Labrae - Coming off a huge win at home vs Campbell 19-14, Big strong Qb good RB and FB, Fb that plays both sides who gave campbell fits all night.....

Struthers - Coming off a blowout win at East liverpool 40-0, Kimbrough has used his arm the last 2 weeks almost throwing for 200 yards in both and Dave Stewart handling most of the runningback duties

Should be a very very good game in the valley this week as well as Hubbard and Girard

Ill take the CATS in a close one at home 20-13

Struthers here, close. very close.

Ohio;909549 wrote:Labrae - Coming off a huge win at home vs Campbell 19-14, Big strong Qb good RB and FB, Fb that plays both sides who gave campbell fits all night.....

LaBrae's quarterback is tall and skinny, about 6-6, 170. Their best players are RB Szorday and TE/DT Carrington Herron. Brown is another decent running back who goes around 195 and runs hard. This should be a good game. We Campbell fans have to pull for Struthers in this one.

The QB started i believe his second game last year at home against Struthers the game where struthers won, I think Shaffer and Herron will cancel eachother out on both sides of the ball on the lines it will be up to whoever comes up big on the line besides them 2 whoever wins this game it will be a complete team effort.

Ohio;911041 wrote:The QB started i believe his second game last year at home against Struthers the game where struthers won, I think Shaffer and Herron will cancel eachother out on both sides of the ball on the lines it will be up to whoever comes up big on the line besides them 2 whoever wins this game it will be a complete team effort.

The qb did not start as a freshman against Struthers. It was the next week that he made his first start and Labrae got on roll after that. They went 3-1 with him starting. Combine that with this year's 4-1 start and I would say he is off to a nice start to his high school career. And no I am not his agent or his family member. The kid is a great athlete, a real good basketball player. He may remind you Struthers people of McFadden.

Kid definatly started against struthers last year.... Unless they and another random 6'6 QB last year which they didnt.

I was thinking that same thing.... about the McFadden/Aldridge comparison.

I know LaBrae has an undersized, but very physical offensive line.

I also know they have a pretty good running game.

And, I know Aldridge is a stud QB.

However, I don't know what kind of receivers LaBrae has. Is Aldridge a threat to run at all?

I also don't know how good LaBrae's pass defense is. Can they cover Duchek, Malone, Fandozzi, and the RBs out of the backfield... without breaking contain on Kimbrough? How disciplined is their D?

It's supposed to be pretty sloppy on Friday, huh? Will the passing game even be much of a factor?

If it pours, which it probably will, this one will turn into a trench war. Who is tougher, and who wants it more? That's what it'll come down to.

Forget about the first 5 games. The season starts now!!

Also... I'm pretty sure Aldridge started against Struthers last year too.

Andrew Sakela started and played the whole game at qb last year against Struthers. He graduated.

WWore #10 which is Aldridge's number this year.

Asher has Struthers believing again. I'll take Struthers 21-20.

ahaist8;912720 wrote:WWore #10 which is Aldridge's number this year.

I know aldridge played at some point in the game at QB maybe the second half because i remember talking about how big he was.... Doesn't matter really lol but what is your input on this matchup what are the keys to the game in your opinion.

ahaist8;912718 wrote:Andrew Sakela started and played the whole game at qb last year against Struthers. He graduated.

He definitely started vs Struthers haha

I think he may have played in mop up time. Haevent seen Struthers so I can't comment there, but it looks like they are off to a great start. Labrae kids play extremely hard. I think Herron is the only one over 220 pounds. Small tough kids and there aren't many of them. The oline is getting better every week. You mentioned receivers for Labrae not being the strong point but I have to disagree. Aldridge spreads the ball around and has to great TEs. Carl Brown and Szoraydy are good receivers and dangerous in the open field. The fullback Miller has great hands too. The weather the last two games has slowed the passing game down quite a bit though. Friday doesn't look much better.

On defense, the front four are really athletic. Especially #88. he is talented junior. #55 is very good as well. Teams have been forced to throw on Labrae and at times have had success there but the front four gets pressure which forces mistakes by opposing qbs.

I didn't say LaBrae's WRs weren't good. I said that I didn't know.

Didn't mean to put words in your mouth. Is Struthers better at running it or throwing it?

They probably average close to 200 rushing yards a game and a little over 100 passing yards a game. They have 14 TDs on the ground and just 3 through the air.

