I would hope that Waynedale has let that one go and are now concentrating on Norwayne. The next couple weeks should define who wins the WCAL

Buckz#1;1654224 wrote:Were you watching the same game? It DID stop them!

So are you going on record and saying that if we would have kept that "big LB in the middle" that we would have won the game? You do remember that the first time we "stopped" them that their receiver dropped the pass on 4th down that was right in his hands? Did you happen to see that when you went back and broke down the game film?

Wait!.....you are the same guy that said we have kids playing the wrong positions? That we should have Strausbaugh playing qb, right? The same Strausbaugh kid who had 10 receptions, 300 yards receiving, AND 5 td's (all school records), right? The same Strausbaugh kid who caught those passes from a qb who threw for 370+ yards (a school record), right? Man, I can't believe our coaches aren't putting our players in positions to make them successful...

Any more suggestions???.............:huh:

Wow! Guys both Triway and Waynedale are sitting in good spots for this year. Enjoy the run and stop fighting about stuff that does not matter. Orrville will take any of those players that were on the field the other night. Both teams could have some long playoff runs ahead of them also both teams with things to work on and get better.

Seriously. I mean, I wasn't there, but by all indications, it seems like Waynedale did a fine job taking it at Triway for most of the night.

The WCAL fans ought to be proud of their representation against what most people believe to be (rightfully so, I think) an incredibly talented and well-coached Triway team.

That Carmichael kid must be some kind of player. With five guys getting 97 yards or more receiving, it sounds like he sees the field well and has a good group of pass-catchers.

For Waynedale to have been leading toward the middle of the third, I think that bodes well for them going into league play. If nothing else, they've already seen a high-octane offense, so I have to imagine that prepares them well.

I honestly have no idea who I'd pick to win the conference at this point. I might lean toward the Golden Bears, as I think this past week will have prepped their defense to raise the bar.

----

I went to the Smithville game on Friday, and I have to say that they did shore up some of the things I mentioned before.

They had a rough first quarter, but from then on, it felt like they were further ahead than they were on the scoreboard. Even when they were only up one score in the fourth quarter, it felt like more.

The upsides:

1. This past game reaffirmed that yes, this team's pass catchers can indeed catch. And the play-calling reflected that. What's more, the receivers were smart, looking their coverage away from the pass and trying to keep the coverage away from the ball. Viator (sp?) did an especially good job of this, sometimes waiting until the last second before adjusting to a pass and leaving the DB unable to adjust as a result.

2. I love that this team doesn't shy away from contact. The play that stands out most vividly was a broken play on offense where Fath had to scramble up the right sideline. Instead of going out of bounds, he went for the extra couple yards, which meant he was going to take some contact. I love seeing ball-carriers who aren't afraid to get hit and don't shy away from it, and he didn't. Same to be said for the running backs. They all hit the tacklers as much as the tacklers hit them. For the most part, they kept their legs driving after hits, and even when they got stood up, it wasn't because they were shying away. That's good coaching and a hunger for yardage. #21 was particularly fun to watch do this, but all of them hit the holes and didn't show fear of contact.

3. The quarterback sees the field very well. He goes through his looks well and finds the open man.

4. The offensive line did a pretty good job giving him space to throw. He had to move up in the pocket from time to time, but that's to be expected, and it was nice to see them able to trust him to find the space they gave him to step up.

5. Ball security has been just awesome. There is never any excuse to just fumble a ball. Bad snaps happen, but strips never should, and this team seems to be doing a great job at securing the ball.

6. Discipline with long counts has been better than I remember.


There were still a couple things they will need to do well in the league:

1. There were still a few too many arm tackles that got shaken off. They weren't just throwing shoulders, so that was good, but they didn't always hang on.

2. The man coverage still seemed to have a tough time telling when the pass went up. Late getting their heads around to find the ball. It was better than last week, but against a good passing team, they'll need to continue to improve. They have the speed, though, so I am certain they can do it.

3. The defensive line looked slow to get in position prior to the snap. It seemed like some of them barely made it into their stance before the ball was snapped. I understand it for linebackers and DBs, who are making adjustments to the offensive formations, but the D-line didn't seem to be doing it out of having to shift. They just seemed slow into their stances, and at times, that seemed to make it easier to block them.


I'm really looking forward to seeing how they stack up against conference opponents. It's been nice to see so many teams winning non-conference games and bringing those points into league play. I wouldn't be surprised to see 2-3 teams make the playoffs.

99bobcatdb;1653654 wrote:WCAL is going to be a blast to watch this year!!

agreed, can't remember the last time the WCAL had so many legit contenders for the title.

wcalfan;1654236 wrote:Any more suggestions???.............:huh:

I have one......live and let live. People are allowed to have opinions different than yours.: thumbup:

rrfan;1654257 wrote:Enjoy the run and stop fighting about stuff that does not matter.

rrfan is the voice of reason....never thought I'd say that

concerning Orrville, I think they'll win a game or two in the OCC (Lex & possibly Clear Fork). Granted they are bad by Orrville's usual standards, but if they were in the WCAL or Principles, my guess is they would be middle of the pack.

