball over on downs. A couple other plays were knocked down at the LOS. I think it was #5 that knocked down a few passes for LT and those were huge. A lot of the plays that Salem had blocked very well were stopped by those extra defenders, usually Quinerly. Against a more traditional defense they would have ripped quite a few more long plays. That is a perfect way for LT to use the talent they have on defense and it is why the matchup really didn't look favorable to Salem. Salem's long-developing passing plays were a concern but they actually held up pretty well in protection but just had two many fumbled snaps and botches on the big plays.
On offense for LT the dive backs were controlled pretty well throughout the game but Johnson did a great job reading and only had one bad play that went for a turnover. His ability to turn what should have been a stop at the LOS to a 4-6 yard gain was a game-changer. They were able to hit on a few scramble plays and the long TD pass to Davis as well as run the ball well when Johnson kept it/decided to pitch it.
Both teams had similar talent at many positions but Salem had some big weaknesses (They have had them all year) that LT was able to exploit. Salem simply needs more talent on the DL. If they are going to go that small up front, they need to be more disruptive but they didn't do a good enough job of that. Too many guys getting locked and watching on pass plays and they struggled all post season to actually finish a play and sack the QB when they have an opportunity. One of their corner spots continued to be exploited any time LT (Or any other team this postseason) needed a first down they knew exactly where they could go with the ball.
LT had less weaknesses and like I said earlier, the big-time players outplayed the same big-time Salem players. I do think a healthy Fox would have made a big difference on both sides of the ball. He is as important as Quinerly and Johnson were for LT but didn't even look to be at 75% in the game and that was easily evident on the long QB run for Johnson were Fox was chasing. He gave a heck of an effort on that play and throughout the entire game but just wasn't healthy.
LT and Salem showed great sportsmanship throughout the game. Routinely helped each other up and there was almost no jawing and extra activity after the play. Ironically, the only ones that appeared to have bad sportsmanship were some of the LT coaches. One of them spent the entire (And I mean ENTIRE) fourth quarter taunting the Salem fans. I really hope that wasn't Devils... it was pathetic.
I think both teams respect each other and Salem can go home knowing they played hard and lost to a very, very good football team. Salem has a TON of young talent (JV/middle school) and are going to be a very good for awhile. LT should also be very good next year and it wouldn't surprise me at all to see both of these teams meet again next year.
Congrats to both teams on a great season!