Comments on: Live blog: East Bay prep football updates Friday at 7 p.m.

By: BigDog

BigDog — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 19:31:20 +0000

The DLS adjustment needs to come in 2 forms:

1. QB adjustments- better reads, better passing, taking care of the ball(better pitches and option )

2. Defensive backfield- better coverage on spread offenses, double teaming WR’s who are making an impact,
not letting anyone get behind the coverage

By: Prep Fan

Prep Fan — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 03:28:32 +0000

Something tells me DLS will make the adjustments and be just fine once again this season. Just a hunch.

By: Junior

Junior — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 03:17:13 +0000

DLS shot themselves in the foot over and over vs SM. The first two drives they physically dominated SM and if the Spartans could have completed a pass or two or held onto the ball they would have rolled SM. these were not forced errors by SM, although the INT was an excellent play by the Rams defender. Lad then decided to let the defense win the game.

However, SM deserves a lot of credit for not quitting and playing very hard most of the night.

By: EastBay Ray

EastBay Ray — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 01:27:55 +0000

Interesting start to the season. Division lll looks to be closer than ever, and should make for a dogfight in the playoffs. My rankings of NCS D3 right now would be something like this:
1. Campo. Best Coaching, solid athletes. If Stephens even has an average day, they would have beat El Cerrito. If they develop a running game, they will be tough to beat again.
2. Marin Catholic. I don’t think they are as far ahead of the pack as some do. Good athletes, solid depth (although they lost their best receiver) should make them a favorite over almost anyone in D3, but they are capable of getting beat by any of the top D3 teams. Their soft league schedule doesn’t help them I believe.
3. Cardinal Newman. They are a clone of Marin Catholic, but without the high level QB. Maybe the best coach in Norcal, fundamentally sound in all three phases of the game, with solid depth on both sides of the ball. They should be undefeated coming into the playoffs given their schedule (I know it is a new league, but I don’t see them losing).
4. El Cerrito. I was on their bandwagon last year, but was stung by their first round loss in the playoffs to a very average Eureka team (at EC), who in turn was crushed by MC the next week. Athletes galore, and they should be undefeated going into the playoffs, but I am “wait and see” with the Gauchos.
5. Bishop Odowd. I was higher on this team until the Valley Christian game. They were physically mauled by a team that didn’t even pretend they were going to throw the ball. They have athletes, but don’t seem to be able to make defensive adjustments. If King, their best defensive player, is out, they will struggle further.
6. Encinal. Clearly this is a rebuilding year for the Jets. However, young teams get better with experience, and this will be a team you don’t want to face early in the playoffs. They need to stay healthy and improve.
7. Miramonte, Analy. Solid teams who could surprise – have to see more.

Should be fun!

By: DJ

DJ — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 00:47:32 +0000

I agree with both schoolmarm and red and blue I think ec and campo are developing a friendly rivalry that each looks forward to each year i think this years game was almost a complete reversal of last year’s game either team could’ve won last years game as well this years game while i did enjoy Friday’s game it was a little unsatisfying in that ec most definetly didnt play it’s best game didnt hardly use one of it’s best athletes in pippins and ec’s qb is young but is definetly better than he showed both running and passing and also because we didnt see the great brett stephens slinging the ball all over the field but if your ec you have to happy to get a win with 14 penalties and 4 turnovers i really dont think this is a close game that the missed field goal would’ve mattered much without ec’s turnovers and penalties i have a feeling these teams meet again in playoffs.

By: UC rancher

UC rancher — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 00:35:34 +0000

Spectator, it’s all good. On these blogs we like 2 debate. It’s just when find fault with a 48-14 outcome, It just seems like your reaching 2 prove your argument. As for Logan’s roster being thin, we have 39 players on the roster. Although that might not be huge in numbers, it’s not what I would call “thin”.

By: redandblue2

redandblue2 — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 23:05:46 +0000

Schoolmarm,

Aside from last years games against El Cerrito, Marin Catholic and the State Championship game against Washington Union, Campolindo pretty much had their way against the other 12 teams they played, winning by an average margin of 26 points. The point is, good teams will force your team into mistakes you wouldn’t make against lesser caliber teams. Campo won 2 of those 3 tough games last year. Not so coincidentally, those 3 games were Stephens’ worst 3 games of the year.

I think we are too quick to point out a teams weaknesses and failings rather than give credit to the opposing team’s game plan or the fact that the opposing team may be one of the best in the region. That’s the way I look at the DLS vs St. Mary’s game. St. Mary’s coaches drew up a great game plan that frustrated the DLS offense; we should give St. Mary’s credit and say that is the reason DLS looked sloppy.

