Not off the Press: Going from football to fútbol in the same day
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
Saturday was one of those days of covering high schools sports that rarely happen or don't happen at all. After a couple weeks of going to various high school football practices in the area, this past weekend gave me the opportunity to not only cover the game of football, but I had the pleasure of watching fútbol as well, covering the boys and girls South Central Ohio League vs. Southern Hills League soccer scrimmages.
I'll tell you something right now … don't tell the players these were scrimmage games. Don't say that to the coaches either because watching the athletes play soccer at Lynchburg-Clay on Friday and Saturday at Richards Memorial Field in Hillsboro, they sure didn't seem like scrimmage games.
Let's start by talking about what I watched Friday, and that was a scrimmage between the Hillsboro Lady Indians and the Lynchburg-Clay Lady Mustangs.
Most people know I don't know all the finer points of soccer. Most know I don't have a favorite college, MLS or overseas soccer team. I'm really trying … I really have to find a pro soccer team to cheer for or at least keep track of, but this is much harder than I expected. Does anyone have any suggestions? I know I don't want to cheer for the New York Yankees of pro soccer, but I don't want to cheer for the Cincinnati Bengals version of a MLS or overseas team either.
But, I will tell everyone I have four high school soccer schools that I can watch without zoning off (Whiteoak doesn't have soccer), and I have four soccer schools (eight teams total) that do keep the games at least interesting … and since that is a majority of the soccer I watch every year, that's good enough for me.
Enough rambling, on Friday I watched the Lady Indians and Lady Mustangs battle to a 2-1 score where Hillsboro was the winner. Fun game to watch where all three goals were scored in the final 20-minute half (in the regular season, each half is 40 minutes). After that, I watched the first half of the McClain Lady Tigers and North Adams Lady Green Devils game. After the first half, MHS led 4-0 and won by a score of 5-1.
For the event, HHS was 2-0. LC and MHS were 1-1.
On Saturday, I watched parts of HHS vs. LC boys and MHS vs. Fairfield boys soccer scrimmages. Again, these games didn't seem like scrimmages at times, but it was a nice atmosphere to start the upcoming season.
This was a nice event for the first time of having it at two locations on two different days. Plus, it was a way for me to get some early season photos. Also, thanks to whomever made the schedule putting all the Highland County teams against each other for the first two games … that should happen again next year, too (please).
• Football before fútbol
On Saturday, before I watched the soccer matches at RMF, I traveled to my old stompin' grounds to Wilmington College, where the McClain Tigers scrimmaged the Wilmington Hurricane in a game of football.
Again, after seeing all the varieties of practice in preparation of the 2nd Annual Highland County High School Football Preview (which spans five … count 'em, five different counties), it was great to see two different teams hit each other in a live scrimmage.
I liked what I saw for both teams at times during the scrimmage. It was also nice to see former HHS football coach Duane Earley on the sidelines of the Hurricane as an assistant coach. I didn't get a chance to talk to him, but I wish the Hurricane the best of luck for the upcoming season. When Coach Earley was at HHS, he was great to work with, and no matter the time or how much he had going on (he was head football coach and an athletic director at the same time), he would always return a phone call, and in this business, that's all I can ask for.
Anyway, like I stated in the above paragraph, I liked some of what I saw from MHS, and some things will improve as the preseason continues. MHS has one last scrimmage left against Logan Elm this coming Friday at McClain Field … starting around 7 p.m.
Some of the positives for the Tigers was a defensive drive early on where the Tigers looked like they were in mid-season form. On this one series in particular, the MHS defense rushed the quarterback well; were physical with the Hurricane offensive line; made the Wilmington backfield run side-to-side, allowing a MHS defensive back to close in; and made a tackle in the backfield. Another time in that 10-play series, they plugged the hole on a running play, and I can say the Tigers contained well, overcoming a couple fake-out moves by Wilmington to make a tackle as they continued to the ball carrier.
In my opinion, that was the best MHS defensive series of the entire scrimmage.
I liked what Wilmington did in this goal line package each team had. This part of the scrimmage consisted of both teams getting the ball from the 10, 8, 6, 4 and 2 yard lines and trying to score a touchdown in a live situation. The Hurricane scored three times out of five from the 10, 8 and 4 yard line on runs. The one that stands out is from the 6-yard line when the Tigers held the Hurricane following an off-target toss following the snap. A Wilmington coach yelled at his team to see how they can respond … and they responded with their third touchdown of that goal line scrimmage practice.
