FB: New Jersey Athletic Conference

[Teamski]

Overall a good game by Wesley.  Falkenburg was off his game today and I think that was playoff jitters.  He constantly threw the ball low and that scotched a lot the offensive momentum in the first half in addition to the interceptions.  The Wesley secondary had a poor showing for much of the day.  Dropped coverages and those damned crossing routes caused problems for much of the game even though adjustments throughout the game helped along with pressure on the QB (5 sacks).  Their saving grace is their speed and that really helped on the fly patterns, resulting in a couple key interceptions and some good defended deep routes.  Baynard had a career day today, carrying for 265 yards which tore up the Stevenson defense and was the single deciding factor out there.  The Wesley offensive line opened some nice holes in the process.

Weather was AWESOME without a cloud in the sky and 70 degrees.  Stevenson showed up with an absolutely stellar band and a stand full of fans.  I have never seen such a showing before at Scott D. Miller Stadium.  I mentioned this in the MAC thread, but I felt that I was at a Stevenson homecoming.  It was that impressive.  Absolutely amazing show.

I hope that Falkenburg settles down by next week.  The John Carroll game promises to be cold and makes for a hard ball; something akin to Kryptonite to Wesley players...... Time to hit the freezers.

-Ski

[thewaterboy]

Overall a good game by Wesley.  Falkenburg was off his game today and I think that was playoff jitters.  He constantly threw the ball low and that scotched a lot the offensive momentum in the first half in addition to the interceptions.  The Wesley secondary had a poor showing for much of the day.  Dropped coverages and those damned crossing routes caused problems for much of the game even though adjustments throughout the game helped along with pressure on the QB (5 sacks).  Their saving grace is their speed and that really helped on the fly patterns, resulting in a couple key interceptions and some good defended deep routes.  Baynard had a career day today, carrying for 265 yards which tore up the Stevenson defense and was the single deciding factor out there.  The Wesley offensive line opened some nice holes in the process.

Weather was AWESOME without a cloud in the sky and 70 degrees.  Stevenson showed up with an absolutely stellar band and a stand full of fans.  I have never seen such a showing before at Scott D. Miller Stadium.  I mentioned this in the MAC thread, but I felt that I was at a Stevenson homecoming.  It was that impressive.  Absolutely amazing show.

I hope that Falkenburg settles down by next week.  The John Carroll game promises to be cold and makes for a hard ball; something akin to Kryptonite to Wesley players...... Time to hit the freezers.

-Ski

Early weather forecasts call for 43 degrees with AM showers in Shaker Heights. 50% chance of rain. Yuck!

[wesleydad]

It was a win.  The running game was the best I have seen in quite some time.  Falkenburg needs to play better if the Wolverines are going to win next week.  Too many missed open receivers.  Great play by Shade on the hail mary at the half to take the 17-10 lead.  The usual trouble covering pass routes will be an issue next week if they continue.  Good pressure on the QB despite the number of uncalled holding penalties, sacks could have been twice as many.  Winning is all that matters now so on to next week.  John Carroll will bring a better offense than Stevenson and possibly a better run defense.  Make plays and win the game.

[Teamski]

Wow, nice production values on the Frostburg, St John Fisher game.  I almost thought I had a Division 1A game on there for a second.  Good luck Frostburg! 

-SKi

[bman]

Wow, nice production values on the Frostburg, St John Fisher game.  I almost thought I had a Division 1A game on there for a second.  Good luck Frostburg! 

-SKi

Ski
I know this has been brought up ad nauseam, (and I'm sure I'll be smote (smited?) for mentioning it,  but is Wesley doing anything further to fix their video production?  I was out and about today, and when I could, I was checking the video feeds on my phone.   No Audio, and I couldn't even see most of the action, since the camera is so far away, and set to wide angle.  I just gave up on it after a few minutes.

It just seems to me that a school that has a team that competes on the National Level year after year, would have figured out how to solve the issue by now...
It just looks Mickey Mouse to the others tuning in...

[Teamski]

Wow, nice production values on the Frostburg, St John Fisher game.  I almost thought I had a Division 1A game on there for a second.  Good luck Frostburg! 

-SKi

Ski
I know this has been brought up ad nauseam, (and I'm sure I'll be smote (smited?) for mentioning it,  but is Wesley doing anything further to fix their video production?  I was out and about today, and when I could, I was checking the video feeds on my phone.   No Audio, and I couldn't even see most of the action, since the camera is so far away, and set to wide angle.  I just gave up on it after a few minutes.