Also, there is something to be said when every game you play is the other team’s biggest game of the year. Every team will be gearing up to give their best effort against Campolindo this year. One need only have witnessed the jubilation El Cerrito showed on the field after they defeated Campo Friday night; it certainly wasn’t just another game for the Gauchos. I’m sure Miramonte is very much looking forward to September 28 when they host Campolindo.

Other than the loss, I have a feeling the Campo coaches were pleased with the effort they gave; they held a team that was scoring 57 points a game to two short field touchdowns. El Cerrito has three bonafide D1 propspects; Campo didn’t have any such athletes last year (though they do have a couple of walk-ons at Cal) and they certainly don’t this year. Heck, they came within a missed field goal of winning the game……somehow I think we are having a different discussion if that field goal was made.

The bottom line for me is that you need to play these tough games to see what kind of team you are and what you need to work on the rest of the season. Campo is a better team for having played El Cerrito and certainly the reverse is true as well.

By: TheSchoolmarm

TheSchoolmarm — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 21:54:19 +0000

Spectator2012 and Truthteller
First about Logan keeping the 1st string defense in well after they had iced the game. Unless the 2nd and 3rd team players are very close in size and ability to the starters, you’re asking for injuries especially on defense and at the D1 level if you play them for more than a few plays. Logan’s bench is quite thin!
Second, the Campo-EC game was sloppy! And just plain weird! Brett Stephens was not the QB I saw 3 times last year (O’Dowd, Marin Catholic, and Washington Union). Neither his passing accuracy and judgement,nor running. The Cougars’ receivers’ routes were into Gaucho coverage all night; I couldn’t detect much route adjustment as the game went on. And,although the Gauchos may have been as quick as the afore mentioned teams, they were not as big (usually you cannot go by printed roster sizes. Unless they were packing lead, there was no way some of those players {on both teams} were well over 200 lbs.). Kailan Benjamin, the EC QB threw 4 picks the 1st half, but Stephens tossed at least that many that should have been intercepted. And, EC stopped throwing the low percentage passes the 2nd half. Also, the EC coaching staff came up with a clever defensive scheme that allowed their speed in the LB corps to make effective “slow” reads when Campo tried to run out of the slower developing spread offense. Still the game was filled with lots of screwups (actually most HS football games are), and many opportunities were missed: Campo on offense and EC on defense. Even the officials were off. Among other things, Stephens should have been nabbed for intentional grounding, and later in the same 4th qtr at a critical time, EC had 12 guys on the field which wasn’t called. And where was the Campo band? Or do they have one?
Since I have read a lot from EC enthusiasts and others about their excellent athletes, a rule of thumb in team sports whether it’s football or girls field hockey, is that the more athletically talented team usually prevails in sloppy games. Draw your conclusion from that about this game.
I’m sure both coaching staffs are questioning what they did and didn’t do Friday night and while trying to learn from their mistakes, not dwell on it as they prepare for Acalanes and Valley Christian(Dublin) respectively. Coach Macy is one of the best in the Bay Area and the EC coach(I’m afraid I don’t have his name) that I understand is quite young, impresses me as to building The Gauchos into one of the best D3 programs in the state. Both teams, short of critical injuries, should get to at least the NCS D3 semis. I don’t think either will have too many more games like this one.
And, I know from experience, that at every level from pee-wee to the NFL, it’s much, much, much easier to coach from the bleachers and TV chairs than from the sidelines! No sarcasm intended.

PS. Thanks MiraMan. I guess Brett Stephens was so good in the games I saw last year that I didn’t notice any defects.

By: spectator2012

spectator2012 — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 08:10:41 +0000

i’m sorry if i ruffled some logan fans’ feathers. i went to see logan, and they did not impress me. maybe i was expecting more from logan with all the hype. i’ve seen quite a few hs games the last few weeks. logan is good, but from what i saw they could not beat cal/deer valley/mv/concord. it would be interesting to see them against freedom/pitt. it is premature to talk of dls, but it was brought up on another post from last week. cal/mv/pitt/deer valley/freedom would put major points on heritage and probably shut them out. what is said is my opinion on logan as of now from what i saw. things could change. there is a lot of football left. i just don’t watch a certain team, so i am not biased on my opinions.

By: Freedom Fan

Freedom Fan — Sun, 16 Sep 2012 15:17:42 +0000

@Spectator- yea thats correct he doesnt play defense… I was over exaggerating but when they were out towards the end Freedom couldnt do anything offensively and defensively