When the coaches were off the field and it turned into a kinda game, McClain's Gary Ryan had a run of over 20 yards on the first play of the series in the opening 12-minute half.
Wilmington, on their second possession, broke a tackle, turned the corner and took the ball to pay dirt for around 70 or 80 yards (I believe).
For McClain, Thomas Schrader had a nice deflection in the middle of the field on defense, being just an inch or two away from intercepting the ball on a third-and-17 play.
If I had one worry, it was that combined MHS had three interceptions and had just a little trouble making some open field tackles, but there is still plenty of time to work on that.
But again, it's scrimmage season, so that is what these "practices" are for, to see what a team does well and what needs fixed before Friday, Aug. 26 … you know, when the games count.
I'll watch the Hillsboro Indians and Paint Valley Bearcats this coming Friday, and I'll report on that. Maybe I'll eat a Hillsboro fish sandwich, since I've never had one at the annual fish fry.
• 10 thoughts on high school sports
1. Got info that the 7th Annual Bump, Spike and Dig Highland County Invitational volleyball tournament will be held on Saturday, Aug. 27, with JV starting at 10 a.m. and varsity at 10:30 a.m. This is usually a competitive event. Hillsboro won the first four, and the McClain Lady Tigers have won this event the past two years. It will be held at Hillsboro High School.
2. I don't know all the finer points of soccer, but if the way teams play for a scrimmage, then this should be a competitive regular season to cover.
3. I was told the Hillsboro football scrimmages against Adena and CNE were competitive during parts of it. I'm interested to see PV and HHS play football this coming Friday in the final scrimmage of the preseason.
4. I'm also excited to wrap up the Highland County Press High School Football Preview in the near future. (If you see me this week feel free to give me some coffee.)
5. The McClain boys golf team is off to a strong start … congrats to them. Thanks to Coach Tim Bolender for sending the team information. For any coach who has team results in any sport this season, feel free to email it to sforsha@gmail.com.
6. Does anyone else know where the summer went? Seriously, we are preparing for fall sports in a matter of weeks, and I didn't even have Dippin' Dots this summer. One thing I'm looking forward to this fall season are all the different concessions. Though it could interfere with my improved eating habits, I might have to sample a couple things this fall.
7. I think watching football at 10 a.m. even on a Saturday morning is hard for me. I can watch football any time of the day, but even I was kind of sleepy when watching the first 30 minutes of the McClain scrimmage. Thanks to Seattle's Best Level 3 coffee (the official fuel of the HCP sports editor) for waking me up to watch football.
8. I wish all athletic uniforms had the individual player numbers printed on the front of the jersey. If I had a genie for sports, that would be one of my wishes. I think anyone who covers sports would agree with me.
9. I really think the SCOL football season will be a competitive in-league season. It will be a very, very, very tough challenge to knock off the defending champs, but the rest of the league for a few of the top spots will be interesting to see how all of that turns out.
10. Another interesting thought for the boys soccer season is if the SCOL championship can stay in Highland County for a seventh straight year. HHS, at one time, won four straight titles, and McClain has won the last two league titles. I guess it will be up to one of those teams to keep the league title in the county once again.
• Stat of the Week
I'm going back to the Friday girls soccer scrimmage I watched where Leah Pence scored two goals for the Hillsboro Lady Indians in the second half of their scrimmage against LCHS.
• Quote of the Week
"It was very refreshing … the kids grasped the idea of this is the team we have, and we have to find 11 kids to play offense and 11 kids to play defense. They have accepted that, and we really had a great first week of practice. The next big marker is the scrimmage." — Brian Spicer, HHS head coach talking more about the preseason.
• (Another) Quote of the Week
"I say we've had a productive preseason. The kids are working exceptionally hard … we have guys who are working extremely hard." — Randy Closson, MHS head coach speaking about the Tigers' work ethic.
• One last item of business
It is hard to believe the fall sports season is around the corner. This is just a reminder that while I won't be at every game this season, I will still be more than happy to write a game story for any game results sent to me. For anyone who wants to send varsity game results or stats from an individual game I may not be covering, feel free to email them to either sforsha@gmail.com or hcpress@cinci.rr.com. Though not all game results or every game I cover in person makes it to the pages of the print edition of The Highland County Press, everything does make it to the HCP website.