It just seems to me that a school that has a team that competes on the National Level year after year, would have figured out how to solve the issue by now...
It just looks Mickey Mouse to the others tuning in...

To be honest, I have no clue. I did talk to the guy handling it and they weren't really happy about it either.  This was a month or two ago.  One of the major problems is connectivity.  They don't have a really good data stream getting to the press box.  Another problem is space.  The camera is located between the teams on top of the press box, so it is awkward to operate as a table literally blocks it and it is there where the laptop is located to operate the camera.  I hope that changes can be made to make it a better experience including a dedicated crew to operate the equipment and a better camera.  Wesley has long had a football program that is bigger and better than the facilities that it calls home.  If you ever visited Wesley, you know how constrained space is!

-Ski

[Teamski]

Big time congrads to Frostburg State  in manhandling SJF tonight in the Asa F. Bushnell Bowl.  It certainly showed that their regional ranking was indeed a correct call.  Really sad that they missed out on a C Bid......

-Ski

[wone3]

Really kind of uncertain as to how capable this year's version of Wesley will be considering they finally established a starting QB in week 8. Falkenberg has some confidence now, which IMO he was lacking in the start of the season vs. Del Val. The defense also ended the season on an upswing with a great 3 1/2 quarter showing vs. Salisbury and overcoming early hiccups early vs. WP.

Looking at Stevenson's loss to Wilkes, it seemed like Wilkes was able to throw at will, and Stevenson never really established the run. I will feel comfortable if Wesley can get the ball to their receivers in space.

The Wilkes game was a "perefct storm" for Stevenson as anything bad could happen. They did rest 2 starting RBs and then had a secondary leader get hurt and get held out the rest of the game so that game was somewhat a fluke. However, I do think the team also suffered letdown and the D lost a bit of swagger after such a great game during homecoming against Del Val that they never really got 100% back. The D is still tough as this is the second year in a row they have been among the tops in INTs and are carrying a nice long streak of games with an INT. They lost a bunch on D to graduation last year and this year will lose basically the other 1/2 that carried it and it now becomes the next guys up to carry on. It certainly was a learning experience for the Stevenson team and I'm sure they will be back soon. Congrats on a nice win and based on the stats sounds like you have a dynamite RB. Good Luck next week!

As far as the band goes.. they are also only in their 6th year of existence; and I think, based on the sneak peak I took in the kiddo's email ( she's a member of the colorguard on the rifle line especially) that you saw 2 of the 4 songs they do in this years show (bang bang and lady marm) It is pretty amazing what they get done. They usually have the show done by homecoming so it's fun to watch week to week to see what they add.

[thewaterboy]

It was a win.  The running game was the best I have seen in quite some time.  Falkenburg needs to play better if the Wolverines are going to win next week.  Too many missed open receivers.  Great play by Shade on the hail mary at the half to take the 17-10 lead.  The usual trouble covering pass routes will be an issue next week if they continue.  Good pressure on the QB despite the number of uncalled holding penalties, sacks could have been twice as many.  Winning is all that matters now so on to next week.  John Carroll will bring a better offense than Stevenson and possibly a better run defense.  Make plays and win the game.

The WDEL crew mentioned that Falkenberg missed the TE Robinson over the middle a few times. Was the poor pass coverage due to getting beat, or blowing coverages? I know the 80-yarder was due to a blown coverage.

Looking at the JCU-Olivet box score, JCU had two PATs blocked, so that may be something to keep an eye on next weekend.

[@d3jason]

The 80-yarder was a busted coverage and then some poor tackling; as was the swing 40-plus on the swing pass that set up the first  Stevenson TD.

I think part of the problem with covering the inside routes is the recent trend of spread teams running RPO (Run/Pass Option.) A read option run play is called and that's how the offensive line blocks it. The QB has the ability to pull it and fire a quick pass. This makes the linebackers step up to play the run if they are reading their keys. Where a defense has a beef with this is if the lineman get down field but this rarely gets called.

Falkenburg didn't miss Robinson over the middle with a pass in particular. I just thought at a couple of points that the middle of the field was open in a two deep scheme where the safeties are cheating to the outside receivers. This is tough, because Stevenson sits in what looks like a two/four deep shell but sometimes rotates to three deep at the snap.