O-Trap;1654285 wrote:I honestly have no idea who I'd pick to win the conference at this point. I might lean toward the Golden Bears, as I think this past week will have prepped their defense to raise the bar.

I have no idea either, right now I'm kind of leaning towards Norwayne, they seem to have the most balance at this early point.

Red Rum, just curious what do you mean by balance? Offense/defense, pass/run? No angle, just curious lol
thanks

Red Rum;1654310 wrote:I have no idea either, right now I'm kind of leaning towards Norwayne, they seem to have the most balance at this early point.

Wouldn't surprise me in the least.

Based on such a wide variety of talent on the non-league schedule, I think the only thing I can conclude is that other than the team playing Rittman, the others will be in a dog fight each Friday night. As a football fan, I can't think of anything better!

Havin Fun;1654412 wrote:Based on such a wide variety of talent on the non-league schedule, I think the only thing I can conclude is that other than the team playing Rittman, the others will be in a dog fight each Friday night. As a football fan, I can't think of anything better!

Hear, hear!

Observer,
I was referring to run/pass balance on offense (tough RB, 2 good options at QB, another batch of promising receivers) ....it's also still a very young season and Norwayne is still basically untested....although that is gonna change Friday. Waynedale is gonna be fired up after last week.




This weeks games,


The marquee game has got to be Norwayne at Waynedale. The Cats will be facing their first real test and the Bears will be looking to rebound after a loss against an elite Triway offense...Whoever wins this has jumped a major hurdle on the sprint to the championship.


Northwestern at Dalton...IMO, a contender elimination game. The loser is probably playing spoiler the rest of the season.


Hillsdale at Smithville...The Smithies will be looking to get back to .500 by upsetting the Falcons, who are on the road again after last weeks beatdown at the hands of a very, very good Loudonville team.


Rittman at Chippewa...Big Chief stays in Doylestown

The wcal may not have the top end elite team that we have seen the last few years, but it is definitely deeper with a bunch of dangerous, solid teams. So far, it's pretty hard to rank the league with the big variety of opponents - many very bad and some elite teams. Dalton is definitely in this category as they have two convincing wins against teams that are not real good and a loss against a very good garaway team. Northwestern has beaten two teams without much talent as well and a loss against what looks to be a solid Columbia team. Intersted to see how this one plays out.

Hello again, I haven't gotten a chance to post since before the season, and I didn't make it to the last 2 Smithie games so I am not sure how they are looking from the first game. I was at the Dalton Tuslaw game 2 weeks ago and Dalton looked good. I am excited to get to the Smithville Hillsdale game this week. I listened to the Hillsdale game on my way home from hunting last week not sure if Loudonville's D was just that good or if Hillsdale is just bad this year but it didn't sound good. If I have to guess though L'Ville is just that good. It should be a great game this week. Anyone want to throw out predictions for this week?

Mine are:

Smithville squeaks past Hillsdale at home

Chippewa beats Rittman by at least 4 tds

Dalton over NW

Waynedale over Norwayne in a close one

Browns beat up on Baltimore (GO BROWNS!!!!)

Red Rum;1654310 wrote:agreed, can't remember the last time the WCAL had so many legit contenders for the title.



I have one......live and let live. People are allowed to have opinions different than yours.: thumbup:



rrfan is the voice of reason....never thought I'd say that

concerning Orrville, I think they'll win a game or two in the OCC (Lex & possibly Clear Fork). Granted they are bad by Orrville's usual standards, but if they were in the WCAL or Principles, my guess is they would be middle of the pack.




I have no idea either, right now I'm kind of leaning towards Norwayne, they seem to have the most balance at this early point.

If Lex would be in the middle of the pack in the WCAL Norwayne should be in good shape. Ontario beat them by a couple touchdowns and Norwayne just beat Ontario by 40

Lex would not be in the middle of the pack in the WCAL...and Orrville would struggle to be in the middle of the pack as well.

Red Rum;1654541 wrote:Hillsdale at Smithville...The Smithies will be looking to get back to .500 by upsetting the Falcons, who are on the road again after last weeks beatdown at the hands of a very, very good Loudonville team.

Just an FYI, Smithville and Hillsdale are both 2-1.