Stephen Forsha is the sports editor of The Highland County Press. He can be reached at sforsha@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @hcpsportseditor.[[In-content Ad]]
I'll tell you something right now … don't tell the players these were scrimmage games. Don't say that to the coaches either because watching the athletes play soccer at Lynchburg-Clay on Friday and Saturday at Richards Memorial Field in Hillsboro, they sure didn't seem like scrimmage games.
Let's start by talking about what I watched Friday, and that was a scrimmage between the Hillsboro Lady Indians and the Lynchburg-Clay Lady Mustangs.
Most people know I don't know all the finer points of soccer. Most know I don't have a favorite college, MLS or overseas soccer team. I'm really trying … I really have to find a pro soccer team to cheer for or at least keep track of, but this is much harder than I expected. Does anyone have any suggestions? I know I don't want to cheer for the New York Yankees of pro soccer, but I don't want to cheer for the Cincinnati Bengals version of a MLS or overseas team either.
But, I will tell everyone I have four high school soccer schools that I can watch without zoning off (Whiteoak doesn't have soccer), and I have four soccer schools (eight teams total) that do keep the games at least interesting … and since that is a majority of the soccer I watch every year, that's good enough for me.
Enough rambling, on Friday I watched the Lady Indians and Lady Mustangs battle to a 2-1 score where Hillsboro was the winner. Fun game to watch where all three goals were scored in the final 20-minute half (in the regular season, each half is 40 minutes). After that, I watched the first half of the McClain Lady Tigers and North Adams Lady Green Devils game. After the first half, MHS led 4-0 and won by a score of 5-1.
For the event, HHS was 2-0. LC and MHS were 1-1.
On Saturday, I watched parts of HHS vs. LC boys and MHS vs. Fairfield boys soccer scrimmages. Again, these games didn't seem like scrimmages at times, but it was a nice atmosphere to start the upcoming season.
This was a nice event for the first time of having it at two locations on two different days. Plus, it was a way for me to get some early season photos. Also, thanks to whomever made the schedule putting all the Highland County teams against each other for the first two games … that should happen again next year, too (please).
• Football before fútbol
On Saturday, before I watched the soccer matches at RMF, I traveled to my old stompin' grounds to Wilmington College, where the McClain Tigers scrimmaged the Wilmington Hurricane in a game of football.
Again, after seeing all the varieties of practice in preparation of the 2nd Annual Highland County High School Football Preview (which spans five … count 'em, five different counties), it was great to see two different teams hit each other in a live scrimmage.
I liked what I saw for both teams at times during the scrimmage. It was also nice to see former HHS football coach Duane Earley on the sidelines of the Hurricane as an assistant coach. I didn't get a chance to talk to him, but I wish the Hurricane the best of luck for the upcoming season. When Coach Earley was at HHS, he was great to work with, and no matter the time or how much he had going on (he was head football coach and an athletic director at the same time), he would always return a phone call, and in this business, that's all I can ask for.
Anyway, like I stated in the above paragraph, I liked some of what I saw from MHS, and some things will improve as the preseason continues. MHS has one last scrimmage left against Logan Elm this coming Friday at McClain Field … starting around 7 p.m.
Some of the positives for the Tigers was a defensive drive early on where the Tigers looked like they were in mid-season form. On this one series in particular, the MHS defense rushed the quarterback well; were physical with the Hurricane offensive line; made the Wilmington backfield run side-to-side, allowing a MHS defensive back to close in; and made a tackle in the backfield. Another time in that 10-play series, they plugged the hole on a running play, and I can say the Tigers contained well, overcoming a couple fake-out moves by Wilmington to make a tackle as they continued to the ball carrier.
In my opinion, that was the best MHS defensive series of the entire scrimmage.
I liked what Wilmington did in this goal line package each team had. This part of the scrimmage consisted of both teams getting the ball from the 10, 8, 6, 4 and 2 yard lines and trying to score a touchdown in a live situation. The Hurricane scored three times out of five from the 10, 8 and 4 yard line on runs. The one that stands out is from the 6-yard line when the Tigers held the Hurricane following an off-target toss following the snap. A Wilmington coach yelled at his team to see how they can respond … and they responded with their third touchdown of that goal line scrimmage practice.