Struthers is much more commited to the running game than they've been in recent years. They can still throw it around if they need to though.

Here's the starting line-ups...

QB: #6 Tommy Kimbrough 6'2/205 JR
FB: #21 Nick Pollifrone 5'10/189 SO
HB: #44 Dave Stewart 6'/217 JR
WR: #25 Dylan Duchek 6'/160 SR
WR: #24 Bobby Malone 6'1/165 SR
TE: #9 Vinny Fandozzi 5'9/191 JR
LT: #75 Curtis Wagner 6'2/325 JR
LG: #66 Austin Grew 6'/221 SR
C: #53 Christian Walker 5'8/201 SR
RG: #57 Mike Pape 5'7/253 SO
RT: #77 Mike Shaffer 6'1/273 SR

DE: #73 Tommy Baron 5'11/203 JR
DE: #85 Steve Seiffert 6'/187 JR
DT: Shaffer
DT: ?
Will LB: Pollifrone
Mike LB: #17 Braxton Koup 6'/198 SO
Sam LB: Walker
CB: Duchek
CB: #7 JaQuayntae Wilburn 5'9/147 SO
FS: Malone
SS: #20 Mike Kunzer 5'11/172 SR

Kimbrough started all 10 games last year. He's gotten a lot better this year. He hasn't been making the careless mistakes that plagued him last year. He has around 350 yards passing in the last game and a half. He hasn't ran the ball as much this year, or thrown the ball as much either, but he did have a 60 yard TD run against Girard.

Kunzer and Stewart share reps at HB. They each have 6 rushing TDs. Stewart leads the team in carries and rushing yards.

Duchek leads the team in receptions, receiving yards, receiving TDs, and interceptions.

Fandozzi and Malone can both contribute in the passing game too. The RBs also catch the ball out of the backfield well.

Shaffer is on pace to make All AAC as an OT. He made All AAC last year as a DT. He and Wagner have flipped sides at times too.

Baron and Seiffert have shown improvement every week on the defensive line.

Either Koup or Walker is the leading tackler. Koup has also had some big hits on receivers over the middle.

Wilburn started for the first time against East Liverpool. He had a pretty good game.

Shaffer is good...i think he is better on the defensive side. The young kid who plays next to him on the offensive line is going to be a good one

Yeah ever since they moved him to the left side i believe, Both teams are very well coached this year and weather is going to make this game be won in the trenches..... Can't wait ill be there rain or shine

Both of the Papes will be good. That whole Sophomore class is loaded.

The Junior class is pretty good too.

Shaffer hasn't had much of an impact on D this year. I don't know if it's the switch from the 3-4 to the 4-3/4-4, but he hasn't been the force that he was last year. He can still be a mismatch and a headache for offensive line coaches though.

I crunched some numbers. The offensive production is about even, but LaBrae has put up 37 more points than Struthers.

In their most dominant game of the season, LaBrae dropped 60 on Mineral Ridge. MR is D6, and not very good. They’re 2-3, with single digit wins over 1-4 East Palestine (D5) and 2-3 McDonald (D6). They play in Tier 1 of the ITCL against mostly D5 and D6 schools. Struthers may not hang 60 on them, but they’d beat them by 40 easy. In fact, if MR played a schedule like Struthers or LaBrae have so far, they’d probably be 0-5 or 1-4 with Struthers’s schedule and 0-4 or 1-3 with LaBrae’s schedule.

In Struthers’s most dominant game, they beat EL 40-0. EL is 0-5, losing to 1-4 BL (D3), 1-4 Carrolton (D3), 4-1 Crestview (D5), and 4-1 Hubbard (D3). If EL played the same schedule as Struthers or LaBrae, they’d probably be 0-4 with Struthers’s schedule and anywhere from 0-5 to 2-3 (without Thompkins) with LaBrae’s schedule. They’d have a chance against MR and Champion. I’m thinking LaBrae would beat them like 47-7, or something along those lines.

If we throw out the stats from these 2 games, LaBrae would have the edge in passing, by an average of 104 to 95.2. Struthers would have the edge in rushing, by an average of 181.25 to 173.75.

LaBrae would still hold a edge in scoring, 100-83.

Struthers has the edge in total defense. LaBrae has the edge in points allowed, only giving up 77. Struthers has allowed 83.