I thought Falkenburg played well. He had a couple of jittery throws on short drag routes and one to the flat on a quick WR screen. His worst decision was the interception at the goal line in the second series. The other int was a deflection, not his fault.

He bounced back and took care of the football. He had a couple of beautiful deep balls to Kemp where the DB had to make a great play to break it up. He made a great play on the Hail Mary, escaped pressure, nearly tripped, then regained his balance and gave Shade a chance to make a play.

[Toph]

Overall a good game by Wesley.  Falkenburg was off his game today and I think that was playoff jitters.  He constantly threw the ball low and that scotched a lot the offensive momentum in the first half in addition to the interceptions.  The Wesley secondary had a poor showing for much of the day.  Dropped coverages and those damned crossing routes caused problems for much of the game even though adjustments throughout the game helped along with pressure on the QB (5 sacks).  Their saving grace is their speed and that really helped on the fly patterns, resulting in a couple key interceptions and some good defended deep routes.  Baynard had a career day today, carrying for 265 yards which tore up the Stevenson defense and was the single deciding factor out there.  The Wesley offensive line opened some nice holes in the process.

Weather was AWESOME without a cloud in the sky and 70 degrees.  Stevenson showed up with an absolutely stellar band and a stand full of fans.  I have never seen such a showing before at Scott D. Miller Stadium.  I mentioned this in the MAC thread, but I felt that I was at a Stevenson homecoming.  It was that impressive.  Absolutely amazing show.

I hope that Falkenburg settles down by next week.  The John Carroll game promises to be cold and makes for a hard ball; something akin to Kryptonite to Wesley players...... Time to hit the freezers.

-Ski

Early weather forecasts call for 43 degrees with AM showers in Shaker Heights. 50% chance of rain. Yuck!

Game will be played in neighboring University Heights.  No weather difference, really just pointing it out because small details annoy me.

And yes, there are like 20 different cities with the name "Heights" after them in the Cleveland area, despite the fact that most of them are around 1,000 ft. above sea level.

[wesleydad]

Early look at the game stats for John Carroll and they are tough to run on.  Looks like Wesley will have to rely on the pass more this week, and they certainly have the ability to get it done, but they have to avoid turnovers especially interceptions.  Or maybe last week is a look into things to come and Wesley will be able to run the ball and control the clock.  This may end up being a lower scoring game than we are used to with Wesley.  It is a winnable game for sure.

[Teamski]

Early look at the game stats for John Carroll and they are tough to run on.  Looks like Wesley will have to rely on the pass more this week, and they certainly have the ability to get it done, but they have to avoid turnovers especially interceptions.  Or maybe last week is a look into things to come and Wesley will be able to run the ball and control the clock.  This may end up being a lower scoring game than we are used to with Wesley.  It is a winnable game for sure.

What I saw were average offensive numbers against Olivet which indicates that Wesley's defense could have an opportunity to contain the JCU offense and perhaps give the Wolverines some additional opportunities.  The key is to NOT get behind early.  Yeah, Wesley is a second half team.  They always have been.  That can bite them in the arse if they lag too far back against an active and early scoring JCU offense.   Add a good number of mistakes and...... well that is my biggest worry.  I do expect a pumped up Wesley team to arrive in Ohio and one ready to play.

-Ski

[D O.C.]

Does Wesley offer any kind of media classes?  I would think that would improve everything.                                                                         A little generous gift from Dover Downs and the coverage could catch up to the product on the field.

I has been hard to watch those home games.

[Pat Coleman]

It was a win.  The running game was the best I have seen in quite some time.  Falkenburg needs to play better if the Wolverines are going to win next week.  Too many missed open receivers.  Great play by Shade on the hail mary at the half to take the 17-10 lead.  The usual trouble covering pass routes will be an issue next week if they continue.  Good pressure on the QB despite the number of uncalled holding penalties, sacks could have been twice as many.  Winning is all that matters now so on to next week.  John Carroll will bring a better offense than Stevenson and possibly a better run defense.  Make plays and win the game.

The WDEL crew mentioned that Falkenberg missed the TE Robinson over the middle a few times. Was the poor pass coverage due to getting beat, or blowing coverages? I know the 80-yarder was due to a blown coverage.

Looking at the JCU-Olivet box score, JCU had two PATs blocked, so that may be something to keep an eye on next weekend.

This was a big topic of discussion from the Mount Union game as well and was referenced in our playoff capsules.