When the coaches were off the field and it turned into a kinda game, McClain's Gary Ryan had a run of over 20 yards on the first play of the series in the opening 12-minute half.
Wilmington, on their second possession, broke a tackle, turned the corner and took the ball to pay dirt for around 70 or 80 yards (I believe).
For McClain, Thomas Schrader had a nice deflection in the middle of the field on defense, being just an inch or two away from intercepting the ball on a third-and-17 play.
If I had one worry, it was that combined MHS had three interceptions and had just a little trouble making some open field tackles, but there is still plenty of time to work on that.
But again, it's scrimmage season, so that is what these "practices" are for, to see what a team does well and what needs fixed before Friday, Aug. 26 … you know, when the games count.
I'll watch the Hillsboro Indians and Paint Valley Bearcats this coming Friday, and I'll report on that. Maybe I'll eat a Hillsboro fish sandwich, since I've never had one at the annual fish fry.
• 10 thoughts on high school sports
1. Got info that the 7th Annual Bump, Spike and Dig Highland County Invitational volleyball tournament will be held on Saturday, Aug. 27, with JV starting at 10 a.m. and varsity at 10:30 a.m. This is usually a competitive event. Hillsboro won the first four, and the McClain Lady Tigers have won this event the past two years. It will be held at Hillsboro High School.
2. I don't know all the finer points of soccer, but if the way teams play for a scrimmage, then this should be a competitive regular season to cover.
3. I was told the Hillsboro football scrimmages against Adena and CNE were competitive during parts of it. I'm interested to see PV and HHS play football this coming Friday in the final scrimmage of the preseason.
4. I'm also excited to wrap up the Highland County Press High School Football Preview in the near future. (If you see me this week feel free to give me some coffee.)
5. The McClain boys golf team is off to a strong start … congrats to them. Thanks to Coach Tim Bolender for sending the team information. For any coach who has team results in any sport this season, feel free to email it to sforsha@gmail.com.
6. Does anyone else know where the summer went? Seriously, we are preparing for fall sports in a matter of weeks, and I didn't even have Dippin' Dots this summer. One thing I'm looking forward to this fall season are all the different concessions. Though it could interfere with my improved eating habits, I might have to sample a couple things this fall.
7. I think watching football at 10 a.m. even on a Saturday morning is hard for me. I can watch football any time of the day, but even I was kind of sleepy when watching the first 30 minutes of the McClain scrimmage. Thanks to Seattle's Best Level 3 coffee (the official fuel of the HCP sports editor) for waking me up to watch football.
8. I wish all athletic uniforms had the individual player numbers printed on the front of the jersey. If I had a genie for sports, that would be one of my wishes. I think anyone who covers sports would agree with me.
9. I really think the SCOL football season will be a competitive in-league season. It will be a very, very, very tough challenge to knock off the defending champs, but the rest of the league for a few of the top spots will be interesting to see how all of that turns out.
10. Another interesting thought for the boys soccer season is if the SCOL championship can stay in Highland County for a seventh straight year. HHS, at one time, won four straight titles, and McClain has won the last two league titles. I guess it will be up to one of those teams to keep the league title in the county once again.
• Stat of the Week
I'm going back to the Friday girls soccer scrimmage I watched where Leah Pence scored two goals for the Hillsboro Lady Indians in the second half of their scrimmage against LCHS.
• Quote of the Week
"It was very refreshing … the kids grasped the idea of this is the team we have, and we have to find 11 kids to play offense and 11 kids to play defense. They have accepted that, and we really had a great first week of practice. The next big marker is the scrimmage." — Brian Spicer, HHS head coach talking more about the preseason.
• (Another) Quote of the Week
"I say we've had a productive preseason. The kids are working exceptionally hard … we have guys who are working extremely hard." — Randy Closson, MHS head coach speaking about the Tigers' work ethic.
• One last item of business
It is hard to believe the fall sports season is around the corner. This is just a reminder that while I won't be at every game this season, I will still be more than happy to write a game story for any game results sent to me. For anyone who wants to send varsity game results or stats from an individual game I may not be covering, feel free to email them to either sforsha@gmail.com or hcpress@cinci.rr.com. Though not all game results or every game I cover in person makes it to the pages of the print edition of The Highland County Press, everything does make it to the HCP website.
Stephen Forsha is the sports editor of The Highland County Press. He can be reached at sforsha@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @hcpsportseditor.[[In-content Ad]]