STRUTHERS

-Schedule
1. Jefferson Area (3-2) W 29-9
2. Girard (5-0) L 14-45
3. Beaver Local (1-4) W 20-7
4. Liberty (0-5) W 20-18
5. East Liverpool (0-5) W 40-0

-Passing
1. 89
2. 59
3. 55
4. 178
5. 175
Total 556
Average 111.2

-Rushing
1. 180
2. 140
3. 243
4. 162
5. 209
Total 934
Average 186.8

Total Average 299

Total Points 123
Average 24.6

LABRAE

-Schedule
1. Salem (3-2) W 21-7
2. Mineral Ridge (2-3) W 60-7
3. Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy (3-2L 14-21
Champion (1-4) W 46-28
5. Campbell Memorial (3-2) W 19-14

-Passing
1. 180
2. 75
3. 98
4. 116
5. 22
Total 491
Average 98.2

-Rushing
1. 54
2. 331
3. 142
4. 327
5. 172
Total 1026
Average 205.2

Total Average 303.4

Total Points 160
Average 32

I got the stats for each team from vindy.com/blitz. If I did the averages or totals wrong, I’m sorry. If I got anything else wrong, take it up with the Blitz.

Struthers is down 27-0 in the 3rd.

I didn't go to the game.

What's the story, Ohio?

I have no clue... but I'd say it's a combination of LaBrae dominating the LOS, poor tackling by Struthers, and Struthers losing the turnover battle...

Struthers was a bit "overrated" in the sense that they aren't as good as their 4-1 record would indicate. The only quality opponent they had lined up against was Girard which blew them out. Labrae on the other hand had the benefit of playing a higher quality of schedule and probably was a bit more battle tested.
Struthers has a few nice athletes and linemen but when you grab bag on offense then you get poor results against good teams. I said the same thing on the Campbell thread last week. If you line up with 5 receivers one play and then go double tight the next play in the stack I then you are lacking an identity. It would be fantastic for a high school football team to be able to do that but it isn't very realistic for a program that has struggled the way Struthers has.
Last night was a very physical football game, which Struthers has always been able to provide for their opponents but the difference was gameplanning and execution. Labrae was well prepared for what Struthers attempted to do and Struthers was not prepared for the change ups that Labrae was able to throw at them.

Struthers on the opening drive 3rd and about 13 Kimbrough rolls out and throws a int right to the defender he returns it to the 1 and thats all she wrote.... Struthers moved the ball at times but could not get it in the endzone Late in the 1st half Kimbrough got benched and i might have been the happiest person in the whole stadium Munteen came in the came ad was actually making play buying time and actually throwing the ball and he was completeing alot of passes drove struthers down the field a couple times and came up with nothing, but if struthers doesnt play 100 percent better next week and the rest of the year they will not win another game period. They have not played that poor since the first half of the liberty game, i would not be surprized if Munteen starts the rest of the way out.

First thing is first. Hats off to LaBrae.

Secondly, I wouldn't say that Struthers is overrated. They did what was expected of them the first 5 weeks, but they didn't do it in awesome fashion. Records aren't misleading if you don't let them be misleading.

I hadn't seen LaBrae play at all, so I didn't know what to expect. I know that they beat Salem (D3, 4-2), Mineral Ridge (D6, 3-3), Champion (D4, 2-4), and Campbell (D5, 4-2). That's not the toughest schedule, but it was tougher than what Struthers had faced.

Struthers beat Jefferson (D3, 4-2), BL (D3, 1-5), and Liberty (D4) and EL (D3) (both 0-6). They could've easily lost to Beaver Local and Liberty. Kudos to them for gutting those games out, but they both should've been blowouts.

I get adjetated when people are fooled into thinking that mediocrity is greatness. Especially when it's our own.

With a 220 pound RB, and an offensive line that averages 5'11 250, why not commit to the power running game against a much smaller LaBrae, and mix in some PA passes?

It's not like LaBrae jumped out to a big lead early, and they had to abandon the run.

Why did Asher make the switch from Kimbrough to Muntean? I'm not saying that it was a bad move, or that I disagree with it. I'm just curious. Was it an injury, or just that Tommy was playing poorly?

This sets up a big match-up with East (2-4) next week. East's offense has struggled to score points, but their defense is as good as any that Struthers willl see. LeFleur is a hell of a player. He can take over the game if Struthers isn't prepared.