FB: Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference

[70_dc_alum]

Ahh good morning!  It's football season!  Best of luck to everyone's team.

I'm actually going to have to disagree with you, 70.  In general the bad weather, lower scoring, less possessions approach has proven more successful against Mount.  I'm too lazy to look it up, but I don't believe any of their losses (and maybe not even close wins) were track meets.  The reason is that historically Mount's D is normally too good to allow a track meet to happen.  Teams will certainly score, but teams wanting a track meet often end up turning it over and putting themselves in the unenviable position of having to throw.  End up there and it's bad news.  Running a 4-2-5 w/ smaller, quicker DE the D is designed to get to the QB and force turnovers.   

Safe travels to everyone hitting the road this morning.

Actually I kind of agree with you when I said track meet I ment they needed to be able to open up The offense which is franklins strength. If The weather forces them to have to play smash mouth I think Franklin will have major issues. Agree if Franklin pulls of The upset it will be lower scoring. If Franklin has to go smash mouth they won't score much at all.

[Pat Coleman]

BashDad -- as to what Keith being right looks like, I'm pretty sure we're seeing it.

[BashDad]

Yeah, yeah. Get your licks in. I'll take'm. This is decidedly not close or awesome or anything but bummersville. Sigh.

[HScoach]

Sounds like Franklin should quit punting.   Two punt returns for TD by Chris Denton.  Yikes.

[FCGrizzliesGrad]

It's not so much the punting, but that the entire Franklin team needs some stickum so they can actually make tackles... and hold onto the ball. So many missed tackles and potential sacks we've missed today.

[emma17]

Les Vulnerables:

-Neal Seaman sans Matt Piloto.
-Two defensive lineman starting on the offensive line.
-A Running-back playing in his first game as a starter.

But you're right, the calendar doesn't say December. So everything's gravy. They'll cruise.

Look forward to seeing your postgame reaction if Keith is proven right. None of what you have cited here above is anything Mount Union hasn't done before in this decades-long run.

They've beaten the 13th ranked team, on the road, on opening day after their two best offensive players left the team a month before camp opened? Oh. I missed that year.

Hate to be picky, but Piloto and Murray were not Mount's best 2 offensive players.  QB Matt Piloto was BACK-UP to Neal Seaman the last 2 years.  And RB Jeremy Murray, while the starter and productive (1700+ yds / 5.5 ypc / 20 TD's), is not a difference maker at RB.  He is NOT anywhere near the level of Nate Kmic, or Chuck Moore or Dan Pugh.  I wouldn't even put him in the same category as Ryan Gorius or Jim Gresko of yesteryear.  As you'll likely see later today, Mount has quite a few RB's that are identical to Murray.  Unfortunately we don't have another Kmic/Moore/Pugh on the roster.

WR Jasper Collins is easily the best O player.  Who's the 2nd guy is open for debate, but it's probably one of the other receivers.  Not Piloto or Murra, nor is it starting QB Neal Seaman.   It's not a popular or obvious choice, but their 2nd best offensive player could very well be G Matt Mattox.

HS- where do you see Denton in terms of being one of best on Mount.  It seemed last year there was a lot of anticipation that he'd be something special, and now with this game, is he there?

[MasterJedi]

What I said last year after watching Franklin play UWW twice is that they have the skill players but their lines are not good enough. Improve that and they could do some damage.

[HScoach]

Emma17:   Wasn't consistent enough in '11.  Maybe another year of maturity will make the difference.

[70_dc_alum]

Most of the games finished as expected. Defiance hung with Albion for a while mostly through calisthenics and then they kicked off.  I watched about a quarter and a half and it was painful both lines were dominated by Albion...could have been a lot worse than 55-0

[BUBeaverFan]

Yeah Beavers!

[FCGrizzliesGrad]

Well, a 2-7 weekend for the conference... started off well with Manchester hanging tough on Thursday, but things quickly came back to reality. We were outscored a combined 297-137. The big question is... can we get a 3rd win next week to at least match last year's pitiful 3-15 record? I'm not entirely sure that we will.
Are there any high school teams we can get on the schedule next year?

[skunks_sidekick]

Yeah, yeah. Get your licks in. I'll take'm. This is decidedly not close or awesome or anything but bummersville. Sigh.

Shrug........it's what we thought it would be........get it?

[dc_has_been]

Most of the games finished as expected. Defiance hung with Albion for a while mostly through calisthenics and then they kicked off.  I watched about a quarter and a half and it was painful both lines were dominated by Albion...could have been a lot worse than 55-0

What the......  I was coming in with some high hopes for DC this year, but after looking at the stats to yesterday's game, those hopes have diminished.  Hopefully they can get things turned around quickly and avoid another embarrassing loss against another good MIAA school.

[ECFan11]

Was at the Earlham game. EC defense did a great job for 3 quarters held the Oberlin O to 9 points for 1st half. EC fans were loud and forced Oberlin to call 2 time outs. Definitely a different feel in the stadium and the field looks great. They are still looking to put the right personnel into the Earlham Offense. if they can get the O to gel they will be able to put together a good game. alot of 3 and outs which tiered the D out by the 4th. looking forward to a good game at kenyon.  GO QUAKES!

[grizgater]

One thing is sure Mt Union is very good and more physical than Whitewater was last season. Not sure what Whitewater has this season however. I wouldn't be surprised to see Mt win it all this season. Mt's fans that i spoke with were very polite and thanked Franklin for their hospitality. Good luck to the raiders the rest of the season.