Orrville would finish just above Rittman in the WCAL this year and would maybe knock off one other team in league play. The Riders have one of the worst teams they have ever had.
And Chippewa will destroy what is at best a Freshman level Rittman team. I predict the Chipps score everytime they touch the ball until they subout in the second quarter.
The rest of the games are toss-ups IMO

Here's how Pasteur's computer predicts Friday's games:

Dalton by 3 over the Huskies (56%)
Hillsdale by 13 over the Smithies (76%)
Norwayne by 18 over the Bears (85%)
Chippewa by 26 over the Indians (92%)

also:

Orrville over Lex by 10
Loudonville by 12 over Logan
Triway by 33 over Tusky Valley

1486wd;1654579 wrote:Dalton is definitely in this category as they have two convincing wins against teams that are not real good and a loss against a very good garaway team. Northwestern has beaten two teams without much talent as well and a loss against what looks to be a solid Columbia team. Intersted to see how this one plays out.

Agreed on the Garaway is a good team part, not so sure about Columbia being solid. I think the Dawgs break their 4 year losing streak against the Huskies on Friday.

SmithieFan03;1654616 wrote:Browns beat up on Baltimore (GO BROWNS!!!!)

Man I hope it goes down like that.

Old Rider;1654657 wrote: Orrville would struggle to be in the middle of the pack as well.

Yeah Orrville is bad, but I still think they would do better than everyone is giving them credit for if they were playing in a small conference like the WCAL

Dr. KnOiTaLL;1654688 wrote:Just an FYI, Smithville and Hillsdale are both 2-1.

I knew someone would bust me on that mistake

This weeks games.
Dalton over Northwestern
Hillsdale over Smithville
Norwayne over Waynedale
Chippewa over Rittman by half time

The next three weeks will tell us who wins the league this year. However, just some insight and banter over the previous posts. I got a chance to watch a replay of the Chippewa vs. Tuslaw game from last week, and had a few take always. In reference to Red Rum stating that Norwayne was the most balanced; I have to disagree. Chippewa did not really open up much, but they have at least 4 backs that can go the distance, and that does not include Britenstine. In addition they have two receivers on the outside that can really run. Norwayne seems to be a one horse team in my opinion.Chippewa looked a little soft on defense, and had way too many penalties. After seeing them play, I think I'm switching to Chippewa as my favorite to win it. They have the best player in the league ( people forget how good of a DB he is), the most diverse offense, and it seems few teams in the league play lights out defense. I had to chuckle when people said how playing Triway is going to help Waynedale. First, nobody in the league runs the system Triway does, and secondly giving up 74 points sure as hell isn't a good sign regardless of who you play. Also, I don't think it will be easy for Waynedale with these games back to back, and Norwayne will be spent as well. Chippewa will be well rested, as the starters will be done early. Wouldn't be surprised if they are already prepping for the Cats.

Norwayne is a one horse pony? Let's see lil Dreher is 35-37 in his last two games, Zollinger 4-4, 9 different receivers, 4 wide at all times sounds a lot like Triway to me, O by the way they also have 4 starters back on the o line, a defense giving up fewer points than the one last year with the D1 guys on it. Now you can argue competition but most qbs couldn't go 39-41 in their backyard let alone a ball game miller is a horse but this team not pulling a buggy, it's pulling a plow with a little more horsepower than you think. WCAL observer

No name, calm down a little. It may sound like Triway, but it AINT Triway lol. As for the defense giving up fewer points, as you noted based on schedule that's an irrelevant stat. The fact is Miller, is the only proven weapon so far. This will be the first week your QB will play a worthy opponent. Just curious of these 39 completion what is his total yards? Plenty of drinking and dunking. The same can be said for Carmichael, but Norwayne's receivers are not in the same class as Triway's. I'm not saying Norwayne isn't capable of winning the league, but their skill positions haven't been tested yet. As I said we will learn a lot in the next three weeks.

Sounds like Paul reincarnated ... but with better grammar.

O-Trap;1655094 wrote:Sounds like Paul reincarnated ... but with better grammar.

Hello O-Trap I wish you had not talked about me now I have to show how smart I am. Naa not tonight.

Paul;1655143 wrote:Hello O-Trap I wish you had not talked about me now I have to show how smart I am. Naa not tonight.

Relax, Paul. I'm not questioning your intelligence. I'm merely noting the grammar you usually use while posting here.

Wcal observer;1655052 wrote:No name, calm down a little. It may sound like Triway, but it AINT Triway lol. As for the defense giving up fewer points, as you noted based on schedule that's an irrelevant stat. The fact is Miller, is the only proven weapon so far. This will be the first week your QB will play a worthy opponent. Just curious of these 39 completion what is his total yards? Plenty of drinking and dunking. The same can be said for Carmichael, but Norwayne's receivers are not in the same class as Triway's. I'm not saying Norwayne isn't capable of winning the league, but their skill positions haven't been tested yet. As I said we will learn a lot in the next three weeks.

The paper says Dreher is 49 of 59 for 714 yards and 8 TDS - 1 INT. Those are pretty good numbers